Gene - Where Are They Now? (2001)

Gene's origins lie in a previous band which was first called The Go Hole, named after a fictional "Beat" club in John Clellon Holmes' novel 'Go', and formed in 1987 by by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and Darryl James Walton (bass). However, their collaboration was short-lived as Walton was soon replaced by John Mason on bass, with Matt James (Wrigley) joining soon afterwards on drums. Walton then took on the role of band manager, and their first single, 'Flight Of Angels', appeared on Walton's Big Pop Record label in 1987. A John Peel session fuelled their early success, where they mixed with Camberwell music and artistic community, mingling with members of The House of Love, My White Bedroom, and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. After 18 months, Clark, Mason and James invited John's brother Steve Mason to play lead/rhythm guitar, thereby freeing Clark to focus on vocals, and at this point they changed their name to Sp!n. The band released two singles, 'Scratches (In the Sand)' in 1990 and 'Let's Pretend' in 1991, both on The Foundations Label, and an album was recorded with Stephen Street as producer, titled 'In Motion'. However, their career was suddenly put in doubt then the band were involved in a car accident, with John Mason suffering a head injury which put him into an 11-day coma, while Walton was also hurt. The day prior to the accident, Clark had offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way that Walton and their record label were guiding its course. 

A final EP, titled 'Hot Blood', was released in late 1991, but the music press had ceased to portray the band as new and vibrant, instead concentrating on the car crash and their injuries, necessitating an overhaul of the band. John Mason left the band and became a writer, while Clark briefly recorded demos with Andrew "Snake" Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Sp!n, but then gave up music to become a primary school teacher. Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and James recruited bass player Kevin Miles, who had a long association with the band, and after seeing Watford based Welshman Martin Rossiter cross the floor of a club, Mason approached him, and their meeting ended with Mason asking Rossiter if he would like to audition with the band. Rossiter appeared on Sp!n's last demos as "Martin T. Falls" (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the band decided to adopt the name Gene. By the time NME journalists Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson encountered Gene, the band had already gained some live experience and had written several songs, and Cameron and Wilkinson were impressed enough to form an independent record label called Costermonger, with the sole purpose of promoting Gene to a wider audience. Their double A-sided debut single 'For The Dead'/'Child's Body' was released on Costermonger in May 1994, and it received a great deal of attention from the music press, with Select naming it "Single Of The Month". 

With Gene already developing a devoted fan following, a new single was planned to consolidate their popularity, and the triple A-side 'Be My Light Be My Guide'/'This Is Not My Crime'/'I Can't Help Myself' was released on 1 August 1994 via Costermonger. After achieving the top spot in the UK indie chart and number 54 in the UK Singles Chart, the band played their first UK headlining tour, including a sold out show at London's Paradise Club. The plaudits had not gone unnoticed by the big record companies, and Gene eventually signed a deal with Polydor Records, who released their third single 'Sleep Well Tonight' in late 1994. Featuring strongly in both critics and readers end of year polls, Gene were the recipients of the inaugural NME Brat Award for 'Best New Act', and as such played at the sold-out Brat Award ceremony at the London Astoria. Their fourth single, 'Haunted By You', became the band's second Top 40 hit, reaching number 32, whilst their 1995 debut LP 'Olympian' reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart, and received a plethora of excellent reviews. Following a world tour and a well-received performance at Glastonbury Festival, the band entered the studio again at the end of the year for pre-production on their new album, scheduled for release the following year. 1996 began with a remixed 'For The Dead' which subsequently became their biggest hit, peaking at number 14 in the Top 40, and leading to their debut appearance on Top of the Pops. In anticipation of their second studio LP, October 1996 saw the release of 'Fighting Fit', an up-tempo rock song which reached number 22 in the UK singles chart, and the start of 1997 heralded the release of 'We Could Be Kings', another epic rock song which again proved to be popular, reaching number 18. 

The 'Drawn To The Deep End' album appeared in 1997, taking its name from a 'Fighting Fit' b-side, and it revealed a lavish production replete with strings, far more prominent guitar solos from Mason, and a rather warbling vocal affectation from Rossiter, while the the dominating themes of the album were loneliness and deep yearning. Indeed, Rossiter was in the depths of depression during the making of the album and the songs resulting from this period remain some of the band's most powerful work. 'Drawn To The Deep End' was another critical success, entering the top 10 of the album charts, and subsequent singles, 'Where Are They Now?' and 'Speak To Me Someone' both made the top 40. 1998 was used by the band to write new material, and no new music was released during that hear, meaning that on their return from relative wilderness, it appeared that they had lost a lot of their prestige, and were no longer the golden boys of the indie scene. Their next album, 'Revelations', was released in March 1999, along with a Jam-like political single called 'As Good As It Gets', which entered the charts at number 23 to lukewarm reviews.

'Revelations'  received very mixed reviews, charting disappointingly at number 23, although the second single from the album, 'Fill Her Up', still managed to crack the Top 40. Despite a successful and comprehensive tour around the country, again selling out many venues, as well as making a successful appearance at the Reading Festival of that year, Gene and Polydor parted ways. The band felt somewhat undermined by their label's lack of support and failure to market the album adequately, and they also felt that given more time by their label they could have made a better record. After signing with Contra Records, they released the 'Libertine' album in 2001, but despite further successful live shows in subsequent years, including a set at the Morrissey curated Royal Festival Hall Meltdown Festival in June 2004, Gene opted for an amicable split later that year, and their final live performance was on 16 December 2004 at the London Astoria. In their decade-long career Gene produced some great music, with a lot of it being hidden away on the b-sides of their singles, and so here are all the non-album tracks that the band released between 1994 and 2001. 

Track listing

Disc I - 1994-1995
01 For The Dead (single 1994)
02 Child's Body (b-side of 'For The Dead')
03 Be My Light, Be My Guide (single 1994)
04 This Is Not My Crime (b-side of 'Be My Light, Be My Guide')
05 I Can't Help Myself (b-side of 'Be My Light, Be My Guide')
06 Sleep Well Tonight (single 1994)
07 Sick, Sober And Sorry (b-side of 'Sleep Well Tonight')
08 Her Fifteen Years (b-side of 'Sleep Well Tonight')
09 Do You Want To Hear It From Me (b-side of 'Haunted By You' 1995)
10 How Much For Love? (b-side of 'Haunted By You' 1995)
11 I Can't Decide If She Really Loves Me (b-side of 'Olympian' 1995)
12 To See The Lights (b-side of 'Olympian' 1995)
13 Don't Let Me Down (b-side of 'Olympian' 1995)

Disc II - 1996-1999
01 Drawn To The Deep End (b-side of 'Fighting Fit' 1996)
02 Autumn Stone (b-side of 'Fighting Fit' 1996)
03 Dolce And Gabbana Or Nowt (b-side of 'We Could Be Kings' 1997)
04 Wasteland (b-side of 'We Could Be Kings' 1997)
05 Cast Out In The Seventies (b-side of 'Where Are They Now?' 1997)
06 Nightswimming (b-side of 'Where Are They Now?' 1997)
07 As The Bruises Fade (b-side of 'Speak To Me Someone' 1997)
08 The Ship Song (b-side of 'Speak To Me Someone' 1997)
09 To All Who Sail On Her (b-side of 'As Good As It Gets' 1999)
10 Toasting The Union (b-side of 'As Good As It Gets' 1999)
11 Man On Earth (b-side of 'As Good As It Gets' 1999)
12 Pass On To Me (b-side of 'Fill Her Up' 1999)
13 Touched By The Hand Of Havoc (b-side of 'Fill Her Up' 1999)

Disc III - 2001
01 Is It Over? (single 2001)
02 Supermarket Bombscare (b-side of 'Is It Over?')
03 Little Diamond (b-side of 'Is It Over?')
04 Who Said This Was The End? (b-side of 'Is It Over?')
05 Let Me Move On (single 2001)
06 If I'm A Friend (b-side of 'Let Me Move On')
07 Left For Dust (b-side of 'Let Me Move On')
08 From Georgia To Osaka (b-side of 'Does He Have A Name?' 2001)
09 Welcome To Dover (b-side of 'Does He Have A Name?' 2001)
10 With Love In Mind (b-side of 'Does He Have A Name?' 2001)
11 Love Lives Here (b-side of 'Spy In The Clubs' 2001)