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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - L to Z»Artists - S
    Artists - S Music - 1970s Music - 1980s 4 Mins Read

    Saints, The

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    Australians Ed Kuepper (guitar), Chris Bailey (vocals & bass) and Ivor Hay (keyboards) formed a high school band called Kid Galahad and The Eternals in 1973 in Brisbane, Australia, with Kuepper already writing songs that The Saints would later perform. In 1975, Hay switched to bass and Jeff Wegener joined on drums.

    This line-up played one gig (for the Communist Party at the Brisbane Trades Hall) before Wegener left and Hay switched instruments again, this time to drums.

    Doug Balmanno took over on bass, followed in quick succession by Kym Bradshaw. The Saints were born.

    The band recorded a howling milestone single called (I’m) Stranded, releasing it in 1976 on their own independent label (it was later re-issued by EMI), and copies found their way to England where the single received rave reviews.

    In mid-1977 the band moved to the UK, where it became apparent that they and their label had different ideas as to how they should be marketed. EMI planned to sell The Saints as a typical punk band, complete with ripped clothes and spiky hair. The Saints insisted on maintaining a more downbeat image.

    The band recorded one album in Australia (also called I’m Stranded) and two in England – Eternally Yours (1978) and Prehistoric Sounds (1978). One single – This Perfect Day – showed potential of a commercial breakthrough when it made #34 in the UK. Further movement up the charts was frustrated by EMI’s failure to press enough copies of the record to satisfy demand

    saints_026They played shows in the UK with The Ramones, Talking Heads and many new English bands.

    In England, Bradshaw was replaced by Alasdair Ward but with the band suffering a lack of support from their record company, they called it a day late in 1978 (with Hay joining The Hitmen, Ward joining The Damned and Kuepper forming The Laughing Clowns).

    To the contempt of many fans (and the continuing annoyance of Ed Kuepper, who took the hard road with his Laughing Clowns), Chris Bailey, with Ivor Hay and ring-ins Jim Dickson, Cub Callaway and Charlie Georgees, played a number of sell-out homecoming shows in Sydney in ’79. Suitably inspired, Bailey decided to keep The Saints going by himself.

    Returning to London with a new line-up, he cut some demos on 8-track, four of which eventually saw the light of day on the self-released Paralytic Tonight, Dublin Tomorrow EP.

    With some of his most enduring songs, his best-ever singing, and a wonderfully low-rent ambience, Paralytic found Bailey heading away from any post-punk stance, towards a classic style of ’60s-based rock & roll that came on like a skid row Flamin’ Groovies.

    saintsSimple Love was later re-recorded for 1981’s The Monkey Puzzle, the first of many albums for Bailey’s own ever-changing line-up of The Saints. The band achieved Top 40 success at home and college radio notoriety in the States in the mid-’80s.

    By 1982, the group were touring Australia with Janine Hall on bass, Iain Shedden (ex-The Jolt) on drums,  and Chris Burnham (ex-Supernaut) and Laurie Cuffe on guitars.

    Bailey released his first solo album, Casablanca, in 1983.

    A Little Madness to Be Free was released in July, spawning the popular single Ghost Ships.

    Regular line-up changes ensued, with Ivor Hay returning for All Fools Day (1986). The album reached the Top 30 in Australia and included the Top 30 single, Just Like Fire Would.

    By 1994, Bailey had moved to Sweden but continued recording and performing as The Saints with various backing musicians, moving eventually to the Netherlands.

    Chris Bailey passed away on 9 April 2022, aged 65.

    Chris Bailey
    Vocals, guitar
    Ed Kuepper 
    Guitar
    Kym Bradshaw
    Bass
    Ivor Hay
    Drums
    Janine Hall
    Bass
    Iain Shedden

    Drums
    Chris Burnham 

    Guitar
    Jeffrey Wegener 

    Drums
    Alasdair Ward 

    Bass
    Mark Birmingham 

    Drums 
    Laurie Cuffe 

    Guitar
    Tracy Pew 

    Bass
    Richard Burgman 

    Guitar 
    Louise Elliott 

    Saxophone 
    Arturo LaRizza 

    Bass 
    Joe Chiofalo 

    Keyboards
    Tony Faehse 

    Guitar 
    Peter Jones 

    Drums
    Michael Bayliss 

    Bass 
    Marty Bjerregaard 

    Drums
    Andy Faulkner 

    Guitar 
    Andreas Jörnvill 

    Drums
    Joakim Täck

    Bass
    Ian Walsh 

    Guitar 
    Måns Wieslander 

    Guitar
    Peter Wilkinson

    Drums
    Eddie Nyström 

    Guitar 
    Caspar Wijnberg 

    Bass
    Marty Willson-Piper

    Guitar

    Video

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