Friends Again

Scottish pop group Friends Again had a short career, releasing only a handful of singles and one album, 1984's Trapped & Unwrapped, that is regularly feted as a hidden gem of the era. Their jangling guitar pop sound, bracingly tricky melodies, and dramatically heartfelt vocals fit perfectly with compatriots Orange Juice and Aztec Camera, and as with those bands, their blend of folk-rock, soul, and sophisticated pop proved influential to a large number of artists who followed in their wake. The group was formed in the suburbs of Glasgow in 1981 by guitarists James Grant and Andrew McGurk, drummer Stuart Kerr, bassist Neil Cunningham, and keyboardist Paul McGeechan. This lineup didn't last long; McGurk exited and was replaced by vocalist/guitarist (and sometime actor) Chris Thomson. This formation proved to be more stable and they soon went to Edinborough's Palladium Studios, where the group cut two demos, "Honey at the Core" and "Sunkissed," that got instant airplay on Radio Clyde and quickly earned them both a publishing deal and a recording contract with Phonogram Records. Their first single release was the demo version of "Honey at the Core," issued in 1983 on the band's own Phonogram-sponsored label Moonboot. "Sunkissed" was next, this time released by Phonogram proper. The band decamped to Palladium to work on a new batch of demos before heading to London's RAK studio to start recording their debut album. The sessions were produced by new wave veteran Bob Sargent, with orchestrations by the legendary Paul Buckmaster (who had worked with David Bowie and Elton John, among others) on the song "State of Art," which became their third single of 1983. The song's lack of chart success meant that the label backed off from releasing their finished album. The band regrouped and went on tour, then headed back to Palladium to work on more songs. They also spent some time in London recording the track "Swallows in the Rain" with Television's Tom Verlaine at the controls. Some of the new tracks the band recorded, plus a few remixed older songs, were released in 1984 by Mercury Records as the Friends Again EP. A tour with fellow pop sophisticates the Bluebells followed, but the band was running out of steam. One more single, 1984's "South of Love," was issued before Grant left the band. In a brilliant show of timing, Mercury finally released their long-finished debut album, Trapped & Unwrapped, a few weeks after they split. Thomson formed the Bathers and Grant went on to start the commercially successful Love and Money, where he was joined by McGeechan, Kerr, and Cunningham. Trapped & Unwrapped went on to achieve lost classic status and was reissued numerous times, including as a deluxe double-disc set by Cherry Red in 2019.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo