Francis Dunnery (born 25 December 1962, in Egremont, Cumberland, England) is an English musician. He was a founding member of the 1980s band It Bites . Although he started on drums, he later became the lead singer and guitarist of the group, and maintained this position until he left in 1990 to pursue a solo career.

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Family background

Francis Dunnery is the son of Charles and Kathleen Dunnery and the younger brother of the late Barry "Baz" Dunnery - a celebrated Cumbrian rock guitarist who had made a name for himself as a member of heavy rock band Necromandus. (Baz Dunnery was subsequently a member of Ozzy Osbourne's first post-Black Sabbath band (preceding the formation of the Randy Rhoads-led Blizzard of Oz band ^[1]) and was later in Violinski).

Dunnery has remembered “Baz... was always in bands and there were constantly instruments around me when I was growing up... He was the first musician I ever saw – I think I would have been around seven, there were twelve years between us so I was the pest, always trying to sneak a go on his gear. I remember once he got a Marshall amp, and I was always sneaking into his room and having a go on it, which he hated because he thought I would break it, which I probably would have done. One day he left it on maximum volume, and I crept in and started strumming the guitar. It made the loudest noise I’d ever heard and scared the life out of me. ^[2]”

Francis and Baz Dunnery remained close until the latter's death in June 2008, with Baz joining his brother on stage several times during Francis' solo career. Francis also credits Baz with coming up with the riff for his song "Riding On The Back".

Early bands

Initially working as a self-taught drummmer, Dunnery began his musical career at the age of 11 as half of a duo with organist and singer Peter Lockhart - "We were the cute little duo that would open up for the main act... I would just bash along as Peter sang Elvis songs and played the organ. ^[2]”

Adding guitar and singing to his musical skills, Dunnery would move on to various other bands of varying levels of commitment. The most significant of these was Waving At Trains, which also featured Don McKay (whom Dunnery remembers as "a fantastic musician. He wrote some really good songs, too. ^[2]")

It Bites

Dunnery formed It Bites in 1982 (taking the role of lead singer and guitarist). The other members of the band were his Egremont schoolfriends Bob Dalton (drums, vocals) and Dick Nolan (bass, vocals) plus John Beck (keyboards, vocals) who came from Mirehouse; a suburb of Whitehaven. Following a career playing the pub and youth club circuit the band temporarily split, with Dunnery moving to London. The band reformed some time later and left Egremont entirely to relocate to London in 1984, eventually signing a record contract with Virgin Records.

Playing an unfashionable but energetic blend of progressive rock, hard rock and pure pop, It Bites released three studio albums, The Big Lad in the Windmill (1986), Once Around the World (1988) and the critically acclaimed Eat Me in St Louis (1989). It Bites' biggest hit single was "Calling All The Heroes" in 1986, which reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart. During their lifetime, the band became a successful band (able to fill the Hammersmith Odeon in London and undertaking tours with The Beach Boys and Jethro Tull).

The band split up in 1990 in Los Angeles on the eve of recording their fourth studio album. Various factors were cited in the break-up, which Dunnery recalls as being a case of the fact that "the band had come to the end. It was a natural process. We fell out over a few things, there wasn’t one big issue or problem, it was daft little things. We had just drifted apart. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but we split.." ^[2] Dunnery is rumoured, however, to have demanded full band leadership and control over material ^{[6] [7]}, and it's also claimed that he clashed with former creative foil John Beck to the extent that he demanded Beck's expulsion from the band. ^[8] A posthumous live album Thank You and Goodnight was released in 1990.

The band briefly reformed on stage (playing two songs) thirteen years later, as the finale to a Francis Dunnery live concert at the Union Chapel, Islington, London on August 30, 2003. A full reunion was planned - and new material written and rehearsed - but this foundered due to Dunnery's inability to commit to the band (or to commit himself enough to satisfy the other members). In 2006, It Bites eventually replaced Dunnery with John Mitchell (Frost*, The Urbane, Kino) and went on to tour the UK and release a new studio album, The Tall Ships , in September 2008.

Solo career

1990s

Dunnery settled in Los Angeles following the breakup of It Bites and released his first solo album, Welcome To The Wild Country , in 1991. This was a much more rough-and-ready album than the heavily-produced and technically fastidious It Bites records. The record enjoyed little success, being released only in Japan.

The follow up album Fearless (released on Atlantic in 1994) performed considerably better with American Life In The Summertime , the lead single off the album receiving considerable airplay in the States. It was followed in 1995 by One Night In Sauchiehall Street , a live set recorded during an all-acoustic tour in the UK promoting Fearless . This album revealed Dunnery's change to a more all-acoustic method and was the first evidence on record of his live approach as raconteur as well as musician, incorporating a surprising degree of confessional story, philosophical musing and salty stand-up comedy.

Dunnery's third studio album Tall Blonde Helicopter , was also released in 1995, following his relocation to New York City. Primarily an acoustic album, Dunnery abandoned the predominantly pop-oriented sound of his previous album in favor of an eclectic mixture of soft ballads and acoustic rockers.

Dunnery's next album was 1998's Let's Go Do What Happens released on the Razor and Tie label. The album featured rockier numbers and experimentation with more electronic sounds.

2000s

Dunnery returned to the UK in 2000 for his first tour there in five years with his newly formed band, The Grass Virgins (Dave Colquhoun, Matt Pegg, Erin Moran), and has been regularly touring there since.

Man , Dunnery's first solo album since the formation of Aquarian Nation, was released in 2001. The album was heavily influenced by spiritual matters, in particular Dunnery's interest in astrology. A live album Hometown 2001 was recorded on 14 June 2001 at Whitehaven Civic Hall in Dunnery's native Cumbria and released later that year.

Dunnery released The Gulley Flats Boys , a double album in 2005. The album is autobiographical in that it centres on his childhood and growing up (Gulley Flats, which is actually spelled Gulley Flatts, is the name of the housing estate in Egremont, Cumbria where Dunnery was born) and the faces on the cover of the CD are real pictures of the friends he grew up and went to school with.

More recently, Francis has been playing a number of "house concerts" in the United States and Europe and producing and playing on many of the albums released on his Aquarian Nation label. In October 2007 he released a free download of a re-worked version of the un-released It Bites song: "Feels Like Summertime" from his official website, to promote his forthcoming "electric" tour. Featuring a full band, Welcome To The Wild Country is to played in its entirety, along with old It Bites favorites.

In 2008, Francis continues to perform numerous solo performances and house concerts, this time centered around material from Tall Blonde Helicopter. His Summer and Fall schedule include a full-band tour, culminating in a performance in Seattle to be captured for DVD release in early 2009.

Aquarian Nation Records

Dunnery manages his own record label called Aquarian Nation, which is part of a multi-media company formed in 2001 with the stated mission to "help support and promote artistic integrity." Artists affiliated with this label (including Francis himself) are Chris Difford, Dorie Jackson, John & Wayne, John Gilmour Smith and Stephen Harris (aka Haggis and Kid Chaos, formerly of The Cult and Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction).

The label has recently released "Snowman Melting", the first solo album by James Sonefeld of Hootie and the Blowfish (June 2008).

Recently released is a live CD from the "Man" tour as well as an official video bootleg from the same tour titled "In The Garden Of Mystic Lovers". Aquarian Nation has also announced an on-going partnership with Flying Spot Entertainment for the creation of original film/video programming. Currently in production is a special edition concert/documentary DVD from the 2008 Tall Blonde Helicopter tour tentatively titled ""

Other Work / Collaborations

After Phil Collins left Genesis in 1996, Dunnery was approached to join the band. The post was eventually filled by Ray Wilson, formerly of Stiltskin.

He has contributed backing vocals to Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe's eponymous album. His guitar and vocal skills were recruited by Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant for his "Fate of Nations" world tour. More recently, Dunnery has written and recorded with The Syn.

He has recorded studio sessions for Lauryn Hill, Elton John, and many others. These include Carlos Santana on his multi-platinum album Supernatural . Also, Dunnery co-wrote several tracks and played guitar on, as well as producing Ian Brown's album Music of the Spheres .

In 2009, Jem Godfrey (Frost*) announced on the Frost* Forum that he and Dunnery had both contributed solos to the title track of Big Big Train's upcoming album, The Underfall Yard . ^[9].

Solo Discography

• Welcome To The Wild Country (Virgin 1991)
• Fearless (Atlantic 1994)
• One Night In Sauchiehall Street (Cottage Industry 1995) (live)
• Tall Blonde Helicopter (Atlantic 1995)
• Let's Go Do What Happens (Razor and Tie 1998)
• Man (Aquarian Nation 2001)
• Hometown 2001 (Aquarian Nation 2001)
• The Gulley Flats Boys (Aquarian Nation 2005)

References

1. 'Ozzy Osbourne' by Garry Sharpe-Young (in 'Rockdetector' book series) - extract available online, retrieved September 25, 2008 - [1]
2. 'Been There Dunnery That" article in the Whitehaven News by Karl Connor, dated October 18, 2007, retrieved October 13, 2008 - [1]
3. 'Been There Dunnery That" article in the Whitehaven News by Karl Connor, dated October 18, 2007, retrieved October 13, 2008 - [1]
4. 'Been There Dunnery That" article in the Whitehaven News by Karl Connor, dated October 18, 2007, retrieved October 13, 2008 - [1]
5. 'Been There Dunnery That" article in the Whitehaven News by Karl Connor, dated October 18, 2007, retrieved October 13, 2008 - [1]
6. IBAS newsletter, November 1990 (archived on Mandy's It Bites fansite and retrieved September 25, 2008 - [1]
7. It Bites fan biography on Martin Best's website, retrieved September 28, 2008 - [1]
8. ‘Cumbria band want another bite at success’ (feature on band and Bob Dalton interview), News And Star (Carlisle), retrieved September 28, 20082008 - [1]
9. Godfrey and Dunnery