Peter Marsh (musician)

Peter Marsh
Birth name Peter Marsh
Born (1952-03-08) 8 March 1952
England
Genres Rock, folk, punk, synthpop, New Wave, jazz
Instruments Guitar
Website The Peter Marsh

Peter Marsh (born 8 March 1952, UK) is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist and music producer. He was a member of the band Easy Street, which released three albums. Easy Street single "I've Been Lovin'" You entered the Billboard Charts in July 1976.[1] In the 1980s he was best known as the lead singer in cult new wave group Blanket of Secrecy. Marsh also worked with Vangelis, Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Godley & Creme (10cc). His songs have been covered by artists including Nick Lowe and Jimmy Ruffin. More recently, Marsh has worked in France. He released the album Stop the Clock in 2014.

Life and career

Marsh spent his early life in the Lake District, moving to London to work alongside his brother-in-law, Ken Nicol.

Nicol & Marsh / EasyStreet

Marsh had a long-standing musical partnership with his then brother-in-law, Ken Nicol, during the 1970s. The duo were known variously as both Nicol & Marsh and as Easy Street, which, for some of this time, also included Richard James Burgess. Marsh first signed to CBS, with Nicol, in 1973. [1] and subsequently signed to Polydor in 1976. Albums released in collaboration with Nicol included:

Easy Street toured in Europe and the US and were the 1976 Runners-Up of the UK TV show New Faces. The collaboration between Marsh and Nicol ended after the release of the final album. An interview with Nicol implied that Marsh was moving in a different direction, specifically appearing to refer to a growing collaboration between Marsh and Burgess.[4]

Twist

Marsh's first solo project, after breaking up with Nicol was Twist, a transition into the Punk rock and New Wave genres. Twist band members included Stevie Corduner, formerly of Byzantium (Drums), Wims (lead guitar, backing vocals), Andy Pask (bass) with Marsh as lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist.

Twist released "This is Your Life" (Polydor, 1979), an album which included a new wave interpretation of the classic "The House of the Rising Sun". The title track "This is Your Life" was released as a single. The B side 'Life's a Commercial Break', did not appear on the album. A second single, 'Ads', with the B side 'Rebound' was released later in 1979. 'Ads' appeared on a Polydor compilation album '20 of Another Kind Vol 2', with 'This is Your Life'. 'This is Your LIfe' featured Steve Nieve on keyboard and Jimmy Edwards and Elvis Costello on backing vocals.[5] The involvement of Jimmy Edwards was due to Marsh's then manager, Tony Gorden, who also managed Sham 69. The involvement of Steve Nieve and Elvis Costello was due to their connections with Roger Bechirian, who co-produced the album with Marsh. Twist was Marsh's first significant collaboration with Bechirian. The two subsequently worked on a project which was to become known as Blanket of Secrecy. Twist was recorded at Amp Pro, a studio in Shepherds Bush in a house owned by Nick Lowe, which was converted by Tony Visconti. It was mixed at Eden Studios in Chiswick.

Blanket of Secrecy

Marsh was revealed, after more than 20 years, to have been the lead singer (a.k.a Tinker) in British New Wave, Synthpop band Blanket of Secrecy, which has developed a worldwide cult following over the decades.[6] The identity of the Blanket of Secrecy band members was not initially disclosed, with the Warner Bros Records press release at the time stating that "Blanket Of Secrecy are three young men engaged in a project of extreme sensitivity and a necessarily classified nature. They have been chosen specifically for their imagination, their dexterity with electric instruments, their ability to compose with panache and style. <..> for reasons of, shall we say diplomacy, we feel compelled to cloak our subjects in a veil of anonymity. Who are they? Where do they come from? That, we're afraid, would be telling." Rumours at the time that they were the The Attractions (best known as Elvis Costello's backing band) have subsequently been discredited with the true identity revealed as Peter Marsh, a.k.a. Tinker, Roger Bechirian, a.k.a. Soldier and Andy Howell, a.k.a. Tailor. Marsh co-produced the Blanket of Secrecy album, Walls Have Ears, with Bechirian. It was released in the U.S by Warner Brothers and in the UK by F-Beat Records (as Ears Have Walls) in 1982.[7] The album has been described by Billboard magazine as "an undiscovered classic of the period, pure pop".[6][8]

Vangelis collaboration

Marsh worked closely with Greek film composer Vangelis in the early 1980s. He released a single, "Don't Be Foolish", backed with "It Doesn't Matter" in 1981 (Polydor Records) which was co-written and produced by Vangelis and was recorded at Nemo Studios.[9] Marsh sang on the 1980 Vangelis album See You Later,[10] which has been described as "a futuristic look through Vagelis' eyes at life after a nuclear holocaust, the inside cover depicting a man wearing a gas mask and carrying a body." According to Mark J.T.Griffin "The mood of the work has an uncanny resemblance to the brooding atmosphere of the movie "Blade Runner". On the first track of the album, "I Can't Take It Anymore", Marsh's voice is synthesied through a Rold VP330 vocoder.[11]

Marsh also sang on "My Love", a Vangelis single backed with "Domestic Logic 1", which preceded the "See You Later" album, both titles being similar in production and style, although neither made it onto the album.[11]

Other Marsh collaborations

Cover versions of Marsh's music

Engineer / producer - London

During the 1990s, Marsh built a recording studio in Greenwich, London, which was used primarily by other musicians. Marsh wrote and produced an album during this time, which was never released. The band gigged occasionally in London and Marsh also worked as an engineer / producer.

The Peter Marsh (all-French band)

In 2006, Marsh moved to France and worked briefly with American Jazz musician Tomko.[14] Marsh formed the all-French band, The Peter Marsh, which toured throughout France.[15] Band members included Chateauroux music professor Pascal Freslon,[16] (best known as Calhoun) Jean Charles Bavouzet [17] and jazz violinist Caroline Bugala.[18] Marsh built a studio in France, close to Chateauroux.

Stop The Clock

Marsh released the album Stop the Clock in 2014.[19] A number of songs from the album were featured in the Hong Kong hit TV series Triumph in the Skies. A compilation album "Fly With Love",[20] featured eleven Peter Marsh songs and was released on the Universal Music label. Marsh co-wrote most of the tracks with Pascal Fresion (Calhoun). The album was recorded at Marsh's studio near Chateauroux, in France. Marsh engineered and produced the entire album. All instruments were played by Marsh or Freslon with all vocals by Marsh.

Discography

Nicol & Marsh's Easy Street

Twist

Blanket of Secrecy

Marsh & Vangelis

Godley & Creme

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Nick Lowe

Stop The Clock Project

References

  1. ↑ http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?title=I%27ve+Been+Lovin%27+You+by+Easy+Street&id=13394
  2. ↑ "Nicol And Marsh - 45cat Search". www.45cat.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  3. ↑ "I've Been Lovin' You (song by Easy Street) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". www.musicvf.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  4. ↑ Wilcock, Steven. "Ken Nicol interview - Triste Magazine". www.triste.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  5. ↑ "This Is Your Life / Life". www.boredteenagers.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  6. 1 2 "The New Wave Junkie: BLANKET OF SECRECY: The Walls Come Down". newwavejunkie.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  7. ↑ "Ears Have Walls (Remastered) by Blanket of Secrecy on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  8. ↑ "Blanket of Secrecy music reviews,bands,musician bios,musician biography,now available,music new releases,streaming music,music search". mp3tune.cc. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  9. ↑ "Peter Marsh - Don't be foolish". www.vangelismovements.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  10. ↑ "Vangelis Collector - Music - Peter Marsh". vangeliscollector.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  11. 1 2 Griffin, Mark J. T. (1997-01-01). Vangelis: The Unknown Man : an Unauthorised Biography. Lulu.com. ISBN 9780952318729.
  12. ↑ "The Works of Godley & Crene > collabolations > Peter Marsh / You Say You Wanna Love Me". gcworks.web.fc2.com. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  13. ↑ AllMusic
  14. ↑ "TOMKO". TOMKO. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  15. ↑ "Peter Marsh en concert à l'Asphodèle - 07/06/2012, Le Poinçonnet (36) - La Nouvelle République". www.lanouvellerepublique.fr. Retrieved 2016-08-12.
  16. ↑ "Pascal - Châteauroux,Indre : Cours en collectif ou particulier ref:calhoun.music.free.fr .". SuperProf. Retrieved 2016-08-11. External link in |title= (help)
  17. ↑ "JEAN CHARLES BAVOUZET - Levroux - Chanteur - Groupe - Orchestre - Lememo.com". www.lememo.com. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  18. ↑ "Jazz violin - Caroline Bugala". www.carolinebugala.com. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  19. ↑ "Stop the Clock". iTunes.
  20. ↑ "Fly With Love by Various Artists on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
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