It Bites

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It Bites are a progressive rock and pop fusion band formed in Egremont, Cumbria, England in 1982. The band's initial rise to fame was on the back of the unusual and catchy 1986 single "Calling All The Heroes", which gained them a Top 6 UK chart hit^[1] and an unwelcome reputation as a novelty act - something the band was to dispel via their instrumental virtuosity, their reputation as an excellent live act and a measure of sheer determination.

Rarely fashionable yet forever popular with their audience, the band (though signed to a major label) effectively became one of Britain's top underground rock acts during the late 1980s, capable of filling venues the size of the Hammersmith Odeon. Initially fronted by the charismatic and wayward Francis Dunnery, the band imploded during 1990, eventually returning in 2006 with new frontman John Mitchell.

Sound

Described as "a British band with blues and metal aspirations, but also a strong art-rock tendency" by Allmusic^[2], It Bites are better described as a band composed of voracious pop fans with a parallel taste for progressive rock. The band's musical development can be split into four clear phases - the Big Lad In The Windmill phase (in which they embraced various varieties of contemporary pop, funk, sophisti-pop, and Queen-style glam rock and processed it through their progressive rock influences), the Once Around The World phase (in which they produced 1970s style progressive rock with a 1980s contemporary producer pop gloss), the Eat Me In St Louis phase (during which they produced detailed hard rock songs with elements of heavy metal and glam rock) and the current reunion phase (in which they play a more measured melodic progressive rock similar to that of the Once Around The World phase).

The band have historically incorporated and quoted (for various effects) from a wide variety of additional styles including jazz fusion, sea shanty, soul, children's songs, reggae, go-go, classical, music hall, and swing. Cited influences included progressive rock bands such as Genesis, Yes and UK, but also soul musicians such as Steve Arrington and songwriters such as Joni Mitchell. Francis Dunnery has repeatedly stated his admiration for The Smiths and Morrissey.

Early years

Drummer-turned-guitarist Francis Dunnery, bass player Dick Nolan and drummer Bob Dalton had all grown up together in Egremont. (Francis Dunnery was the younger brother of celebrated Cumbrian rock guitarist Barry "Baz" Dunnery, who'd played with Ozzy Osbourne ^[3] and Violinski). In 1982, the trio linked up with Whitehaven-born keyboard player John Beck (who came from a musical family more accustomed to performing country-and-western music.) ^[4]

It Bites were originally a teenage covers band, playing contemporary chart hits from bands like Level 42 and Haircut 100 (which proved to be excellent training for the eclectic pop/rock songs they'd create later). All four musicians shared an interest in 1970s British progressive rock, but were also drawn equally to pop music, funk, jazz and soul. With Dunnery now handling lead vocals as well as guitar, the band played gigs at working men’s clubs and nightclubs around Cumbria and spent a brief period as a quintet (also featuring saxophonist Howard "H" Smith). ^[5]

The band were an accomplished and popular act, but experienced problems (their underage status didn't stop them drinking, and contributed to numerous brawls on the tough Cumbrian circuit). ^[6] Dissatisfaction and disillusion finally led to the band splitting up in 1983, with Dunnery moving to London, Beck returning to Whitehaven, and Dalton and Nolan moving to Birmingham.

The band reformed in 1984 following a meetup in Egremont, and this time opted to relocate entirely to London. They moved into a squat in Peckham and spent a year living hand-to-mouth and writing original material. Bob Dalton later commented "it was actually the perfect situation because all we could afford to do was write songs 24/7. All that time was the making of us. We became strong writers and strong players.” ^[7]

Their demo tape eventually secured them a management deal with Martyn Mayhead (at WEA Records), and shortly afterwards a recording contract with Virgin Records. ^[8]

Initial success

In 1986, the band's first single ("All In Red") only charted modestly. Their second single "Calling All The Heroes" was a big hit, reaching #6 in the UK Singles Chart and gaining the band a huge amount of radio play and many television appearances. The third single, "Whole New World", also charted, but not at such a high position. ^[9] All three singles appeared on the first It Bites album The Big Lad In The Windmill (produced by Alan Shacklock), which arrived in the summer of 1986 but met with only moderate commercial success.

The band toured with Go West and Marillion in late 1987, played major European outdoor festivals (including the Montreaux Jazz Festival, broadcast live across Europe by Swiss TV) and supported Robert Plant in early 1988. ^[10] This diverse set of support slots revealed a problem in marketing the band which would last throughout their career. It Bites' blend of contemporary 1980s producer-pop, progressive rock instrumental virtuosity and hard-rock drive could appeal equally to many audiences or to none. Also, the band's tendency to embrace both rock posturing and throwaway pop (setting Beck's glossy keyboards and the band's massed harmony vocals against Dalton's heavy drums and Dunnery's swaggering, Allan-Holdsworth-inspired guitar solos) confused and alienated many music press critics, whose reviews were often savage. Despite this, the band forged a loyal and enthusiastic following in the UK.

The band began recording their second album Once Around The World with producer Mark Wallis in mid-1987. Footage of this process was broadcast on Channel 4 TV's "Equinox" programme Twang, Bang, Kerrang! (which documented the history of the electric guitar. Francis Dunnery featured prominently in the programme, comparing his Japanese and American Fender Stratocaster guitars and discussing technique and equipment. ^[11]

Once Around The World was released in 1988 and signaled a departure from the more directly pop-oriented sound of the first album. It contained the group's fourteen-minute 'magnum opus' "Once Around The World", on which their enthusiasm for progressive rock was fully unleashed. Virgin Records had insisted on some more pop-orientated sessions with producer Steve Hillage which resulted in the minor hit singles ‘Kiss Like Judas’ (February 1988) and ‘Midnight’ (April 1988). A third single "Old Man And The Angel" (a butchered version of a lengthier track from the Wallis sessions) fared less well. Despite its split nature, the final album was surprisingly consistent in tone and sound and was popular with fans.

During this period, Dunnery also gained some press attention for his invention of the Tapboard, an instrument based on two paired guitar necks and using a ten-finger tapping technique to create exceptionally fast and clear melodic runs and chording.

The shift towards hard rock

Cover of Eat Me In St. Louis

It Bites' third album, Eat Me In St. Louis was recorded in early 1989 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, produced by Rheinholt Mack (best known for work with Queen and the Rolling Stones). The album featured a harder-edged, more guitar-orientated sound than before, with shorter, punchier songs and the direct progressive rock influences cut back. On its release, the album scored excellent reviews in rock magazines Kerrang and Raw and spawned the minor hit single "Still Too Young To Remember". ^[12] During this period, Virgin made strong attempts to break the band as a serious hard rock act with several re-releases and video shoots for "Still Too Young To Remember" and the follow-ups "Underneath Your Pillow" and "Sister Sarah". ^[13]

Although this was ultimately unsuccessful, the band still proved themselves exceptionally popular as a live act, playing sell-out gigs across the UK, USA and Japan, and touring with Jethro Tull and the Beach Boys. Certain band members also participated in outside projects - Nolan recording with Tony Banks (on his 1989 Bankstatement album) and Dunnery singing backing vocals on the debut Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album during the same year. ^[14]

Departure of Francis Dunnery

It Bites showcased some new post-Eat Me In St Louis material on an eight-date UK tour during March and April 1990. ^[15] In June 1990, the band travelled to Los Angeles, USA to start writing and recording their fourth album. This was intended to be the record to break the American market, and Dunnery promised simpler songs with "a stronger taste of blues." ^[16]

However, tensions within the band reached breaking point during the pre-rehearsal period, and it was confirmed to the band's fanclub in November 1990 that the band had parted company with Francis Dunnery. ^[17] Dunnery is rumoured to have demanded full band leadership and control over material ^{[18] [19]}, and it's also claimed that he clashed with former creative foil John Beck to the extent that he demanded Beck's expulsion from the band. ^[20]

Now minus Dunnery, the remaining trio initially stayed on in Los Angeles, continuing to write and auditioning new singers (at this point, Beck also switched from keyboards to guitar). Returning to England, they recruited Lee Knott as the new It Bites singer (Knott had previously fronted the band Innocence Lost, who had played support slots to It Bites on previous UK dates). ^[21]

A new It Bites album was initially scheduled for early 1991. This was ultimately replaced by a live album, Thank You And Goodnight, which was mostly drawn from Eat Me In St Louis tour recordings.

In an attempt to refresh their identity, the Knott-fronted It Bites renamed themselves as Navajo Kiss and played several gigs under that name (featuring new material plus a vigorous cover of "Murder Of the Planet Earth" from Eat Me In St Louis). A second name-change - to Sister Sarah - followed, but the band split quietly within the year.

Post-split

The various band members went their separate ways but remained in touch.

Beck and Dalton joined John Wetton's band for a Japanese tour and a live album, Chasing The Tiger), with Beck moving on to become one of the keyboard players for the Alan Parsons Project.

Nolan (who also worked for the Alan Parsons Project) eventually established himself as Ray Davies' bass player of choice.

Dalton played drums for Chris Norman and Ray Davies and moved into teaching at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford. ^[22]

Lee Knott spent some time in promotion (Portishead, Tricky, Underworld), briefly resurfaced as the instrumental half of Superior (who released a couple of singles - "Being You" and "Coma" - on Virgin Records in 1997)

Francis Dunnery, now based permanently in the USA, re-emerged in 1991 to begin a successful solo career which continues to this day.

A partial It Bites reunion appeared in 1996 in the shape of the band Unicorn Jones. This project featured John Beck, Dick Nolan and singer David Banks (who'd once auditioned for It Bites and who'd previously been part of the band Mummy Calls, whose song "Beauty Has Her Way" appeared on the soundtrack to the film "The Lost Boys"). Banks had approached Beck and Nolan to help him record an album of Burt Bacharach covers, but the trio had been sidetracked into recording a bizarre cover of Motörhead's "Ace Of Spades" (in which they succeeded in "replacing Lemmy's timeless vocal with David's crooner voice and transforming the heavy metal trash into a dark deranged groove"). This cover spawned the Unicorn Jones band, which recorded one album - 1996's 'A Hundred Thousand Million Stars' - but did not play live. ^{[23] [24]}

Beck and Dalton were to reunite in 2005 as members of the band Kino, a progressive rock band which also featured Marillion bass player Pete Trewavas and British prog scene regular John Mitchell (Arena and others) on lead vocals and guitar ^[25] (and in which Dalton replaced former Porcupine Tree drummer Chris Maitland). Kino's album 'Picture' was a huge success on the British prog rock scene during 2005 ^[26], and the band performed versions of the It Bites songs "Kiss Like Judas" and "Plastic Dreamer" at live concerts.

Reunion at the Union Chapel, 2003

On 30 August 2003, during a solo concert at the Union Chapel in London, Francis Dunnery was joined onstage by his old It Bites band-mates - the first time this had happened since 1990. ^[27] To the delight of the audience, John Beck joined Dunnery for a duet on the It Bites song "Hunting The Whale", following which they were joined by Dick Nolan and Bob Dalton for a gig finale of "Still Too Young To Remember".

Following this, it was announced that It Bites would be getting back together to write and record a new album followed by a tour. Although some writing and initial recording did take place, the full reunion of the original lineup never materialised (apparently due to Dunnery's hectic schedule back in the United States, which affected his ability to commit to the band). ^[28]

The brief reunion did, however, act as a spur for some archive It Bites releases - the Live At Montreux album (originally recorded in 1987) and the DVD Live In Tokyo (featuring footage dating from the Eat Me In St Louis period.) Both were released by Bob Dalton on behalf of the band.

Reformation with John Mitchell

It Bites opted to reform with Beck and Dalton's Kino bandmate John Mitchell replacing Dunnery as lead singer and guitarist. According to an interview on francisdunnery.com, dated 10/15/2008, Dunnery said Bob Dalton called him out of the blue and said he was no longer wanted in the band. Dalton explained to Dunnery that they already had someone to replace him.^[29] Mitchell had been an enthusiastic It Bites fan since his teens, and was very happy to take on the role. ^[30] John Beck commented "I’ve met guitarists that could manage Frank’s licks but weren’t singers, or the other way around. John’s the first to do both. It’s all been so natural, I don’t even remember agreeing to do this; it took on a life of its own." ^[31]

The new It Bites made their live debut for a well-received tour in winter 2006 (which also spawned a live album When The Lights Go Down, released in 2007). The band began to write material for a new album during 2006 and 2007, opting to self-produce. The new album - called The Tall Ships - was completed in May 2008 and pre-released to members of the It Bites internet forum on July 21st, with a full release to follow on Inside Out Music in October 2008.

Departure of Dick Nolan

On 23 June 2008 the band announced a further change to their line-up with the departure of bass player Dick Nolan. (Earlier in the year, Nolan had failed to show up for a performance at a Classic Rock Society concert, and there had been rumours of his dissatisfaction with the project.)

The band's statement read, in part: "Due to Dick’s lack of commitment we had been forced to complete the album Genesis- style. As such there will be the three of us making and promoting the new album. Dick’s involvement had been half hearted and he had not contributed to the making of the new album. It had become impossible to carry on with the uncertainty, indecision and unreliability that his involvement brought. On countless occasions we had tried to accommodate him, but most recently this has caused lengthy delays to making the album. This has been a very difficult decision and not what we wanted to make." ^[32]

The band announced Lee Pomeroy as the new bass player in the same statement (as well as revealing that all bass playing on the new Tall Ships album had been performed by either Mitchell or Beck). A multi-instrumentalist, Pomeroy is an established British sessions player and support musician (Take That, Mike Oldfield and Rick Wakeman's New English Rock Ensemble) but shares It Bites' appreciation of English progressive rock musicians. Lee was apparently recommended to the band by Dick Nolan himself. ^[33]

The new line-up of the band toured the UK between 26 September and 7 October, 2008 with Neo-Prog newcomers Touchstone as support to promote their album "The Tall Ships". They were also due to appear on the bill of the Castle park rock festival in 2009, with Gun , Terrorvision and FM, however this festival was cancelled.

Line up

Current

• John Mitchell (lead vocals, guitar)
• John Beck (keyboards, backing vocals)
• Bob Dalton (drums, backing vocals)
• Lee Pomeroy (bass guitar, backing vocals)
• Nathan King (bass guitar, backing vocals)

Past members

• Francis Dunnery (lead vocals, guitar)
• Lee Knott (lead vocals)
• Dick Nolan (bass guitar, backing vocals)
• Howard "H" Smith (saxophone)

Discography

• The Big Lad in the Windmill (Virgin/Geffen 1986)
• Once Around the World (Virgin/Geffen 1988)
• Eat Me in St Louis (Virgin/Geffen 1989)
• The It Bites Album (Virgin Japan 1990)
• Thank You And Goodnight - Live (Virgin 1991)
• Best Of - Calling All the Heroes (EMI 2003)
• Live in Montreux (2003)
• Live in Tokyo (DVD 2003)
• When The Lights Go Down (Live CD, May 2007)
• The Tall Ships (October 2008)

References

External links

• Official Website