Prior to Afraid of Mice, Philip Franz Jones had already been in various Liverpool bands since the early seventies, such as Skyfall and Next. The band was formed in Liverpool in 1979 by Jones (vocals, sax, flute, keyboards), together with Geoff Kelly (bass, vocals) Roddie Gilliard (guitar) and Clive Gee (drums). Before settling on Afraid of Mice, they were called Beano, The Press, and The Jones,[2] and recorded a collection of original Phil Jones songs as demos.
Changing their name to Afraid of Mice, they had two of the demos released on the A Trip to the Dentist compilation, issued by Skeleton Records, which led to the band being signed by Charisma Records.[2][3] Sam Brew later replaced Roddie Gilliard.[2][4]
Working alongside producerTony Visconti, their self-titled debut album was released in 1981.[1][2] It was dismissed by Trouser Press reviewer Dave Schulps as "humorless Bowiesque dance-rock".[5] Several singles were taken from the album, none of them reaching the charts.[4]
Despite having a fan following, the album did not sell well. A second album was planned, but was never completed after Charisma was taken over by Virgin Records and producer Anne Dudley was taken off the project.[2] This eventually led to Afraid of Mice leaving Charisma, and the band released some of the tracks recorded for the album, as well as other unreleased tracks as The White Album in 1983.[4] They disbanded in 1987.[2]
The band reformed for some live shows in 2014 and 2015.[6]
Post-split activitiesedit
Jones teamed up with Alex McKechnie in 1984 to form the duo Two's a Crowd (later renamed to Up and Running),[7][8] while at the time still continuing with Afraid of Mice, and remains a constant presence in the Liverpool music scene, performing at pubs, clubs and at music festivals.[2]
Kelly now works at The City of Liverpool College as a support worker and has formed his own band called G.L.I.B. He has posted songs on his SoundCloud page known as Glib Kelly.[9]
Mark Singleton, guitarist and keyboard player from the mid-1980s lineup, went on to form Now Hear This, and wrote the 2014 book The Art of Gigging: The Essential Guide to Starting up as a Performing Artist.[10]
afraid, mice, were, english, wave, post, punk, band, from, liverpool, england, formed, 1979, they, released, five, singles, between, 1981, 1982, self, titled, album, 1981, charisma, label, originliverpool, englandgenresnew, wave, post, punkyears, active1979, 1. Afraid of Mice were an English new wave post punk band from Liverpool England formed in 1979 1 2 They released five singles between 1981 and 1982 and one self titled album in 1981 on the Charisma label Afraid of MiceOriginLiverpool EnglandGenresNew wave post punkYears active1979 1987 2014 2015LabelsCharismaPast membersPhilip Franz Jones Geoff Kelly Roddie Gilliard Sam Brew Clive Gee Terry Sterling Shaun McLaughlin Mark Singleton Contents 1 History 2 Post split activities 3 Discography 3 1 Albums 3 2 Singles 3 3 Compilation appearances 4 References 5 External linksHistory editPrior to Afraid of Mice Philip Franz Jones had already been in various Liverpool bands since the early seventies such as Skyfall and Next The band was formed in Liverpool in 1979 by Jones vocals sax flute keyboards together with Geoff Kelly bass vocals Roddie Gilliard guitar and Clive Gee drums Before settling on Afraid of Mice they were called Beano The Press and The Jones 2 and recorded a collection of original Phil Jones songs as demos Changing their name to Afraid of Mice they had two of the demos released on the A Trip to the Dentist compilation issued by Skeleton Records which led to the band being signed by Charisma Records 2 3 Sam Brew later replaced Roddie Gilliard 2 4 Working alongside producer Tony Visconti their self titled debut album was released in 1981 1 2 It was dismissed by Trouser Press reviewer Dave Schulps as humorless Bowiesque dance rock 5 Several singles were taken from the album none of them reaching the charts 4 Despite having a fan following the album did not sell well A second album was planned but was never completed after Charisma was taken over by Virgin Records and producer Anne Dudley was taken off the project 2 This eventually led to Afraid of Mice leaving Charisma and the band released some of the tracks recorded for the album as well as other unreleased tracks as The White Album in 1983 4 They disbanded in 1987 2 The band reformed for some live shows in 2014 and 2015 6 Post split activities editJones teamed up with Alex McKechnie in 1984 to form the duo Two s a Crowd later renamed to Up and Running 7 8 while at the time still continuing with Afraid of Mice and remains a constant presence in the Liverpool music scene performing at pubs clubs and at music festivals 2 Kelly now works at The City of Liverpool College as a support worker and has formed his own band called G L I B He has posted songs on his SoundCloud page known as Glib Kelly 9 Mark Singleton guitarist and keyboard player from the mid 1980s lineup went on to form Now Hear This and wrote the 2014 book The Art of Gigging The Essential Guide to Starting up as a Performing Artist 10 Discography editAlbums edit Afraid of Mice 1981 Charisma The White Album 1983 self released Singles edit Intercontinental 1981 Charisma I m on Fire 1981 Charisma Medley Popstar Bad News Taking It Easy Important 1981 Charisma flexi disc Popstar 1981 Charisma Transparents 1982 Charisma What About Me live 1982 Charisma flexi disc At the Club 1982 Charisma Compilation appearances edit Transparents and I m Not a Fighter original The Press demos appear on the compilation A Trip to the Dentist 1980 Don t Take Your Love Away on Jobs for the Boys 1985 3 References edit a b Ankeny Jason Afraid of Mice Music Biography Credits and Discography AllMusic Retrieved 26 June 2012 a b c d e f g h Wright Jade 2015 Phil Jones from Afraid of Mice celebrates 40 years in music Liverpool Echo 10 July 2015 Retrieved 8 December 2018 a b Larkin Colin 1997 The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music Virgin Books ISBN 0 7535 0159 7 pp 15 16 a b c Buckley Jonathan amp Ellingham Mark eds 1996 Rock The Rough Guide Rough Guides ISBN 1 85828 201 2 p 10 Schulps Dave Afraid of Mice Trouser Press Retrieved 8 December 2018 Q amp A Afraid of Mice frontman Phil Jones Liverpool Echo 15 August 2014 Retrieved 8 December 2018 Strong Martin C 2003 The Great Indie Discography Canongate ISBN 1 84195 335 0 pp 194 5 Afraid Of Mice Charismalabel com Archived from the original on 28 January 2012 Retrieved 26 June 2012 Glib Kelly SoundCloud com Retrieved 18 January 2018 The Art of Gigging BBC 28 October 2014 Retrieved 8 December 2018External links editAfraid of Mice discography at Discogs nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Afraid of Mice amp oldid 1103628620, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,