Silent Running

Silent Running are a Northern Irish rock band, who emerged from the Belfast punk rock scene and were originally called The Setz, before changing musical direction in 1982. The original band members were Richard Collett (bass, born 31 March 1960), Peter Gamble (vocals, born 24 November 1960), Tony Scott (guitars) and Ian Gault (drums). Prior to signing to EMI, the band recruited George Beavis on keyboards. The first single recorded, "All the King's Men"/"When the 12th of Never Comes", was a 300-copy promotional only release which led to a session for BBC Radio 1 following interest from Peter Powell. Shortly afterwards, the band signed with EMI Records and released the single "When the 12th of Never Comes". The band recorded tracks such as "Speed of Life" for the proposed first album, although Beavis was subsequently dismissed and replaced with Alex White. The resulting album was Shades of Liberty which received a five star review in Melody Maker headlined "Silent Classic". Singles such as "Young Hearts" and "Sticks and Stones" both failed to reach the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, and the band never achieved the desired breakthrough. Prior to signing to EMI, Silent Running recruited George Beavis on keyboards and together the band recorded tracks such as "Speed of Life" for their proposed first album. However, Beavis was subsequently dismissed and replaced with Alex White. The line-up then recorded Shades of Liberty. Three singles were released from the album: "Emotional Warfare", "Young Hearts", and "Sticks and Stones". Despite attempts to gain commercial success, the band never achieved the desired breakthrough. "Young Hearts" was the only single to make a chart appearance in the UK, where it reached No. 92. Shades of Liberty failed to chart. Both "Young Hearts" and "Sticks and Stones" were released within the UK and Europe only, while "Emotional Warfare" was released in America and Europe. Shades of Liberty was the band's only album release for EMI. A second album for EMI was planned and the single "No Faith is Blind" preceded it in 1985. However, the limited success of the single resulted in the label cancelling the second album and dropping the band. They would sign to Atlantic Records after, where they would record two albums. The album was recorded at both The Manor and Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, while it was mixed at The Manor and Air Studios. It was recorded during January–February 1984. The album was released by EMI Records in the UK, Europe and North America. In America and Canada, the album was titled Emotional Warfare, after the leading (and only American) single. The release featured slightly different front artwork, with a black background replacing the white of the European sleeve. The back artwork on the European and North America editions are completely different. The album has not seen a CD release, except an unofficial one by the Lost 80s Record Company in 2013. A music video was filmed to promote the "Emotional Warfare" and "Young Hearts" singles. In 1984, the band appeared on UK TV show The Tube, where they performed "Emotional Warfare" and "Sticks and Stones". On the German TV show Musik Convoy, the band performed "Young Hearts". Upon release, the album received a five out of five star review in the Melody Maker magazine headlined "Silent Classic". In the American magazine Billboard, Shades of Liberty was included under the 'Recommended' section of the 'Pop' albums section. The magazine described the album as "U2-style wall of sound to a disco beat." Young Hearts Peter Gamble – vocals Tony Scott – guitar Alex White – keyboards Richard Collett – bass Ian Gault – drums Peter Walsh – producer, engineer Jif – assistant engineer at Air Steve Chase – assistant engineer at The Manor Kevin Killen – assistant engineer at Windmill Lane Design RX – The Creative Department Ltd. – sleeve artwork Ursula Steiger – photography The second album on EMI was prefaced with the release of the double A-side single "No Faith Is Blind"/"Business as Usual". Despite airplay and appearances on television shows across the musical spectrum (including Cheggers Plays Pop), the single only charted at No. 85 in the UK resulting in the band being dropped by EMI. This led to the situation of their second album on EMI getting cancelled before its designated release date. In a major coup, the band were subsequently picked up by Atlantic Records, becoming the first Irish act to join the roster of this American record label. White left in 1985 to work with Joan Armatrading, resulting in the band relying on session musicians such as Adrian Lee (Mike + The Mechanics), Clive Gates (New Musik) and Ian Curnow (Talk Talk; he was not really a stranger to the band, since he had already played keyboards on their 1983 debut single) to record the next two albums (Walk on Fire and Deep). After the commercial failure of the band's 1984 debut album Shades of Liberty and its three singles, the band were to record their second album for EMI Records. However, the 1985 single "No Faith is Blind" failed to become a commercial success. Despite massive airplay and appearances on television shows across the musical spectrum (including 'Cheggar's Plays Pop') the single resulted in the band being dropped by EMI. In a major coup the band were picked up by Atlantic Records, becoming the first British or Irish act to join the roster of this legendary American record label. A total of two singles were released from the album; "Sanctuary" and "Heartland", which both failed to make enough impact to chart, causing the band to not make the elusive breakthrough that was hoped. "Sanctuary" was released in both the UK and America. The artwork for the single used the main artwork for the album. "Heartland" was released during 1988 in the UK only although it was also released as an American promotional single. The single featured non-related artwork to the album. The album was produced and engineered by British-Canadian producer Terry Brown, although two tracks, "Walk on Fire" and "Till Tomorrow Comes", were produced by Andy Richards and engineered by Tony Phillips. All tracks are original, where the music was written by all four members of the band, with the lyrics being written solely by vocalist Peter Gamble. Keyboardist Alex White left in 1985 to work with Joan Armatrading, resulting in the band relying on session musicians such as Ian Curnow (Talk Talk) to record keyboards on the album. Walk on Fire was released by Atlantic Records in North America, Europe and Australia. The album was made available on all streaming platforms by Warner Music on 23 July 2021. A music video was created for the single "Sanctuary". A European mini-poster advertisement for the album was issued for magazines. Following the commercial failure of the album, the band would work on their next album for Atlantic Records, the 1989 album Deep. Peter Gamble – vocals, lyrics Tony Scott – guitar Richard Collett – bass Ian Gault – drums, drum programming Terry Brown – Producer, Engineer Andy Richards – Producer on "Walk on Fire" and "Till Tomorrow Comes", Keyboards Tony Phillips – Engineer on "Walk on Fire" and "Till Tomorrow Comes" James Reynolds – Assistant Engineer Ren Swan – Assistant Engineer Trevor Hallesy – Engineer Ian Curnow – Keyboards Clive Griffin, Helena Spriggs, Linda Taylor, Shirley Lewis, Tessa Niles – Backing Vocals Deep was the band's second album for Atlantic Records, and the third studio album, released in 1989. With the release of Deep, the band toured extensively but disbanded shortly after, citing a lack of record company support. Both "Deep in the Heart of Nowhere" and "Local Hero" were released as promotional CD singles in the US. The first four tracks of the album were produced by the band themselves with Frankie LaRocka and Peter Denenberg, who both engineered the album. The rest of the tracks were produced by John Eden, whilst LaRocka and Deneberg remixed the tracks produced by Eden. The album