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Photo: David Randall
The nearly-men of melodic rock returned as the now-men in the millennium…
In the twenty years of Get Ready to ROCK! one phenomena has been the renaissance of bands who “back in the day” never fully realised their potential or ambitions. This was usually due to the prevailing musical climate or poor management and marketing. One such band were UK melodic rockers FM.
The band were formed in 1984 and centred around the Overland brothers who were formerly in the band Wildlife. They widened their audience initially on tour as support to artists such as Foreigner and Magnum but most significantly in 1986 with Bon Jovi on the UK leg of their ‘Slippery When Wet’ tour.
The band was hampered by label changes, firstly their original label Portrait folded and after a time with Epic they moved to Music For Nations. The big U.S. breakthrough never happened although Steve and Chris Overland worked with hit writer Desmond Child on 1989′s ”Tough It Out to produce the classic song ‘Bad Luck’. Soon after, Chris Overland left and was replaced by Andy Barnett and – for 1995′s ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ – Jem Davis became their keyboard player replacing Didge Digital. The band split soon after.
There was talk of a reunion and new album as early as 2003 when Jason Ritchie reviewed the triple-CD retrospective ‘Long Time No See‘ with Vinny Burns mooted as new guitarist joining the 1995 line-up. Instead, Steve Overland and drummer Pete Jupp contributed to The Ladder (together with one-time FM bassist Bob Skeat), resurrecting some FM tunes, and also the start of Overland’s separate solo life with the label Escape Music in the guise of Overland, Shadowland, Ozone, and latterly the Bad Company-inspired Lonerider. (The label also re-issued ‘Takin’ It To The Streets’ and ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ in 2005).
>> Feature (This includes links to pre-2010 related and solo albums)
Photo: Ian Pollard
However it wasn’t until 2007 that FM were invited to headline the annual melodic rock event Firefest at Nottingham’s Rock City.
As Ian Pollard wrote: “the long awaited re-emergence of one of Britain’s (mostly) hidden AOR gems. I first encountered FM in the mid-80s when they supported Magnum on tour, and was blown away by their performance then – specifically Steve Overland’s vocal.
Back now with a more reasonable (i.e. non-80s) hairstyle, and old partners Pete Jupp, Andy Barnett, Mervyn Goldsworthy and Jem Davis, FM carry on where they left off, delivering melodic rock of the highest quality in an assured and professional manner. Even a temporary power failure in the middle of the set couldn’t knock them out of their stride – not bad for a band that hasn’t played together for so long.”
Photo: Ian Pollard
Having received an encouraging reception at Firefest, FM decided to record a new album their first for over a decade. They also had a new guitarist – Jim Kirkpatrick – and ‘Metropolis’ was released in 2010. It was a popular choice amongst reviewers in that year’s “best of” the year poll.
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This will make so many year end ‘best of’ lists and rightly so. The band took their time in recording this album and it has paid off. They have taken the best of their past and added in some new twists to keep it fresh. Great to have the band back and get your copy pronto. Album review (Metropolis, 2010) |
Members of the GRTR! team attended the Metropolis launch party in February 2010 at the Roadhouse venue in Covent Garden, London. (It was our first team get-together!). The climax of the gig was the surprise appearance of Mick Ralphs for the encore ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’.
David Randall chatted to Jim Kirkpatrick and Steve Overland in April 2010 coinciding with the release of their first “comeback” album ‘Metropolis’.
Photo: Noel Buckley
Both Jason Ritchie and Andy Nathan were long-time fans of the band and named their debut ‘Indiscreet’ and follow-up ‘Tough It Out’ as favourites.
Photo: Noel Buckley
In his review of the band in July 2010, when they played Islington Academy, Andy commented “when FM called it a day in 1996 after over a decade of not quite making the big time, we never ever expected to see days like this again. But since reforming for Firefest in 2007, the finest melodic rock band produced on Britain’s shores have come back better than ever.”
Photo: Noel Buckley
Andy continued “One criticism that could be levelled at FM first time round was that they clinically targeted their musical style to fit the times, from the ‘pink and fluffy’ keyboard heavy debut, to the Bon Jovi-isms of Tough It Out, to their bluesier phase riding Thunder’s coat tails.
However 2010 FM sound all the better for just being themselves and a trio of new songs mid-set were among the highlights of the set. ‘Hollow’ had the pop rock hooks that attracted Radio 2 playlisters, ‘Over You’ combined a shuffling beat with the best dual guitar jam this side of a Wishbone Ash gig, and ‘Flamingo Road’ had a classic seventies feel to it.”
And in October 2010 David Randall caught the band playing at The Tivoli in North Wales and emphasised the difficulty of satisfying long term fans with deeper cuts and focusing on the more immediate stuff to satiate others.
“…it is clear that old-time fans will have their own particular favourites (and requests). ‘Only The Strong Survive’, ‘Blood And Gasoline’ and ‘Closer To Heaven’ are strong songs but veer towards fairly predictable American AOR which may well be the reason for the band’s original demise. There were too many other bands on the block who could steal their thunder (including Thunder) but more especially with the benefit of better management and record label support.
With such a glorious back catalogue, FM could afford to be a little more edgy in their choice of material. ‘Dangerous’ even. And come to think of it: where the hell was that track?”
He went on “Whilst gigs like this bring out the closet FM fans who dust off their sometime discarded picture discs and yellowed limited edition boxes, I wonder just how many of these hardcore still exist? This means that FM have the new challenge of converting a new generation of fans and at Download this year – in spite of the unearthly midday slot – they managed to do this.”
Photo: David Randall
Andy Nathan added, reviewing the band’s December 2010 gig “it is noticeable that the band are tighter than ever as a unit and seem to take a visible delight in playing together.”
David Randall chatted to Jim Kirkpatrick and Steve Overland in October 2011 coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the ‘Indiscreet’ album. The band re-recorded the album on its 30th anniversary in 2016.
With the revival of interest in FM there were inevitably some reissues. In 2012 Rock Candy Records released an expanded ‘Indiscreet’ and ‘Tough It Out’ and that year the band celebrated the 25th Anniversary of ‘Indiscreet’ with a tour and playing the album in full. Said Andy: “This was definitely an occasion special enough to squeeze the original tour T-shirt with the infamous pink logo into a stomach less slim than it was in those days!” And Jason Ritchie concurred, it was “A night of pure nostalgia”.
For their next release – ‘Rockville’ in 2013 – the band embraced crowd-funding with the now-defunct Pledge Music. And, as they indicated to Jason Ritchie, they couldn’t rest on former glories and assume they could take their original audience with them. “We also need to build on our loyal core of fans so we can go on to bigger and better things.” The new album was previewed via the EP release ‘Only Foolin”.
In his review of ‘Rockville’ David Randall pondered on the merits of crowd-funding which he thought may compromise the creativity as the band essentially were satisfying direct paymasters. “Bands could end up producing safe, comfortable albums for safe, comfortable audiences.”
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FM are a great band and a great bunch of guys, evidently revelling in their second coming, but there’s no idea from this album that they are in any way stretching themselves or reaching out to a younger audience. It’s like the car on the cover : solid and reliable in its day but not very sexy. ***1/2 David Randall Album review (Rockville, 2013) |
Randall was more impressed with the companion album “Rockville II” which was released after the “main” album as part of the crowd-funding package : “Taken in the round, a renascent band to be reckoned with and a great overall **** package.”
Andy Nathan reviewed the album launch in March 2013 and it brought back happy memories “… hearing them open with Indiscreet’s AOR classics ‘I Belong To The Night’ and ‘That Girl’ in a small club like this was bringing back memories of the days around 1986, when my brother and our other teenage friends used to rock out to them down the old Marquee and were convinced – sadly misguidedly – that they had the image and radio friendly tunes to follow Bon Jovi into the charts.”
Photo: Noel Buckley
And both Andy and Jason Ritchie saw the band’s full UK tour to promote the album when Andy commented: “28 years on from when I first saw them supporting REO Speedwagon, FM may never have reached the heights many of us predicted, but they have never sounded better, and they certainly seem to have a real unforced joy in performing live which transmits itself to the fans and back again. On the basis of this heartwarming evening, the timeless charms of Britain’s best ever melodic rock band are here to stay.”
Jason added “For the final encore of ‘Other Side Of Midnight’ original keyboards player Didge Digital was welcomed to the stage to rapturous applause and what a fitting end to one of the best FM gigs I have seen (and by my reckoning this was the seventh time I have seen them since 1985!).”
2014 started with an appearance at the Giants Of Rock event in Minehead and, in March, the ‘Futurama‘ release which as Jason Ritchie noted was classed as an EP but stretched to an hour’s worth of music including six tracks recorded live in Crewe.
During April they rubbed shoulders with Foreigner and Europe on a UK arena tour. Reviewing their Manchester gig David Randall commented “it also reinforced the view that overall FM could do with a little more grit in their mix and perhaps an acknowledgment that 1986 was nearly 30 years ago.”
During the summer they headlined at the Cambridge Rock Festival when Andy Nathan wrote “FM’s show was almost faultless and at 30 they have probably never sounded better and won several new friends.” The 30th anniversary celebrations continued with a tour in November “The most impressive aspect was the way material from the very old and post-reformation periods merged seamlessly…”
Photo: Darren Griffiths
A day later Darren Griffiths reviewed and photographed the band in Cardiff and describing the finale: “…if you are not already moving or clapping your hands at this stage then there really isn’t much hope for you.”
By the end of 2014 FM were a late addition to Planet Rockstock in South Wales where Darren effused “They all but stole the show.”
In 2015, once again, the FM year started with a festival – the HRH AOR event in Pwllheli reviewed by Darren “I have never seen these guys play a bad show and like a fine wine they just get better and better with age, but they always have the knack of making me feel 21 again.”
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The days when they hoped to make the big time and shifted their sound to catch prevailing trends are long gone with no pressure to provide a hit single, though many of these songs could easily gain airplay on the now classic rock-friendly Radio 2. And yet the overriding impression is that this is probably the most overtly commercial of the albums they have recorded since reforming, possibly even since 1989′s ‘Tough It Out’. ****1/2 Andy Nathan Album review (Heroes And Villains, 2015) |
Photo: Darren Griffiths
The band followed the release of their new album with a UK tour, reviewed again by Darren Griffiths who noted “the majority of FM fans want the anthems which get them clapping and singing along one after another.”
The band appeared at the fifth Steelhouse Festival in July whilst in November a short set of dates became a warm-up for their first major European sojourn since their reunion. By December ‘Heroes And Villains’ had been voted Top Album in our end of year popular poll.
In reviewing FM’s set at the Great British Rock & Blues event in Skegness in early 2016 Pete Feenstra wrote: “Such is FM’s impact that those unfamiliar with the band’s material are soon converted. They quickly draw the crowd in with a magnificent set that to the untutored ear sounds like a cross between Foreigner and The Moody Blues!”
30 years on, in 2016 the band re-recorded their classic debut ‘Indiscreet’ and added some new tracks. (Interestingly, when the band were interviewed by David Randall in 2011, they showed little interest in re-imagining the album although acknowledging the original lacked something in terms of production. See interview, above).
A promotional tour followed in November when they played the album in its entirety. As Andy Nathan noted: “The hair may be shorter and greyer but the songs sounded timeless with their prominent keyboards, and massive, albeit telegraphed, choruses made for radio…” Their set was rounded off with a re-appearance of special guest Bernie Marsden.
2018 was headed by an appearance at Giants Of Rock when Pete Whalley followed Darren Griffiths’ earlier comments about the band’s ascendance: “Offering punch, pizzaz and soul in equal measure, the band made short work of that tricky warm up slot as the weekend got up and running.” This year saw the release of a new album ‘Atomic Generation’ which saw the band explore some different musical directions.
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Best of all, while this music is often an instant fix, with each repeated listening it edges closer to being my favourite of FM’s post-reformation albums. ***** Andy Nathan Album review (Atomic Generation, 2018) |
Steve Overland chatted to David Randall in February 2018 about the band and the new album ‘Atomic Generation’. First broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, 4 March 2018 and re-edited in 2023.
Later that year David Wilson, our Live Editor, witnessed FM on a three-way bill with heavy rockers Saxon and Wayward Sons “and proved that they can rock hard and heavy when required!”
Photo: Stephen Wilson
And, then, early in 2019, he reviewed the band at the Great British Rock & Blues Show in Skegness. “From the smooth vocal delivery of Steve Overland to the driving guitar work from Jim Kirkpatrick this was a fantastic set filled with classic melodic rock from one of the UK’s best.”
Jason Ritchie saw the band’s gig at Sub 89 in Reading with “A real fans’ setlist with plenty of dips into their 80′s era and a good smattering of songs from the current line-up since 2007.”
Since their 2007 comeback, and as reflected in our reviews, FM had been constantly gigging and this was largely encapsulated on “The Italian Job” CD/DVD release recorded at their label Frontiers festival event in Milan.
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They may be too subtle a band to blow the proverbial doors off as in the eponymous film, but this release successfully manages to capture the definitive FM and confirm they just get better with age. Album review (The Italian Job, 2019) |
The band played the Ramblin’ Man Fair in July. The band were prevented immediately touring their next studio album released in May 2020 due to Covid.
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…this is a more diverse album than its immediate predecessors ‘Heroes and Villains’ and ‘Atomic Generation’. It is never less than melodic, but draws inspiration from a broader palette of musical styles than pure AOR. **** Andy Nathan Album review (Synchronized, 2020) |
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Let’s briefly step back in time to precisely 30 years ago. The wider world saw the Hillsborough tragedy, the Tiananmen Square massacre and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the world of rock, the glamorous American giants ruled the scene with Bon Jovi headlining the Milton Keynes Bowl, Skid Row rising from nowhere and Aerosmith’s ‘Pump’ topping most of the end of year lists – though the presence alongside it of Faith No More’s ‘The Real Thing’ was a hint the scene was on the cusp of big change. I was 22, in my first permanent job and using every spare penny to travel into London to catch bands at places like the Marquee and the Astoria, that I had read about as every Wednesday lunchtime was spent in WH Smith in Bracknell browsing Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Sounds. I was a confirmed FM fan and after a worryingly long absence they were relaunching their career with ‘Tough It Out’ and, helped by top producer Neil Kernon and outside songwriting assistance from the likes of Desmond Child, surely world domination beckoned once they cracked the UK Top 40? |
In 2020 they released a souvenir of their “Big Three-O” tour in 2019 celebrating the 30th anniversary of ‘Tough It Out’. Andy Nathan described the original, sophomore, release “as their most slickly produced and commercially successful album, albeit not to the level they deserved.”
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This is actually best viewed not as a companion to the ‘Tough It Out’ disc but a coda to their ‘Italian Job’ live album from a couple of years back which faithfully captured their core live set. This time the ‘Indiscreet’ favourites are overlooked, though a version of ‘Dangerous’, as ever, is a reminder of the folly of leaving it off that debut album. Album review (Tough It Out Live, 2021) |
Andy was more circumspect about the band’s latest studio album ‘Thirteen’ released in March 2022 writing: “It continues (Synchronized’s) attempt to catch the full variety of their repertoire, including bluesier and soulful influences, rather than rely solely on the big and breezy AOR choruses they are most associated with.”
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Steve Overland’s singing is as superb as ever throughout and the playing is very good, with a greater groove and feel than before. However the songs didn’t do it for me on the first couple of listens, being neither as direct nor well written as before and particularly in the second half some of them tread water. Though clearly an album that grows on you after a few listens rather than an instant fix, at present it’s my least favourite FM album since reforming. *** ¾ Andy Nathan |
Photo: Andy Nathan
The band’s tour in April 2022 to promote the album emphasised that there was a bluesier element creeping back into the mix, as evidenced in recent albums, as the band showed they were prepared to stray from the familiar melodic rock template and be even more adventurous in the setlist.
At their Islington Assembly gig, as Andy noted, they included the rarely if ever played ‘Crack Alley’ from third album ‘Takin’ It To The Streets’ whilst ‘Story Of My Life’ continued to be a set-piece showcase for Steve Overland’s soulful and consistently high class vocal.
In August the band headlined the inaugural Firestorm event in Manchester and they rounded off the year touring with The Dead Daisies and Graham Bonnet in December. It was Andy’s fourth FM gig that year!
The past couple of years has seen Jim Kirkpatrick release a couple of solo albums and Steve Overland has released the second Groundbreaker album. Jem Davis released a solo album under the name of Pepperkid2 which also featured bandmates Fitzpatrick and Overland. The band continue to tour, with their latest outing a three-way with Tyketto and Dare in May 2023.
Andy Nathan believes “the greatest feature of the post reunion FM albums is that they don’t feel forced.” Echoing his 2010 review: “First time round, with the pressure to make it big, they seemed to chase the current trend a bit too overtly, from keyboardsy AOR at the start to trying to emulate Thunder’s blues rock success in the early nineties.
Nowadays, helped by the fact that Jim Kirkpatrick is equally comfortable in both these styles, they can go in a variety of directions and just sound like themselves.”
And what about the albums? Andy continues: “There are differences of degree as, in general, ‘Heroes And Villains’ and ‘Atomic Generation’ were closer in style to the first two albums, whereas on ‘Synchronized’ and their most recent to date, ‘Thirteen’ they have been confident to take more chances with a diverse sound and let those soul and blues influences loose, albeit with more uneven results.”
FM are one of the bands he has seen the most times (the other is Wishbone Ash). “The live set always does a good job in striking the balance between promoting new product and the oldies fans of a certain vintage demand to hear. Their first two albums ‘Indiscreet’ and ‘Tough It Out’ have both been played in full on a tour and the former even re-recorded to a beefier production standard.
It can be difficult for a new song to gain a lasting foothold in the set, but some of their best material has done so, from the twin guitar shuffle of ‘Over You’, sunny anthem ‘Life Is A Highway’, ‘Crosstown Train’ and above all the ballad ‘Story Of My Life’, a showcase for Steve Overland’s still incredible voice. ‘Turn This Car Around’, from Thirteen, is likely to have legs too.”
And in summing up, our Melodic Rock Editor notes “Virtually all bands active in the eighties and early nineties seem to have eventually reformed in some form during GRTR!’s life. I would argue FM are one of the few who can justifiably claim to have returned even better than the first time.”
Story coordination: David Randall (Additional edit: Andy Nathan)
Contributors: Pete Feenstra, Darren Griffiths, Andy Nathan, Ian Pollard, David Randall, Jason Ritchie, Pete Whalley, Dave Wilson
Gig review (May 2023)
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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