The Bureau

The Bureau were a new wave soul group formed in November 1980 in Birmingham, England, when the original lineup of Dexys Midnight Runners split-up. The Bureau retained their Dexys roots and played powerful brass-driven soul sounds.

Ex-Dexys members Pete Williams (bass), Geoff Blythe (tenor saxophone), Steve Spooner (alto saxophone), Stoker (drums) and Mick Talbot (keyboards) engaged the services of manager Dave Corke, a previous manager of Dexys Midnight Runners, and promoted concerts in Birmingham to raise money to finance the group.

In December 1980, the band were joined by Rob Jones (guitar and trumpet) T Bischoff (Bass)and Archie Brown (vocals) from a group called The Upset, which had supported Dexys on tour. The Bureau began rehearsals with a trombonist known only as Jake (formerly of the R&B, soul, funk act Gonzalez), who came and went.

In February 1981 The Bureau signed a deal with record label WEA and recorded their debut single "Only For Sheep"/"The First One" with producer Pete Wingfield (who had produced Dexys' album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels) at London's Vineyard Studios. A video was recorded for "Only For Sheep" before the band left the UK for debut tour dates in the Netherlands and Belgium. Permanent trombone player Paul Taylor was recruited at the eleventh hour and joined the group for the dates. The first ever gig in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, was reviewed in UK music paper NME and the second gig at the Paradiso Club, Amsterdam, was recorded for Dutch radio. "Only For Sheep" was released in March 1981 and was a hit in Australia, reaching No. 6, but failed to reach the UK Singles Chart.

On 12 March The Bureau played their first British gig, a showcase, at Ronnie Scott's in London. At the end of March 1981 the band rehearsed and recorded new songs for their debut album including the follow-up single "Let Him Have It", inspired by the Derek Bentley/Christopher Craig case. In April 1981, The Bureau made a debut live TV appearance on BBC Midlands show Look Here and recorded four more songs for the debut album. They embarked on an extensive UK and Ireland tour beginning at the Forum Ballroom in Kentish Town, London, on 16 April and ending at The Lyceum on 17 May. The single "Let Him Have It/The Noose" was released in May 1981 and listed as "Record Of The Week" in UK music paper Record Mirror but failed to chart. In June 1981 The Bureau played a gig supporting Hazel O'Connor and The Specials at Butts Athletic Stadium in Coventry. Their performance was described as "triumphant" by music journalist Simon Tebbutt. They then supported The Pretenders on tours of the UK and America between July and September 1981. Some gigs included members of The Bureau appearing with The Pretenders for a cover of Jackie Wilson's "Higher And Higher", a recording of which appears on the CD reissue of The Pretenders album Pretenders II.

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