The Railway Children formed in 1985 in Wigan, Lancashire. After a batch of demo tapes, the four 19-year-olds found themselves being feted by numerous record companies, eventually settling on a contract-free deal with Factory Records.
A brace of graceful singles fusing 60s harmonies with the early 80s pop sensibility of Liverpool paved the way for the fine Reunion Wilderness in 1987, and The Railway Children appeared set to follow contemporaries The Smiths on to greater things.
The band signed to Virgin Records that same year and suddenly sounded a lot neater for it. Recurrence was released in 1988 to an audience confused by the band’s Indie beginnings and their new, mellower sound.
Although their singles regularly entered the Top 75 of the UK charts and The Railway Children flirted with fashionable dance beats (with particularly encouraging results in America) it was not until 1991 that a re-released version of Every Beat Of The Heart took the band into the upper reaches of the UK charts.
Gary Newby
Vocals, guitar
Brian Bateman
Guitar
Stephen Hull
Bass
Guy Keegan
Drums