Nine Below Zero
(also known as 9 Below Zero
) are a blues band based in the United Kingdom, who have a cult following throughout Europe, and were most popular in the period between 1980 and 1982.
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NINE BELOW ZERO TICKETS
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Career
The band was originally formed in
South London in 1977, by
guitarist Dennis Greaves.
[1] Taking
bassist Peter Clark with him, they recruited Kenny Bradley on
drums, a
vocalist and
harmonica player
Mark Feltham, who soon became their vocalist as well.
They originally called themselves 'Stan's Blues Band', and for two years built up a local following in
London clubs.
In 1979 while playing at The Thomas A'Beckett pub in the
Old Kent Road they accepted an offer from former
musician Mickey Modern to
manage them, and it was he who persuaded them to change the band's name to something sharper. Greaves chose Nine Below Zero after the
Sonny Boy Williamson II penned song.
At that time Modern was a
musician signed to
A&M Records, after
producing the band's
demos he persuaded A&M to give him a
record label with which to launch this band's career. Modern named the label M&L Records.
Under Modern's creative direction and production, the band went full-time, and in 1980 released their first
album,
Live At The Marquee
, which was recorded on 16 June 1980.
By which time Stix Burkey had replaced Bradley on the drums.
By the end of that year they were one of the most popular club attractions in London, pulling in audiences from other genres, particularly the
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, attracted by their high-energy fast tempo sound. They headlined at the
Hammersmith Odeon and featured respected bluesman
Alexis Korner, a long-time champion of new
electric blues talent.
In 1981 they released second album,
Don't Point Your Finger
, produced by
Glyn Johns.
Johns complained the bass was too basic for the new songs, so taking his advice the band subsequently replaced
bass player Clark with Brian Bethall.
There was a period when Nine Below Zero were on
TV almost weekly. They appeared on The
Chris Tarrant Show,
South Bank Show
,
O.T.T.
, the
Old Grey Whistle Test
, and
The Young Ones
as well as supporting
The Kinks and
The Who on
tour. Nine Below Zero performed "11+11" on the first episode (
Demolition") of the
BBC Television comedy series,
The Young Ones
.
Don't Point Your Finger
climbed to number 56 on the
UK Albums Chart.
[2]
Their third album,
Third Degree
, contained "11+11" written by Greaves and Modern, however the album was poorly received causing the band to argue, the record company got wind of the unrest and dropped them and interest in the band evaporated. However, the album was their highest placing appearance on the UK Albums Chart, spending six weeks within and reaching number 38.
Nevertheless, the band decided to split, although Bethall later had some success with
The Blow Monkeys whilst Feltham went into
session work, most notably for
Rory Gallagher. Modern often put the idea to reform Nine Below Zero to Arnold but the latter was managing The Truth and considered Nine Below Zero as a move backward. However, with
IRS Records interest in The Truth waivering in 1990 Modern persuaded Feltham and Greaves to reunite for a tenth anniversary
gig. He also persuaded Arnold who now worked at
Harvey Goldsmith Ents to promote the band at the Town and Country Club, which they did to a sell-out success.
Suitably encouraged, they decided to stay together, with
Gerry McAvoy and Brendan O'Neill (ex-Rory Gallagher's band) added on bass and drums. In 1992 Feltham left due to musical differences and was replaced by the session
harp-player,
Alan Glen. Feltham subsequently returned in 2001 and the band have continued to tour and
record, kept in business by their cult audience.
In 2005, their track, "Go Girl" was included in the
Of Hands and Hearts: Music for the Tsunami Disaster Fund
compilation album. In August 2008, Nine Below Zero appeared at the
Rhythm Festival in
Bedfordshire.
Discography
Albums
- Live at the Marquee
- 1980 - A&M
- Don't Point Your Finger
- 1981 - A&M
- Third Degree
- 1982 - A&M
- Live at the Venue
- 1989 - Receiver
- Off The Hook
- 1992 - China Records
- Special Tour Album 93
- 1993 - China Records
- Live in London
- 1997 - Indigo
- On the Road Again
- 1998 - Diablo
- Refrigerator
- 2000 - Zed
- Give Me No Lip Child
- 2000 - Indigo
- Chilled
- 2002 - Zed
- Hat's Off
- 2005 - Zed
- Both Sides of Nine Below Zero
- 2008 - Angel Air
- It's Never Too Late!
- 2009 - Zed Records
[3]
See also
- List of bands named after other performers' songs
References
- Allmusic biography of Nine Below Zero by Bruce Eder Retrieved 10 March 2009
- British Hit Singles & Albums
- Allmusic.com - Discography