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 Sound Clips
Click one of the above tracks
download the mp3 sound clip. |
FM Long Lost Friends DELETED ESM121 A natural - that's probably how best to describe Steve Overland. The man with melody, blues and soul, all wrapped up in one neat parcel. It didn't really matter to Steve what you threw at him; guitar or microphone. Once a natural always a natural, as they say. Growing up in Norfolk England, Steve and older brother Chris were fed a steady diet of popular rock music of the era. Chris was already playing lead guitar with a local band, and due to some 'inquisitive experimentation' on Steve's part, the younger sibling soon found himself hooking up with his brother as their singer. All this at the tender age of 13! Tired of being a cover-band, the Overland brothers decided to write their own tunes, their efforts materialising into the band Wildlife. Attracting interest from some heavyweight hitters without undertaking any concerted effort, Wildlife found themselves a home at Chrysalis Records, joining the likes of UFO and Robin Trower on the well-established label. Their debut album 'Burning' was released in 1980, and though it was the height of the NWOBHM era, Wildlife's compelling blend of bluesy melodic rock offered more of a hint towards the USA, rather than hanging on to the coattails of the explosive UK heavy metal movement. Despite numerous line-up changes, Wildlife drew the attention of Bad Company drummer Simon Kirke - who had joined them for their second self-titled album from 1983 (Swansong Records). Just as things looked likely and the call of 'yankee doodle doo' beckoned, the rug was pulled, with Swansong living up to their name, and bailing out of business. Not content with this, the Overland's hooked up with drummer Pete Jupp, (previously with Wildlife, having run off to join Paul Samson). Ex Diamondhead bassist Merv Goldsworthy, and keyboard wizard Didge Digital also joined, to form the newly born FM. A handful of showcase gigs and a 4-track demo were enough to clinch a deal with CBS offshoot Portrait Records in 1985. 'Indiscreet' the debut album was launched in September 1986, and was preceded by a series of 7" singles during the early part of that year. Reaching #76 on the UK album charts, 'Indiscreet' was hailed by the critics, seeing them as likely UK contenders to occupy the lofty heights of AOR stardom held by the likes of Journey, Heart and Foreigner. Steve meanwhile, was considered the UK equivalent of Michael Bolton, who had at this point released the superb 'Everybody’s Crazy' opus, long before he took up residence in Schmaltzville! With pristine tracks such as 'Love Lies Dying', 'Frozen Heart', 'Face To Face' and 'That Girl', FM definitely had the songs! Other parts of the media dismissed their brand of AOR as lightweight, saying they were no different to other similar acts on the circuit. With this in mind, the band decided to beef up for 1989's 'Tough It Out'. Now signed to Epic Records, FM employed the revered Neil Kernon to oversee production, and introduced outside writers to secure that 'hit single'. Desmond Child, Jesse Harms, Robin and Judithe Randall all provided their songwriting magic. Living up to the title, 'toughing it out' is exactly what FM did. Released in September 1989, the album was a harder edged affair - melodic AOR with a metallic sheen. They kept up their public face, with appearances at Reading, and a UK tour with American band Saraya supporting. Unfortunately, punters didn't queue up for the album despite Kerrang voting it in their top 20 albums of 1989, and the informed public heaping praise. With commercial songs like 'Everytime I Think of You', 'Can You Hear Me Calling' and 'The Dream That Died', it's a wonder how they missed out! Along with Epic's supposed poor promotional effort, FM quit the following year. Like a poor signal fading in and out, someone managed to find the right channel to switch the 'FM' radio on again in 1991. That someone was Steve Overland, this time without brother Chris. Joining the band was Andy Barnett, previously heard on Adrian Smith's (ASAP) 'Silver and Gold' album. The resulting reunion saw a new deal with Music For Nations, and a return to Steve's earlier love of soul and blues on the November 1991 album 'Takin' It To The Streets'. Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It on the Grapevine' was chosen as the comeback single, a high-powered melodic blues blast! The addition of Barnett coincided with the bands changing style. Consequently, Didge Digital's delicate textures became redundant, he eventually moved on before FM’s European tour with Swedish band Europe. The popular 'Aphrodisiac' album from October 1992 was a merger of the earlier AOR and melodic blues styles. There were some great tracks onboard, including staple ballad 'Closer to Heaven', and the bruising 'Breathe Fire'. 1993's double album 'No Electricity Required' alienated fans; essentially it was a live 'covers' album containing a frugal smattering of their own material. By 1995 the band had called it quits again after the album 'Dead Man’s Shoes'. At this point, FM’s members went on to other projects, or participated as guests elsewhere. Steve Overland sang on Alan Parsons 'On Air' album, various Iron Maiden tributes with Paul DiAnno, and released the 'SO' album 'Brass Monkey' during 2000. Still active, he recently teamed up with Escape Music, to provide lead vocals for the Boston Tribute album, singing 'Amanda', one of the album highlights. With Steve working alongside Escape Music, the 'FM' radio has come out of the closet once again, and is ‘hot-wired’ for the 2005 year! The release of the triple CD ESM 086 “Long Time No See” (Paraphernalia, Aphrodisiac and Live at the Astoria) by Escape Music rekindled the fires for all FM fans, and has proved to be a very popular package. Steve has also recorded “The Ladder” CD called Future Miracles (ESM109) which included much of FM’s older material which had never previously seen the light of day. Coupled with the “Shadowman - Land of the Living (ESM099) CD we have all seen how busy Steve has been this last couple of years! And another Shadowman CD is in the pipeline! This brings us to the new Double Digipack “Long Lost Friends”, which is another great way of catching up with FM’s back catalogue; this album will be once again neatly packaged and will include bonus unreleased tracks. The FM flag flies high once more. |
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