Mendes Prey

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Mendes Prey
General information
origin Pontefract , England
Genre (s) New Wave of British Heavy Metal , Hard Rock
founding Late 1970s
resolution 1986
Website http://www.mendesprey.com/
Last occupation
Tony Boulton
Martin Brough
Mark Sutcliffe
John "Jih" Seymour
former members
Electric guitar
 Steve Holt
Electric guitar
 Richard Emslie

Mendes Prey was an English hard rock and new wave of British heavy metal band from Pontefract that was formed in the late 1970s and disbanded in 1986.

history

The origins of the band go back to the late 1970s. After their previous bands broke up, guitarist Steve Holt, drummer Martin Brough and guitarist Phil Lawn came together to form a new band. At that time it was not a seriously operated band, which was partly due to the fact that the then singer John "Jih" Seymour regularly flew to Australia to visit his girlfriend there. After he returned from there in 1980 after a long stay, attempts were made to run the group more seriously. To complete the line-up, Tony Boulton came on as bass player. This was followed by the first appearances, in which mainly cover versions were played. Meanwhile, the group was working on their first songs, which resulted in a first demo in 1981 , which includes the songs Take Me 'cross the Water , Losing Man , The Sun Don't Shine , Drifting and What the Hell's Going On . The demo caught the attention of the DJ duo The Bayley Brothers , among others . Shortly after recording this, Lawn left the band and was replaced by Richard Emsley. With the changed line-up, the band was featured in the Armed and Ready section in the Kerrang . After only a few months, Emsley also left the band because the other members were not satisfied with his performance. He was replaced by Mark Sutcliffe, not to be confused with the Trespass member of the same name . In early 1982 the band planned to release an EP , but that idea was dropped to focus on playing gigs and writing more songs. She played local concerts among others at York University with Diamond Head . Towards the end of the year, the self-financed single On to the Borderline , with Running for You as B-side, was released on MP Records . The single could be heard on the Friday Rock Show , among others . Then Heavy Metal Records became aware of Mendes Prey and used What the Hell's Going On on the sampler Heavy Metal Heroes II . In addition, the label offered the band to release a single. However, this meant for her that she had to finance the single herself, which is why the band declined the offer. At the beginning of 1983 she performed with Chinatown and Saracen at the London Marquee Club . On the latter gig, Mendes Prey stepped in for a band that had canceled shortly before the gig. This enabled the group to further increase its awareness. Thus, from Levi's What the Hell's Going On used for advertising in local radio stations. This resulted in a contract between the two parties that provided the band with free branded products and held a self-funded tour with Dagaband . One of these appearances was recorded by the BBC , of which the songs Red Alert , On to the Borderline and Running for You were broadcast on the show Bubbling Under in the north of England. Other concerts were held for the rest of the year, including a performance at a festival in Bicester that also included Twelfth Night and Terraplane . In addition to songs from the single and the demo, Lone Survivor , Tomorrow Today and Take It or Leave It were also played. After that, new songs continued to be written, while Steve Allen was added to the cast as keyboardist. He wrote some of the songs and also took part in various recordings before he left the group after a few months. In the fall of 1983, founding member Steve Holt left the band to pursue other activities. After his last appearance in September, Mendes Prey decided to continue with the four of them. In the years that followed, the band became quiet as they limited themselves to recording in the studio and writing new songs. In 1985 the two songs Cry for the World and Red Alert were contributed to the sampler Parkside Steelworks by LiL Records . The recordings for this had taken place in the Parkside Studios in Leeds . Due to the small number of pieces, the group was only able to increase its popularity to a limited extent, which is why there was still little played live. The band now had management trying to move the group in a more commercial direction. In addition, attempts were made to change the appearance and image of the members. As a result, the single Wonderland with Can You Believe It as the b-side, which was released in 1986 by Wag Records and is a cover version of the Demon song, was often rejected. Shortly thereafter, Seymour decided to move permanently to Australia, lived there in Darwin and worked there on the radio. After his departure, the remaining trio announced the breakup at the end of 1986. In 2015 the compilation The Never Ending Road was released by No Remorse Records .

style

According to Malc Macmillan in The NWOBHM Encyclopedia , UFO influences can be heard on the first demo and are comparable to the music of groups like Persian Risk , Stagefright and Iona . He found Seymour's singing to be one of the most talented of the whole genre. On to the Borderline is described by many as a typical release of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Wonderland is a mixture of over-produced melodic rock and pop rock . In The Ultimate Hard Rock Guide Vol I - Europe the music is referred to as hard rock, which is based on UFO.

Discography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Malc Macmillan: The NWOBHM Encyclopedia . IP Verlag Jeske / Mader GbR, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-931624-16-3 , p. 389 ff .
  2. ^ A b Garry Sharpe-Young , Horst Odermatt & Friends: The Ultimate Hard Rock Guide Vol I - Europe . Bang Your Head Enterprises Ltd, 1997, p. 363 .
  3. ↑ Biography. (No longer available online.) Rockdetector.com, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on March 13, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rockdetector.com
  4. ^ Matthias Mader, Otger Jeske, Manfred Kerschke: NWoBHM New Wave of British Heavy Metal The glory Days . Iron Pages, Berlin 1995, p. 122 f .
  5. ↑ John "Jih" Seymour: History. (No longer available online.) Mendesprey.com, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on March 13, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mendesprey.com
  6. ^ Mendes Prey - The Never Ending Road. Discogs , accessed March 13, 2016 .