Big Noise - Bang! (1989)

Here is another little-known gem passed my way by the delightful Adriana. I confess to never having heard of Big Noise before, and from the lack of information on them on the internet, I'm likely not the only one. What I have been able to gather is that they were a septet that formed in 1985 in Birmingham. The members were Gary Thompson on bass, Huw Lucas on guitar, Linton Levy on saxophone, Paul Johnson on keyboards, Tony Jones on percussion, Tony Lahiffe on drums and Tony Fenelle on vocals. Fenelle was once the replacement vocalist for Midge Ure in the popular Brit new wave group Ultravox. Obviously their sound and image was appealing enough to have a major label like ATCO Records sign them. They were produced by Elliot Wolff, who has appeared on the Isle several times before, as he produced tracks by Alta Dustin, A'me Lorain and Ms. Adventures, though he is best known for his work with Paula Abdul. He also co-wrote most of the tracks. While the music is certainly in the same pop vein as those acts, it also has more elements of rock and instrumental complexity, which is expected from a full-fledged band. Their first single, the funky "Name And Number", dipped into the Billboard Hot 100 at #97, but their second single, the ballad "I Can't Live Without It", went nowhere. And that seems to be the end of it. To be honest, their sound isn't entirely memorable and they could easily be mistaken for one of the thousand other pop bands from the late 80s and early 90s. But at least they got their foot in the Billboard door, which assures that we'll remember their 'name and number' much longer than many of their contemporaries'.

Video for Name And Number

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1		Let Me Be
2		Name And Number
3		I Can't Live Without It
4		Ain't No Doubt
5		Lies
6		Bang!
7		Don't Look Back
8		Turn The Lights Down Low
9		All Of Me (Wants All Of You)
10		Victim Of Love