They were favourites at the Marquee in London and their line-up included a young Steven Wilson – but Pride Of Passion never reached the dizzying heights of their peers. Four decades after they split, they’re back with a new EP, and FM keyboardist Jem Davis in tow. Vocalist Deborah Hopper and bassist Diz Minnitt (formerly of Marillion) discuss their unplanned return and future plans.
It’s been four decades since Pride Of Passion last surfaced, yet they remain fondly recalled by those who were entranced by their frequent gigs at the Marquee in London. A household name they most certainly aren’t – but the band possessed significant prog credentials back in the mid-80s. Former Marillion colleagues Brian Jelliman and Diz Minnitt were core members, with their sound at one time being augmented by one Steven Wilson on keyboards.
“Steven was probably about 19,” recalls bassist Minnitt. “I remember that he was very keen and a hugely creative individual. He really was a unique talent and provided a very positive input into the band at that time.”
In what was probably a case of right band at the wrong time, Pride Of Passion failed to make a commercial breakthrough, despite being a massively popular live act. Record companies were attracted to the cramped surrounds of their London gigs, but commercial backing failed to materialise, as vocalist Deborah Hopper remembers.
“EMI had put us in the studio and we recorded for them, but nothing happened,” she says. “We then released a single, which did have a distribution deal, but we just didn’t get the airplay. There was another guy who came to see us – I seem to remember it was George Michael’s manager. He had only heard one song, which he really liked. He basically said that we needed to write more songs like that, so that didn’t really get off the ground.
“I guess if we’d persevered a bit more, there might have been a bit more interest. I remember putting in the legwork, trying to get people down to the gigs, you know, phoning people and sending them stuff. But it was all to no avail.”
Minnit adds: “We did have some interest, but unfortunately that coincided with everything just petering out. We suddenly discovered that we couldn’t get booked back into the Marquee again. We used to fill the Marquee; it wasn’t as though we were going in there and there were loads of empty spaces. It was pretty much packed to the gunnels – but everything stopped dead for no apparent reason.
“I think that created tensions within the band because people started hypothesising about what was going on and why it was happening. I think it’s fair to say that there was an external dynamic which had an impact on us all.”
Minnitt subsequently left, with Pride Of Passion rebranding as the short-lived Blazing Apostles. Hopper recalls that “it was missing a vital ingredient there, which was Diz. He’s so creative and has a great personality as well. I really missed him.”
With memories dimming of those triumphant gigs, the band’s return was far from expected. Hopper and Minnitt had kept in touch with guitarist Nigel Spennewyn – but it was Minnitt’s interviews with Marillion online archivist Mark McCormac that sparked an interest in reviving the band.
“We’ve all been good friends ever since,” says Minnitt. “But the main catalyst for all this was Mark reaching out and discussing loads of stuff around the early Marillion era. That triggered it off again; we thought, ‘Let’s make the effort to get together and have a curry.’ Then we thought, ‘Why don’t we just get together and record some of the songs that we never had the opportunity to record back in the day? Especially now we’ve got access to studios, and we have the time to do it.’
“It just started off as a vanity project – just doing stuff for ourselves. People heard the recordings and seemed to like them, so we decided to make them available for other people.”
Hopper admits: “I never expected them to sound as good as they do. We got in Jem Davis from FM. We were using his studio to do the vocals and guitars, and he added a few keyboards. It brought the whole lot to life. It’s so different to the way we used to sound.”
The songs selected for their newly released four-track EP, Brink Of The Horizon, date back to the mid-80s. “The track Legions is 40 years old – we’d written the music for that before Deb joined the band,” says Minnitt. “Then Deb brought in a totally different set of lyrics, fresh melody lines and we changed the arrangement.
“The other tracks are of a similar age; they’re certainly not new songs. This is very much about just putting out some old material that was well gigged at the time and cut its teeth all around the London circuit.
“Jem’s contribution has been excellent. It was only really at the end of Pride Of Passion, when Steven Wilson joined us, that we had keyboards. This was really a great opportunity to reimagine some of the arrangements, with more focus on the keyboards. It really has given it more texture, light and shade. We also had the opportunity to use more backing vocals, which we certainly went to town with on Legions, which effectively has a choir at the end of it.”
I don’t have any romantic notion that there are thousands of fans waiting for the opportunity to see us again
Diz Minnit
Minnitt says the band were surprised at the success of the session. Suitably encouraged, they’ve returned to work on an album, tentatively scheduled for release later this year. “We originally only intended to record three tracks for the EP,” he explains.
“We went into the studio to record the drums with the aim of doing them by 10 at night. But by about four in the afternoon, we’d got all three tracks down perfectly, so we decided to go for a fourth, which is when Sleep got added in.
“None of us had played it for 38 years by that point, so we pulled up a recording on the phone and played it to Phil [Groyssboeck, drummer] – and within an hour we’d managed to record the drum track. If you’ve got that vibe, that dynamic and you can get things down that quickly, there’s a great opportunity to do more.”
“I really want to get a move on with it,” agrees Hopper. “Now we know there’s a bit of interest in us as well, it makes it a bit pertinent to get it out there. We’ve recorded another five songs, and I think there are going to be another six. We’re reworking stuff we used to do live, but there are also a couple of other songs that never got aired, so we’re going to be very brave and put them out there.”
That only leaves the question: when will a band known for their tight and energetic live performances return to the stage? “I don’t have any romantic notion that there are thousands of Pride Of Passion fans who’ve been quietly sitting at home, waiting for the opportunity to see us again,” says Minnitt with a laugh.
“I think what we’ll do is to try and get a decent support slot with somebody. Probably doing a couple of shows like that would be far more realistic.”
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