The Alarm - Biography
By Scott Feemster
With their spirited live shows, penchant for writing sweeping guitar epics, and their voluminous 80’s hair, The Alarm emerged from their native country of Wales to ride the tides of pop popularity in the early 1980’s. They went on to become one of Wales’ best known exports and, to this day, they retain a relatively small but devoted core audience.
The seeds for The Alarm were originally planted in the late 1970’s when Mike Peters (then playing bass) was in a Welsh punk band with drummer Nigel Buckle (later Nigel Twist) called The Toilets. After The Toilets broke up in 1978, Peters and Twist joined up with guitarist Dave Sharp from local punk band Chuck Burial & The Embalmed, and guitarist/bassist Eddie MacDonald from the band Amsterdam. Together they formed the band Seventeen, a post-punk mod-revival band in the style of The Jam and Secret Affair. As the band progressed, they found themselves wanting to write more socially conscious songs. After opening a tour for the Stray Cats in 1980, they decided a new name and a retooling of their sound and image were in order. Originally the band named themselves Alarm Alarm after one of their Seventeen songs, but shortened it to The Alarm so as not to be confused with other double-monikered bands that were popular around the same time. The group also came up with a new and unique visual style. Combining the big, spiky hair of punk rock with bandannas, Western wear, and cowboy boots, the band visually portrayed the kind of music they were trying to make. The Alarm’s sound had the urgency of punk combined with acoustic guitars and more traditional forms of rock and roll.
Even though all of the members of The Alarm were Welsh, they soon realized they would have to leave their native land and move to London if they were going to break into the music scene. Once in London, the band self-released their first single, “Unsafe Buildings/Up For Murder,” in 1981. The single showed the band’s range, as “Unsafe Buildings” is an upbeat, electric rocker and “Up For Murder” is an acoustic number. Only 1,000 copies of the single were pressed, but it got into the hands of several noted music journalists who touted the young Welsh band. Eventually, a representative from Wasted Talent, an agency that managed U2, saw the band play and recommended that U2’s agent, Ian Wilson, check the band out himself. After Wilson caught a show, he was impressed. Wilson met with the band afterwards and agreed to become their manager. Because of this connection, The Alarm was able to nab a coveted opening slot for U2 in December of 1981at the Lyceum Ballroom in London. Their connection with U2 would serve them well over the years, though they did tire of being compared to the Irish band.
With solid management and a burgeoning following, The Alarm recorded a demo of some of their songs and shopped it around to different record companies. At first no one bit, but eventually the band signed a deal with IRS Records – a company run by Miles Copeland, the manager of The Police and brother of their drummer Stewart Copeland. Originally Sharp, MacDonald, and Peters all sang and played acoustic guitars in the band, but once they secured a record deal they decided one of them should become the lead singer. Peters, being the most outgoing and photogenic of the three, became the singer and rhythm guitarist. Sharp became the lead guitarist, while MacDonald held down the bass. IRS released the single “Marching On” (IRS) in October of 1982 and The Alarm gigged around Great Britain, building up a following as they went along. Late in 1982, the group scored another opening slot for U2, which enhanced their stature even more.
In 1983, IRS issued another single, “The Stand” (IRS), in Britain. Outside of the UK “The Stand” was combined with four other Alarm songs and released as The Alarm (1983 IRS). To help promote their new EP, the band was asked to be the opening act on U2’s War tour in the United States. The War tour and appearances on such shows as American Bandstand and MTV’s The Cutting Edge raised the group’s profile in America, attracting a new legion of fans. After the tour, the band returned to Britain and re-recorded their song “68 Guns” for release as a single. They flew back to America to tour and then returned to the UK to appear on the popular BBC program Top of the Pops. The flurry of activity insured their fame on both sides of the Atlantic. The group continued touring in both the US and the UK through most of 1983, but managed to squeeze in time between the tours to record their debut album, Declaration (IRS), which was released in early 1984. The band had built up such a groundswell of popularity, that Declaration debuted at number 6 in the UK album charts. The album collected most of the songs the band had released as singles with a few new songs. What Declaration lacked in subtlety, it made up for in upbeat, feel-good guitar-driven anthems. The Alarm continued to tour through 1984, and were slated to begin work on a follow-up album with noted producer Jimmy Iovine in early 1985, but Iovine backed out of the project citing personal problems. Regardless, the band had recorded a new single, “Absolute Reality,” and went back on the road to promote it and ready their material for the next album.
Later in 1985, The Alarm recorded their next album, Strength (IRS), with producer Mike Howlett. The album was noted by critics and fans as a leap forward in the band’s songwriting and arranging skills. The group again toured heavily in Europe, the UK, and North America to promote the album, then took a break after their touring commitments were met. The Alarm reconvened in 1987 and released Eye of the Hurricane (IRS), which had more of a polished and produced sound than their previous two albums. The new production values paid off and The Alarm got more airplay on American radio stations than ever before, especially with the danceable single “Rain in the Summertime.” The band toured extensively, including an opening slot for Bob Dylan. An EP documenting some of the band’s live shows, Electric Folklore: Live (IRS), was released in 1988. The following year, the band headed back to the studio with famed producer Tony Visconti and produced the more rock-oriented Change (1989 IRS). The album was an homage to their native Wales and was even released in a Welsh-language edition especially for their homeland called Newid (1989 IRS). The group scored a Top 50 hit in America with the single “Sold Me Down the River,” but the album stalled in both the US and the UK (although the native-language edition was a huge hit in Wales).
Declining sales combined with the bands relentless touring caused friction within the group, which was only exacerbated by a string of tragedies that struck on the eve of their 1990 US tour. In the space of only a few months, Peters’ sister suffered a brain aneurysm that left her unable to speak and then his father died of a heart attack. At around the same time, Nigel Twist found his step-father hanging from a noose after he tried to commit suicide. The Alarm took a break following these events, although IRS issued the career retrospective Standards (1990 – IRS) in 1990 to keep the band’s name in the public’s mind. When The Alarm met to record their next album Raw (1991 IRS) a year later, relations were still strained and the album suffered from lack of direction. The band toured to support the album, but Peters announced on stage at a show at the Brixton Academy that he would be leaving the band. The announcement not only shocked the audience but also his other band members who hadn’t yet been told of his plans. The three remaining members of The Alarm briefly toyed with the idea of getting another singer, but decided it was against the spirit of the band and it would be more appropriate just to end The Alarm.
After the breakup, both Peters and Sharp started solo careers. Sharp issued solo albums in 1991 and again in 1996, after moving to New Orleans. Peters returned to his native North Wales, put out three solo albums in the late 1990s, formed a short-lived band with Cult guitarist Billy Duffy called Colorsound, and was diagnosed with lymphoma. Luckily the cancer was caught early.
Starting in 2000, all four of the members of The Alarm contributed to the re-mastering and re-release of their back catalog. In 2003, the members were featured on the VH1 show Bands Reunited and played a special concert together in London, which was later released on CD and DVD. After the show, Peters took control of The Alarm name and constructed a new version of the band, which featured former Gene Loves Jezebel and Chelsea guitarist James Stevenson, former Cult/Sisters of Mercy/Mission UK bassist Craig Adams, and former Stiff Little Fingers drummer Steve Grantley. In what became an almost legendary hoax, the new version of the band recorded a garage-rock single called “45 RPM” (2004 Smash) but released it under the name of a made-up band, the Poppy Fields. Peters wanted to see if consumers would buy the single on its own merit without knowing it was an Alarm track. Peters got a young band, the Wayriders, to go along with the scheme and appear as the Poppy Fields in the video made for the song. “45 RPM” was a hit and made it into the British Top 30 before the prank was revealed. Peters proved that his band could still write hit songs if the public would just give them a chance. The Alarm followed up the attendant publicity from the hoax with their new album In the Poppy Fields (Snapper), released in 2004. The new version of The Alarm followed with the live album MMIV: Live In the Poppy Fields (2004 Snapper). In 2006, The Alarm released the hard-hitting album Under Attack (EMI), which hearkened back in sound and delivery to the band’s punk past.
In 2006, Peters was diagnosed with leukemia almost ten years after his lymphoma diagnosis, but he has kept both a solo career and The Alarm going through thealarm.com website and touring. The group released a new album, Guerilla Tactics (Twenty First Century Recording Company) in 2008, and have toured the UK in support of it. In 2008, former Alarm guitarist Sharp formed the band AOR - The Spirit of The Alarm, a group that is dedicated to playing the old songs of The Alarm live and developing new material in the spirit of his old band. He has done this, surprisingly, with the blessing of Peters.
