The idea to write this piece started to form on the day that I posted #3 of the series – June 21st. I don’t like to rush things! My friend, Dave, put something on Facebook about U2’s Longest Day gig on that day back in 1985 and included a photo of the sleeve of this single (Faith Brothers were one of the support acts that day). This was a sleeve I know very well, as during my student days I filed my 7″ singles in alphabetical order of song title and this was first. I suppose technically, it should have gone under “S”, but I suspect I didn’t want “Abacab” by Genesis on general display – bit of a guilty pleasure, that one. If only I’d purchased “A Forest” as a single, rather than buying the album….
Anyway – Dave’s posting did prompt me to tell him about this blog (and I believe he has dropped by once or twice) and thank him for potentially inspiring a future piece. We did have a brief discussion about whether this should be the Faith Brothers song chosen or if it should be “Country Of The Blind” instead. You can see where that discussion went. That track may feature in a future piece and it also reminded me that their first album, “Eventide” was one that I purchased on cassette and so could be the subject of a future Cassette Album piece – neither single appears on the original release.
The two main members of the band were Billy Franks and Lee Hirons (who co-wrote this track). The song and its B-side – the excellent “Fulham Court” – deal with the redevelopment and subsequent loss of community in the West London area they grew up in. A familiar tale in many urban areas and a theme that others have visited over the years. What I really like about it is the upbeat nature of the music despite the subject matter and I do feel it should have received more airplay than it did.
This one got to #69, following on from the #63 peak of “Country Of The Blind”. The album followed towards the end of 1985 and made it to #66. There were further releases a couple of years later, but the Chart compilers were sadly not troubled by those. As time passed (and the singles eventually got filed by artist), this was a track that I did forget about for a while. Some time in 2008, I stumbled across Billy Franks’ website and he was offering free downloads of live versions of the two singles – not the greatest sound quality, but it was good to hear what they had sounded like live. Sadly Billy Franks passed away in 2016 and I don’t believe those downloads are available now, although his website is still there.
Anyway, I’ve waffled on for long enough. Here it is.
And YouTube being YouTube, the b-side is also available.
TGG
Wasting time in the study 
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