How it all began
It was a dark, breezy summer night in the leafy streets of Ealing, queen of the London suburbs, when future Underground Circus lyricist and singer Mark Bradley first met drummer William Hatfield and bass guitarist Simon Senior in the sprawling garden of a mutual female friend. Their subsequent conversations about music, lyrics and influences — notably their love of Duran Duran, together with David Sylvian's arthouse ensemble Japan — formed much of the impetus to start "Underground Circus", as it would later be known.
These bands, together with other so-called New Wave groups such as The Cure and Bauhaus, and older influences such as Bowie, Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, were singer Mark's inspiration to leave school mid 'A' levels and work in the City as a trainee stockbroker — a job he loathed, but which met his ends, namely to help finance a dream. All he had was his book of jottings and lyrics, inspired by an early poetry competition win entered by kids drawn from a cabal of South-East England schools. But essentially, the dream was more of a determined goal to find like-minded souls to form a band. He didn't have a clue where he would find them, but in that breezy summer night, their fate was sealed.
Inspired by their discussions on musical influences, Mark was, some days later, invited by Simon to audition for his newly formed (and as yet unnamed) band in Will's parents' converted loft in the next road from where Mark lived. This would be the first gathering of the individuals that would later become known as Underground Circus — well, after a couple of other names were tested first — but these original personnel, plus one more, would in essence become UC, also known to insiders as 'The Circus'. Although Mark and Will were close neighbours, they had gone to different schools and were in different friendship 'tribes'.
The first gig
Within months the band played their first gig at Mark's joint 18th birthday party, to a captive audience of over 500 drunk teenagers at Ealing Northern Sports Centre. In an era prior to 'Facebook parties', some cheeky self-publicists had decided to announce the gathering on a major independent London radio station, advertising it as a "free-for-all party with the hottest new band in town" — so from the get-go, there was no expectation and no pressure.
Despite general mayhem, the on-stage debauchery extended to a buxom stripper dressed as a police officer, so that as fights erupted amid alcohol spillages, there was confusion when the real police arrived to take charge of the drunken rabble — but not before the boys had hurriedly managed a lightning set and escaped with both their PA and their MG roadster intact.
Building a following
Shortly after that first gig, the boys secured a regular venue at the notorious, down-at-heel but aptly-named Half Way House pub in West Ealing. Surprisingly, the band and the regular clientele managed to co-exist, and after months of a once-weekly residence, word spread and a loyal fan base was established.
Next, the band were invited to enter a talent contest — specifically a band competition — sponsored and organised by retailer 'Ealing Music', where their PA system had been purchased from. Most of the other contestants were also clients of the music store, run by a lovely couple who looked after the aspiring rock and pop stars of the suburb. On the night of the Ealing Town Hall contest, tensions were high as around eight fairly decent local bands, mainly New Wave, played to a packed house.
Paul joins the Circus
The band had been in dire need of a keyboard/synth wizard to infuse the Kraftwerk/Japan element that would balance their livewire, rock-inspired guitar. They noticed one keyboard player in a rival group who looked like he had the right hair to fit in — he also seemed to have several expensive keyboards, like the ones cool chart-topping bands on Top of the Pops had, and it looked like he could actually play, which was an added advantage. So the band took an impromptu punt on meeting Paul Turner after his band had finished their set, and with some fast talking, managed to persuade him to jump ship, taking his snazzy, aptly-branded kit with him.
As the night drew to a close, the winning band was announced — the early line-up of UC, then known as 'Nouveau Riche', won the competition outright, a tremendous victory played out to a rapturous encore. The judges' decision swung in no small part on the extremely loud encouragement of sixth-formers from a local Notting Hill girls' school, who went on to become a loyal legion of fans for the band. At that point, Paul knew he'd made the right decision, even before the winning band had been announced.
Into the West End
Within months of Paul joining, the UC band members introduced him to newly frequented haunts in the cool West End club scene — Philip Salon's Mud Club at Centrepoint, Philip's glorious Opera House club, and the wonderful Wag Club on Wardour Street among them. Firmly bonded as an ever-tighter musical troupe, the original line-up of UC — who changed their name again at this point to 'Paris and Back' — were ready to take on all-comers.
Soon the band changed gear again, and one phone call and subsequent meeting with the owners of the infamous Gatecrasher Balls — Eddy Davenport and Jeremy Taylor — secured the first of many central London nightclub gigs, starting at the Limelight club. Other Gatecrasher gigs followed, including the Astoria, the Hippodrome and the Hammersmith Palais.
Losing Simon
Tragedy then struck the band. Simon — who had just secured a modelling contract with Pepé Jeans, was hanging around the fashionable Chelsea set, and had even completed photo shoots for Face Magazine — died aboard the Marchioness on 20 August. Crashing a good bash seemed a mantra for the era, and that fated riverboat was a party the rest of the band could well have been at. For every band member, the outcome of that night was far-reaching.
"It was Simon's band regardless of Mark writing the lyrics and the others writing the music. Simon was the magnet that brought the band together, and after the Marchioness that force seemed spent. The remaining members of the band may have been lost — but at least they were lost together." Simon Senior, RIP
His friends would never forget the collective shock of watching the BBC footage near Cannon Street Railway Bridge, which panned in on a photo of Simon playing bass at the band's first Gatecrasher gig at the Limelight club — a great photo, of a true star, the star of the band in many ways. No-one could diminish his outstanding contribution.
The writing and recording period that followed produced some odd results that, among other things, had a vague country feel — very much a time of being artistically lost in the wilderness, a deep sense of longing and reflection by the remaining members. Like Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett, Simon's presence was never, and has never been, forgotten.
Getting signed
Around this time, fellow Ealing band the Brand New Heavies had been signed and were becoming critically acclaimed. Bass guitarist Andrew Levy, a friend of Simon's, took an interest in UC and produced some of their early work — a great and inspirational musician, even if he found their influences a bit odd. Meanwhile, the funk igniting the Ealing scene meant the time was right for local artist Jason Kaye to sign to Sony with his band Jamiroquai — which irritated UC and lit a fire under them to get a deal of their own.
The ball really started rolling following a chance introduction, instigated by Mark's primary school friend and later broadsheet journalist Roger Carter, who connected the band to music industry figures Claire Rudderham and Orin Cozier. Seeing the band's vulnerability, both wanted to help them navigate the darker side of the industry, and secured an initial £1,000 investment from Jeff Young — the former Radio 1 DJ, then head of A&R for MCA Music. The band set about producing a four-song demo/EP with engineer Mark Kelsar at Survival Studios in Acton, who had engineered the early Jesus Jones demos. It was this journey that ultimately led to the demos that got the band signed.
Such was the chemistry the band had with Dave Ambrose — the man who had plucked so much musical talent from obscurity — that there was really only one person they wanted to sign with. But he had disappeared, and the band had lost touch. Then, there he was, with his wife Angie, at a Duran Duran gig at the Dominion Theatre that the whole band happened to attend. It was more than luck — it was fate. Numbers were exchanged, a call was made the following Sunday, and an offer arrived from Dave's Planet 3 legal team within the week. Contracts were signed within days.
"The date of the signing was exactly five years to the day of Simon's death — a reminder from the founding member: 'please don't forget me'. Something the band has never forgotten — an object lesson that loyalty and perseverance pays off."
Metropolis
The band have signed a deal to re-release the Underground Circus album under licence to BMG Rights Management (UK), who now own the rights to the original masters. The album, Metropolis, has been available on all the usual streaming and download outlets, including Spotify and iTunes, since February 2018.