The band formed in Manchester during an interesting time when punk had lost steam, and change was in the wind. Two students with music in their soul, Carmel McCourt and Jim Parris got together and with drummer Gerry Darby (Jim’s cousin) began a long career of defeating definition.
Their first single - “Storm” - reached No. 1 in the independent charts and Carmel was signed immediately to London Records. Their first album “The Drum is Everything” (produced by Mike Thorne) drew praise for the fiery passion of all three members. Parris and Darby remarkably conjured the effect of a full ensemble backing to McCourt’s powerful vocals and were able to alternate between soulful ballads, gospel, blues and stomping jazz. The singles “Bad Day” and “More More More” both went Top 25 in the UK. The following album, “The Falling” (produced by Brian Eno, Hugh Jones, David Motion) made Carmel one of the biggest names in France achieving Gold status as well as charting in Belgium, Germany and Holland. “Sally” the first single lifted from the album sold 500.000 copies in France alone. With the critical and commercial success awarded both “The Falling” and the next album “Everybody’s Got A Little Soul”, producers queued up to work with Carmel.
1989 saw the release of “Set Me Free”, with the likes of Brian Eno and veteran R&B producer Pete Wingfield adding their individual touches to the broad range of their material.
