Further Del-type ponderings from 1992
After a prolonged sojourn in the studio, slaving over a hot pool table, the single ‘Always the last to know’ was released on 4 May in the UK. It actually did very well or at least surpassed the Dels own pessimistic predictions, reaching no.13 in the UK charts and holding solidly for a might two weeks before plummeting gracefully.
Appearances on Wogan and Top of the Pops ushered in a new era of celebrity and marked the band’s re-embarking on the promotional treadmill from which they had been hiding for over a year. The most notable thing about this was Justin’s appearance on Top of the Pops wearing his sheepskin car-coat whole surrounded by anonymous hooded ravers in shorts and t-shirts and Kriss Kross wearing their trousers back to front, the temperature outside was 30 degrees. This is because he had a cold.
A short UK tour followed which opened at Leeds Polytechnic. Any doubts about the band’s musical prowess were soon dispelled as they launched into near perfect versions of new songs and old favourites (NOT), well maybe they were just a little bit rusty and the PA did squeak but the audience were very forgiving and at the end of the day they got away with it. Things improved steadily and by the end of the tour they were nearly quite good. The final date was an open-air appearance at the Glasgow Fleadh which was also quite good, unlike the weather which was extremely band and was to become a regular feature of Del Amitri outdoor appearances throughout the summer.
The new album Change Everything was relelased on 8 June and entered the chart at no.2 (or no.1 if you shop in Woolies), being kept off the top by Lionel Richie’s greatest hits. While these two great works battled it out for chart supremacy, our heroes slipped quietly away to the Orkney Islands to warm up for a little more substantial UK tour. The highlight of this little jaunt was probably the abandoning of A&M Records employee Robin Dene in a stone circle at 4.00am many miles from civilisation (?) while the band and assorted cronies drove home, fuelled by Laphroaig and gleefully agreeing with each other “Let’s leave the sassenach!” Robin Dene thought this was very funny, which it was.
The tour included two shows in London at the T&C where the band were introduced by Radio FAB FM DJ Mike Smash. Mike has been a huge fan of the band for many years having known them since they were called Derek Amitri, (he is also a tireless charity work but he doesn’t like to talk about that).
It was shortly afterwards that the second single ‘Be my Downfall’ was relelased. The video which accompanied this was shot in Chicago during a US Promo trip and two dead bodies were removed from the hotel which was used during shooting. This promo trip also saw Justin and Iain performing live on ‘Love Lines’, a phone in programme, on LA’s K-ROQ station, for young people with emotional and sexual problems. This was quite an interesting piece of programming and became even more so when there was an earthquake soon after the show started. Imagine you have recently lost your entire family in a car crash and you are not, unreasonably, feeling a little doomed, would you phone a radio station in the middle of an earthquake to talk to Justin about it and then have him sing ‘I’ve had enough bad news to last a lifetime’? Only in America…
Throughout August the band performed at mainly open air events in Europe, taking with them the weather from the Glasgow Fleadh. An apearance before the mudpeople at the Irish Feile was followed by a secret gig in Duncannon. The gig was a secret one not because no-one knew about it, but because no-one really cared about it. The football match against the locals was a more interesting event though, with the Duncannon team turned out in immaculate strip, including the correct studs in their boots for the soft ground. The Dels team played mainly in Doc Martins and Cowbooy boots but managed to make their presence felt just the same. There is some disagreement as to the final score.
September was probably the most hectic month of the year. An appearance on ‘Top of the Pops’ performing ‘Just Like a Man’ was follwed by a short European Tour including a series of sell-out shows in Germany with special guest Martin Stephenson (without The Daintees).
Next came a US tour which started in Minneapolis on 23 September. As ‘Always the Last to Know’ was loitering around the lower reaches of the US Top 40 and the band appeared on the David Letterman Show, the tour largely sold out. Justin and Iain were asked to do a photo session for ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine for which Justin was asked to dona suit by Giorgio Armani. What luck as Giorgio has always been his favourite designer!
The tour ended in Vancouver on 17 October. A brief return to the studio followed to record new ‘B’ sides for the next UK single ‘When You Were Young’. As well as 3 new tracks, a number of live tracks were also mixed from the band’s appearance at the T&C earlier in the year which will be included on one of the CD Single formats. The release dts is 11 January 1993.
Promotional visits to Australia, France, and Spain were also squeezed in before rehearsals for the December UK tour with Special guest Matthew Sweet (whos LP ‘Girlfriend’ is as popular on the tour bus as the ‘Frankenhooker’ video).
At the time of writing this the tour is nearing completion and everyone is looking forward to playing four nights at Glasgow Barrowlands, 21-24 December (which would have been something of a record is Faith No More hadn’t just done it two weeks ago) and then a well deserved holiday.
Thanks to everyone who has supported Del Amitri this year and best wishes for 1993.
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