Gene (UK alternative rock quartet)

Gene are a British rock band that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s. Formed in 1993, they were categorised by the UK music press as a Britpop band and often drew comparisons with the Smiths because of lead singer Martin Rossiter's similarities to Morrissey in demeanour, surname, lyrics and song titles. Gene's music was influenced by The Jam, The Smiths, The Style Council, Faces and The Clash. The band split in 2004 but have announced a reunion for 2026. Gene's origins lie in a previous band which was first called The Go Hole, named after a fictional "Beat" club in John Clellon Holmes' novel Go. They released the single "Flight of Angels" on Big Pop Records in 1987. They were later renamed to Sp!n when they became a four-piece. The band was formed in 1987 by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and Darryl James Walton (Daz) (bass). However, their collaboration was short-lived as Walton was soon replaced by John Mason on bass, with Matt James (Wrigley) joining soon afterwards on drums. Walton would then take on the role of band manager, booking shows across London, using his connections. Their first single, recorded in the same studios as The Ruts' "In a Rut", appeared on Walton's own Big Pop Record label. A John Peel session fuelled their early success, where they mixed with the music and artistic community in Camberwell mingling with members of The House of Love, My White Bedroom, and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Walton would continue to organise and negotiate the group's gigs, contracts and press when they were a four-piece. After 18 months, Clark, Mason and James invited John's brother Steve Mason to play lead/rhythm guitar and thereby freeing Clark to focus on vocals. Two singles, "Scratches (In the Sand)" and "Let's Pretend" were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively as an album had been recorded with Stephen Street as producer. Then, Sp!n were involved in a car accident. John Mason suffered a head injury and went into an 11-day coma. Walton was also hurt. The day prior to the accident, Clark had offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way that Walton was guiding its course. "The final straw for me," stated Clark, "was calling the Sp!n album In Motion - a play on word-association which was so naff, that it beggared belief." A further EP, titled Hot Blood, was released in late 1991. The music press ceased to portray the band as new and vibrant, instead substituting headlines of car crashes and injuries, necessitating an overhaul of the band. John Mason, disappointed with the music business, went on to become a writer. Clark briefly recorded demos with Andrew "Snake" Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Sp!n, then gave up music to become a primary school teacher. Clark felt he was increasingly too old to become a rock star and decided to play and record in his own bedroom and indeed returned to this after a hiatus of about ten years. Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and James recruited bass player Kevin Miles, who had a long association with the band. After seeing Watford native Martin Rossiter cross the floor of a club, Mason approached him and they began to talk. Their meeting ended with Rossiter handing out his business card and Mason asking Rossiter if he would like to audition with the band. Rossiter appeared on Sp!n's last demos as "Martin T. Falls" (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the band decided to adopt the name Gene. By the time NME ... journalists Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson encountered Gene, the band had already gained some live experience and had written several songs. Cameron and Wilkinson were impressed enough to form an independent record label called Costermonger with the sole purpose of promoting Gene to a wider audience. Their double A-sided debut single "For The Dead" / "Child's Body" was released on Costermonger in May 1994. The single received a great deal of attention from the music press: Select named it "Single Of The Month", whilst NME made it their "Single of the Week". The limited edition of 1,994 copies sold out in two days. Numerous live shows followed. Gene's performance in support of Pulp at London's The Forum was hailed by the NME as a breakthrough performance. "Gene have just played third on the bill and willed the crowd into treating them like headliners who are very, very big indeed", said NME. "He [Martin] has made people love him, and now he's loving every minute of it."[quote needs citation] With Gene already developing a devoted fan following, a new single was planned to consolidate their popularity. The second single, a triple A-side consisting of "Be My Light Be My Guide", "This Is Not My Crime" and "I Can't Help Myself" was released on 1 August 1994 via Costermonger. Melody Maker awarded "Be My Light Be My Guide" its "Single Of The Week".[citation needed] After achieving the top spot in the UK indie chart and number 54 in the UK Singles Chart, the band played their first UK headlining tour, that included a show at London's Paradise Club which sold out immediately, with 800 people in the venue. The plaudits had not gone unnoticed by the big record companies and Gene eventually signed a deal with Polydor Records. After a live appearance at the Reading Festival, the band released their third single "Sleep Well Tonight", just prior to embarking on a large national tour, preceded by several sold-out French dates. Featuring strongly in both critics and readers end of year polls, Gene were the recipients of the inaugural NME Brat Award for 'Best New Act', and as such played at the sold-out Brat Award ceremony at the London Astoria. They adorned the covers of both the NME and Melody Maker, who voted them their 'Brightest Hope' for 1995. Their fourth single, "Haunted By You", became the band's second Top 40 hit (reaching number 32), whilst their debut LP Olympian reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart following a plethora of excellent reviews. The album also gained Gene their first silver disc, recording sales of over 70,000 in the UK alone, and when the final single from the album was released ("Olympian"), it went into the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. The summer and autumn of 1995 were spent touring the world, including a well-received performance at Glastonbury Festival, headlining Reading Festival, a tour of Japan and Europe and then a foray into the US. With Christmas looming, the band entered the studio again for pre-production on their new album, scheduled for release the following year. 1996 began with a remixed "For the Dead" which subsequently became Gene's biggest hit (peaking at number 14 in the Top 40), leading to their debut appearance on Top of the Pops. To See The Lights, an LP of rarities, live tracks, radio sessions and acoustic versions of singles, was released in January and reached the number 11 spot in the album chart. A national tour was undertaken during most of the same month, culminating in two sell-out London shows at Shepherd's Bush Empire and the Astoria. In anticipation of their second studio LP, October 1996 saw the release of "Fighting Fit", an up-tempo rock song which reached number 22. The start of 1997 heralded the release of "We Could Be Kings", another epic rock song which again proved to be popular, reaching number 18. The LP Drawn to The Deep End (1997), takes its name from a "Fighting Fit" B-side, and it revealed a lavish production replete with strings, far more prominent guitar solos from Mason, and a rather warbling vocal affectation from Rossiter. The album showed some measure of musical development from the band, which was reflected by the inclusion of a keyboardist in their live shows (Grand Drive's Julian Wilson [1996-98, 2004], former Style Council keyboardist Mick Talbot [1999-2001], Marcus Brown , and Angie Pollack [2003-2004]), and the fact that Rossiter was starting to master the art of singing live whilst playing the keyboard for some songs.