Marseille (band)
| Marseille | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | Heavy metal |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Labels |
|
| Website | marseilleonline |
| Members |
Neil Buchanan Andy Charters Nigel Roberts Ace Finchum Derrick Evans Rob Brooks |
| Past members | Paul Dale Keith Knowles Steve Dinwoodie Sav Pearce Marc Railton Gareth Webb Lee Andrews |
Marseille are a British heavy metal band from Liverpool, England.
Marseille formed in Liverpool in early 1976, and released their debut album, Red, White and Slightly Blue on the Mountain Records label in 1978. Original members were Paul Dale (vocals), Neil Buchanan (first guitar), Andy Charters (second guitar), Keith Knowles (drums) and Steve Dinwoodie (bass). Marseille were the first band to win "UK Battle of the Bands" with the finals judged by Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen at Wembley Arena on 31 October 1977.
Marseille gathered a small fan base while promoting their first album as support for other groups such as Judas Priest, Nazareth, Whitesnake and UFO. Their debut album contained very raunchy lyrics but suffered somewhat from lack of promotion and limitation of release. The single "Kiss Like Rock 'n' Roll" was produced by Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton.
Their second album release, the eponymous Marseille, received radio airplay, extending their fanbase in the UK. Several tracks off this album featured in the "Alternative Top 20 Charts" published in Sounds magazine with other emerging new wave of British heavy metal bands such as Saxon, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden. Marseille were the first NWOBHM band to tour and have an album released in the U.S. on RCA Records. The band promoted their Marseille album on tour in the U.S. with Scottish rock band Nazareth and American south coast boogie band, Blackfoot during the summer of 1980. Unfortunately, the band arrived back in the UK to witness the demise of Mountain, their record and management company. With all their equipment still stranded in the U.S., the band were forced off the road and into a two-year legal battle with liquidators, which precluded them pursuing another recording contract. During this time, Paul Dale, Andy Charters and Neil Buchanan left the band. Charters moved to the U.S. and Buchanan began a successful career in television. The two remaining members, Keith Knowles and Steve Dinwoodie later recruited vocalist Sav Pearse and guitarist Marc Railton from local Liverpool band Savage Lucy to complete a third album entitled Touch the Night on the Ultra Noise label in 1984. However, lack of industry interest in the band caused this iteration of Marseille to split up soon after. Touch the Night was labeled by Kerrang! magazine as a closet classic that should have taken the band to higher ground.
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