Fatal Charm
Encyclopedia
Fatal Charm were a punk then rock/pop band from Nottingham
, England.
From 1980 onwards, their musical style was difficult to define; a variation on the rock/pop genre that defied comparison with other emerging UK acts such as Echo & the Bunnymen
, The Cure
, New Order
and Ultravox
, who were darker and more introspective. Neither were they as 'poppy' as the female fronted bands that followed, such as T'Pau
, The Primitives
, and The Darling Buds
.
As might be expected, the collapse of various recording contracts precipitated frequent changes to the personnel, but the addition of vocalist Sarah Simmonds in the same year breathed new life into the band and enabled Arnall to concentrate on his writing and musicianship. On occasion, the band was even reduced to the Arnall/Simmonds duo and yet, they continued to perform live with the aid of reel to reel tapes and Simmonds playing keyboards.
Supporting big name acts like Ultravox
and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
on tour, ensured that the band got some media coverage, including an appearance on the first ever (1982) transmission of Channel 4
's groundbreaking music programme "The Tube
", hosted by Jools Holland
and Paula Yates
. They also played two Radio 1
'In Concert' shows, supporting Ultravox and The Cult
and in 1983 appeared again on "The Tube" in the new band slot.
Arnall and Simmonds followed up with the single "Images of Fire" in 1986, recorded on 8-track at home released by native records and reaching number 16 in the UK Independent Chart. The song won the band many more fans. Likewise, 1987's single "Lucille" also released by native charted and finally broke the jinx that had surrounded the song; previous recording attempts having been thwarted by record company problems. Around this time, Simmonds revealed a talent for writing melodies and hook lines and the pair set about writing some more material. They also toyed with the idea of changing their name to 'The Love Brigade' and developing a more 'thrash' pop sound, but after no initial interest from native the idea fell flat.
. Tired of all the record company misadventures, this time the recording was on their own label - "Really Great Records". Presumably the name paid homage to, or was a parody of, the East Midlands based "Dead Good Records" later re released on Native Records Native Records
. Mansfield's B-Movie
included 3 Fatal Charm tracks on the 1979 compilation album East.
By now, there had been many Radio 1 sessions, for some of the station's most respected DJs, including Janice Long
, Andy Peebles
, Annie Nightingale
and Simon Mayo
.
In the wake of the second album, there was considerable media interest in the band and they were offered financial backing, a new management deal and (eventually) a contract with major label RCA Records
. Consequently, the Fatal Charm name was shelved, in recognition of a new beginning, based on a more ambient dance/pop style of music. State of Grace was born in 1991 and ran through to 1998.
Then in 2005, Arnall returned to the original tapes of various archived recordings, some of them previously unreleased and some simply unfinished. The keyboards and synthesizers were stripped back and replaced with a cleaner, more contemporary guitar sound. The resulting 'rocked-up' versions have a more assured and dynamic resonance, but crucially, remain sympathetic to Simmonds' vocals, which have greater maturity than hitherto. The third Fatal Charm album is simply entitled Pop and includes a re-worked version of "Western Laughter", previously only available as a flexi-disc given away free at early concerts.
Pop, published by the band's own Cycles And Trips label is only available through the website and appears therefore to be a side-project rather than an attempt to re-launch the band in a full time capacity.
Simmonds has over the years obtained qualifications in music, trained her voice to cover a range of singing styles, become a singing teacher and has sung with internationally acclaimed vocal groups The Swingle Singers
(1st alto) and Synergy. Her other credits include contributions to the soundtracks for Troy
, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
and Shrek 2
; also backing vocals for Björk
at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games.
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, England.
From 1980 onwards, their musical style was difficult to define; a variation on the rock/pop genre that defied comparison with other emerging UK acts such as Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen are an English post-punk band, formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Ian McCulloch, guitarist Will Sergeant and bass player Les Pattinson, supplemented by a drum machine. By 1980, Pete de Freitas had joined as the band's drummer, and their debut...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
and Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....
, who were darker and more introspective. Neither were they as 'poppy' as the female fronted bands that followed, such as T'Pau
T'Pau (band)
T'Pau was a 1980s British Rock group led by singer Carol Decker. They had a string of Top 40 hits in the UK, and several hits in the United States and Europe...
, The Primitives
The Primitives
The Primitives are a British indie pop band from Coventry, best known for their 1988 international hit single "Crash".-Biography:The Primitives were part of the indie music scene of the mid-1980s alongside bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, the Soup...
, and The Darling Buds
The Darling Buds
The Darling Buds were an indie band from Newport, South Wales. The band formed in 1986 and were named after the H. E. Bates novel The Darling Buds of May – a title taken in turn, from the third line of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May".-Career:Influenced...
.
Early days
Formed in 1978 by Paul Arnall, they quickly became a three-piece and then a four-piece. Over the years, recording deals came and went, due mainly to a great deal of uncertainty and volatility that existed in the music industry at that time. By 1980, the line-up was;- Paul Arnall (guitar, vocals, songwriter)
- David Barker (keyboards)
- Kevin Davies (bass guitar)
- Kevin Gallagher (drums)
As might be expected, the collapse of various recording contracts precipitated frequent changes to the personnel, but the addition of vocalist Sarah Simmonds in the same year breathed new life into the band and enabled Arnall to concentrate on his writing and musicianship. On occasion, the band was even reduced to the Arnall/Simmonds duo and yet, they continued to perform live with the aid of reel to reel tapes and Simmonds playing keyboards.
Supporting big name acts like Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....
and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...
on tour, ensured that the band got some media coverage, including an appearance on the first ever (1982) transmission of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's groundbreaking music programme "The Tube
The Tube
The Tube may refer to:*The London Underground* "The Tube", slang for Television, from the term cathode ray tube*The Tube , an ITV/Sky programme featuring the work of staff on the London Underground...
", hosted by Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
and Paula Yates
Paula Yates
Paula Elizabeth Yates was a British television presenter and writer, best known for her work on two television programmes, The Tube and The Big Breakfast.-Early life:...
. They also played two Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
'In Concert' shows, supporting Ultravox and The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...
and in 1983 appeared again on "The Tube" in the new band slot.
Debut album
The third single, 1984's "Summer Spies" (previous singles "Paris" and "Christine" had not attracted much interest) was something of a turning point. The song's hypnotic driving rhythm and occasional whispered vocals captured the imagination of UK indie music fans and despite disappointing sales, proved to be a catalyst for 1985's debut album, Endangered Species. The singles "King of Comedy" and "You Know (You'll Never Believe)" were also released in the lead up to the album launch, but were poorly promoted. The album was however, well received and prompted more radio work.Arnall and Simmonds followed up with the single "Images of Fire" in 1986, recorded on 8-track at home released by native records and reaching number 16 in the UK Independent Chart. The song won the band many more fans. Likewise, 1987's single "Lucille" also released by native charted and finally broke the jinx that had surrounded the song; previous recording attempts having been thwarted by record company problems. Around this time, Simmonds revealed a talent for writing melodies and hook lines and the pair set about writing some more material. They also toyed with the idea of changing their name to 'The Love Brigade' and developing a more 'thrash' pop sound, but after no initial interest from native the idea fell flat.
Second album
In 1990, the band's second album, This Strange Attraction was greeted by critical acclaim from most quarters and another radio session arranged for Radio 1's Bob HarrisBob Harris (radio)
Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
. Tired of all the record company misadventures, this time the recording was on their own label - "Really Great Records". Presumably the name paid homage to, or was a parody of, the East Midlands based "Dead Good Records" later re released on Native Records Native Records
Native Records
Native Records is a small independent record label formed in Sheffield, England.The label was founded by Kevin Donoghue in 1985, after he left RCA Records and during his time at the Music Factory studio, Rotherham , where he was a sound engineer.In January 1989, Native signed Nine Inch Nails but...
. Mansfield's B-Movie
B-Movie (band)
B-Movie were a futurist band from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, active in the first half of the 1980s. They were signed to the Some Bizzare record label, and had a track "Moles" featured on the original Some Bizzare Album.-Background:...
included 3 Fatal Charm tracks on the 1979 compilation album East.
By now, there had been many Radio 1 sessions, for some of the station's most respected DJs, including Janice Long
Janice Long
Janice Long is an English radio broadcaster currently working on BBC Radio 2. Her show is on Sunday to Thursday nights from midnight to 02:00. She is the older sister of TV and radio personality Keith Chegwin.-Early career:...
, Andy Peebles
Andy Peebles
-Early life:The son of a head postmaster, Peebles attended Bishop's Stortford College, Hertfordshire before training in hotel management.After DJing at a college dance he was offered a job at Samanthas in Bournemouth.He worked at Chelsea Village,The Scotch of St James in London and at the Hardrock...
, Annie Nightingale
Annie Nightingale
Anne "Annie" Nightingale MBE is an English radio broadcaster. She is most commonly known by the more informal name of Annie...
and Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...
.
In the wake of the second album, there was considerable media interest in the band and they were offered financial backing, a new management deal and (eventually) a contract with major label RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. Consequently, the Fatal Charm name was shelved, in recognition of a new beginning, based on a more ambient dance/pop style of music. State of Grace was born in 1991 and ran through to 1998.
Third album
However, Fatal Charm were to return. In 1996, a retrospective collection of the band's earliest material was released (titled Out of my Head, by The Fatal Charm).Then in 2005, Arnall returned to the original tapes of various archived recordings, some of them previously unreleased and some simply unfinished. The keyboards and synthesizers were stripped back and replaced with a cleaner, more contemporary guitar sound. The resulting 'rocked-up' versions have a more assured and dynamic resonance, but crucially, remain sympathetic to Simmonds' vocals, which have greater maturity than hitherto. The third Fatal Charm album is simply entitled Pop and includes a re-worked version of "Western Laughter", previously only available as a flexi-disc given away free at early concerts.
Pop, published by the band's own Cycles And Trips label is only available through the website and appears therefore to be a side-project rather than an attempt to re-launch the band in a full time capacity.
Simmonds has over the years obtained qualifications in music, trained her voice to cover a range of singing styles, become a singing teacher and has sung with internationally acclaimed vocal groups The Swingle Singers
The Swingle Singers
The Swingle Singers are a mostly a cappella vocal group formed in 1962 in Paris, France by Ward Swingle with Anne Germain, Jeanette Baucomont, Jean Cussac and others. Christiane Legrand, the sister of composer Michel Legrand, was the group's lead soprano through 1972. Until 2011 the group...
(1st alto) and Synergy. Her other credits include contributions to the soundtracks for Troy
Troy (film)
Troy is a 2004 epic war film written by David Benioff and directed by Wolfgang Petersen based on the events of the Trojan War. Its cast includes Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector.It was nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design.-Plot:...
, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....
and Shrek 2
Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek...
; also backing vocals for Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games.