René Berg
| René Berg | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ian Bruce |
| Born | 24 February 1956 |
| Died | 28 July 2003 (aged 47) Kent, England |
| Genres |
Rock Hard rock Glam rock Power pop |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1977–2003 |
| Labels |
Miles Ahead Ammunition Communique Records |
| Associated acts |
Idle Flowers Soho Vultures René Berg Band Hanoi Rocks Hollywood Killers Herman Brood |
René Berg (born Ian Bruce, 24 February 1956 – 28 July 2003) was an English musician, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, who recorded and performed in a number of bands starting in the late 1970s until his death. His bands included Idle Flowers, Soho Vultures, René Berg Band, along with appearances in Hanoi Rocks, Herman Brood Band, and Jim Penfold's The Killers (1986) (previously known as The Hollywood Killers).
René was born Ian Alistair Bruce in 1956, the oldest child of a GP. He grew up in Wanstead, East London, and at the age of eight went to King’s College Choir School in Cambridge as a boarder. When he was 13 the family moved to Eastry, Kent, and Ian transferred to day school and took up fishing, about which, says his sister Fiona, he was "completely passionate". At about the same time he bought his first guitar with Green Shield stamps, and taught himself to play, and the basement of the Eastry house soon became a regular jam session venue. School was followed by three years at catering college.
In 1979, he toured Holland with Soho, a band formed by Tim Smit (now director of the Eden Project). The band also featured Sev Lewkowicz (later to play with Mungo Jerry and Dennis Locorriere) on keyboards.
In 1981, after a stint in Amsterdam with Herman Brood’s Wild Romance (initially on guitar, but also on lead vocals after Broods was jailed for dealing LSD), René, as he was by then known, returned to the UK and formed Idle Flowers in September 1981. The band opened up for Hanoi Rocks on 20 January 1983 at the Klub Foot, Clarendon and René also guested on guitar with Hanoi Rocks sometime in that year and joined Hanoi Rocks on stage at Birmingham Mermaid on 27 May for the encore. The Idle Flowers recorded many demos for an intended debut LP entitled The Leather, The Loneliness And Your Dark Eyes (which became the title of René's 1992 solo album) but the recordings remain unreleased. The only official Idle Flowers release was "All I Want Is You" / "Fizz Music" in 1984 on the Miles Ahead label recorded at the Abbey Road Studios.
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