(The only sensible bit on the site)
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In The BeginningBacklash was created in the summer of 1991 by guitarist Ash Ridley,
drummer Neil Ridley and vocalist Martin Viney.
Quickly adding bass player Jon Buckle and finally lead guitarist Pete Scott.
The focus of which was on solid rock numbers, most of which were well known
with a few strong unknowns thrown in for variety. They quickly recorded their
first demo "Cover To Cover" (A collection of well known rock covers)
which enabled them to book a large amount of gig's across
the south of
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All Good Things………..The dream was shattered though, when in Early 1994, Martin, Jon and Brendan announced that they were removing Ash from the band due to a clash of personality and opinion, and taking the band in a new direction. However Neil did not wish to alter his musical direction so (due to the association of the bands name with the style of music) it was decided that Ash and Neil would retain the Backlash name and the others would tread a different path. Six weeks later, after many fruitless auditions, Neil left Backlash and joined with the ex. Backlash members who had replaced Brendan and returned to the hard rock focus. Backlash was officially dead.
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From The Ashes……… (you know where the songs name comes from now)Due to a strange twist of fate, during the closing days of Backlash, Ash and Neil had been giving music lessons to two people, drummer Scott Gardner and guitarist Gordon Hurrel. In a surprising move, they approached Ash and asked if he would consider them joining him to reform Backlash, needless to say Ash agreed. Finalising the line up was the addition of bass player Andy Thomas (through Andy's sister in law whose boyfriend was a close friend of Ash's). Thus started a new chapter for Backlash for many reasons, firstly because of a complete line up change, secondly because the band was now a four piece, but mainly because there was no dedicated vocalist, shoes Ash ended up filling.
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Full Speed Ahead.Shortly after reforming, the new Backlash hit the studio again to record "We're Back - lash" another collection of covers, but now representing the bands altered direction. Backlash dropped the well known 'chart rock' numbers from its previous sets, the focus was now squarely on solid, hard rock/metal that people could 'get in to' regardless of if it was well known or not. This demo was very well received when reviewed by Venue magazine, and provided the band with frequent and continued bookings across the south coast. During this period the band also started writing its own material, starting with "Street Walkin' Girl", "Ashes", "Too Close (To The Edge)" and "Inside Two Minds" which were written by Ash and Andy.
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Oh No, Not Again!Once again the party couldn't last, Gordon (who operated under the stage name of Eddy Fury) became increasingly unhappy with the bands musical direction and so announced his departure, giving enough notice for the band to recruit guitarist Nick (OLAS!) Houghton (Ironically, Nick was a member of the band Scott and Gordon left to join Backlash).
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We're Back (Again!)With Nick up to speed, Backlash returned to the studio, only this time to record a 100% original material demo entitled "Wedge Of Insanity". Additional material was written shortly afterward, "Love Unfulfilled" and "Freedom" were recorded live and "Freedom" appears on "Wedge Of Insanity" as a bonus track.
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Double Trouble.It is said that lightning doesn't strike twice, but it did to Backlash. In November 1996 Scott and Backlash parted company due to his decreasing availability. Ex. Backlash drummer Neil Ridley stepped in for the upcoming bookings and ended up re-joining the band after the first one. Just when thing were looking to proceed uninterrupted, Nick announced his departure in January 1997. Everything ground to a halt once more.
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Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining.In March 1997 Backlash auditioned a guitarist by the name of Jamie ‘Viv’ Cox, this man has since become the latest inmate to the asylum that is Backlash. With Backlash well and truly back on track they added to their original material with 'R D G' and expanding their gigging area further thanks to Jamie's efforts.
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That's All Folks.......In November/December 1998 Backlash ceased-to-be. A combination of Andy moving away, the local live music scene dying out and some additional issues left Ash with little sensible option but to disband. The decision was not taken lightly and was in fact reviewed 6 months into '99. However Ash thought it wise to quit while he was ahead rather than flog the horse to a slow death. Thanks to everyone involved, it was a great 8 years – Ash. |