All About Eve were an English rock band. The initial creative core consisted of Coventry-born Julianne Regan (vocals), Huddersfield-born Tim Bricheno (guitar) and Andy Cousin (bass guitar), with other members changing over the years. Their highest-charting UK single was "Martha's Harbour" (1988). The band was active from 1984 to 1993, then 1999 to 2004, achieving four UK Top-50 albums. The band had been recognised for their "unique, folk-rock-influenced take" on the gothic rock style, and Regan has been described as "certainly one of the more talented singers" of the scene in the late 1980s.[1][2]
Julianne Regan, a former journalist, played bass in an early line-up of the gothic rock group Gene Loves Jezebel[3] before leaving to form, with Manuela Zwingmann of Xmal Deutschland, The Swarm,[4] the precursor to All About Eve. The band's name was taken from the 1950 film starring Bette Davis.[5] The original line-up of All About Eve consisted of Regan, Zwingmann, former Aemotti Crii guitarist Bricheno and bassist Gus Ferguson. The band released the independent single "D for Desire" in 1985, prior to Zwingmann and Ferguson leaving, the latter joining Test Department.[6] Bricheno suggested Cousin as a replacement for Ferguson, and so as a three-piece (plus a drum machine), they released "In the Clouds" (1986) and "Flowers in Our Hair" (1987). Both singles, "D for Desire" and "In the Clouds", were partially based on an ethereal gothic sound, sometimes compared to the music of the Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and the Banshees.[7]
The band later performed a dubbed version of "Martha's Harbour" on the BBC television music show Top of the Pops, but, owing to a studio technical error, the taped vocals were broadcast without the band being able to hear them, resulting in the audience of BBC1 hearing the recorded version of the song, while the band members sat motionless on screen waiting for their cue to begin.[10] By way of compensation, the band were invited back on to the show to perform the song the following week, this time with the vocals performed live. This performance passed off smoothly, with the resultant publicity helping the track to climb the singles chart.[11]
The following year, their second album, Scarlet and Other Stories, was released and the band toured around the UK. It also reached the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart.
Activity through the 1990s
In 1990, Bricheno left the group (later to join The Sisters of Mercy for their Vision Thing era, and subsequent bands XC-NN and Tin Star) to be replaced by The Church's Marty Willson-Piper.[4][9] They went on to record Touched by Jesus in 1991 (which featured David Gilmour of Pink Floyd on guitar on two tracks), which made the UK Top 20, before changing record labels and releasing Ultraviolet, the year after.[12] Released by MCA it reached UK No.46. The band continued working on new material, but Regan soon left. Although remaining members continued for a couple more months without Regan's input, they disbanded in early 1993,[9] with the album they had been working on being subsequently released under the group name Seeing Stars.
In 1993, bassist Cousin went on to join a reformed Mission,[13] touring extensively and contributing to their albums Neverland (1995) and Blue (1996) before the band again split.
In 1999, Hussey reformed the Mission yet again and although there was no room in the line-up for Cousin (bass duties being taken by the band's original bassist, Craig Adams) Cousin was asked to approach Regan to invite her to reform All About Eve to open for them. The offer was accepted and the band reformed, with a line-up of Regan, Cousin, Willson-Piper, plus Ric Carter (who had been in the Mission with Cousin) on guitars/keyboards and Del Hood on drums. This line-up toured during 2000 and 2001, releasing a live album Live and Electric at the Union Chapel. In addition, Regan, Willson-Piper and Cousin toured as a pared down, mainly acoustic trio for two years, releasing live albums Fairy Light Nights in 2000, and Fairy Light Nights Volume 2 in 2001.[14]
In 2002, Willson-Piper left the band to pursue other projects, to be replaced by new guitarist Toni Haimi, previously of the band Malluka and currently[when?] a member of the Sohodolls. Later that year, All About Eve released the live album and DVD Cinemasonic with a line-up of Regan, Cousin, Haimi, Carter and Hood. A collection of early recordings was also released, entitled Return to Eden, Vol. 1: The Early Recordings.
Carter and Hood departed, with Ben Savigear taking over on drums. In mid-2004, shortly after the release of their first single in a decade, "Let Me Go Home", the band split once again. Their last gig, with a line-up of Regan, Cousin, Haimi and Savigear, was at the Mean Fiddler in London on 30 April 2004, at the end of a British tour; this was filmed and copies of the performance were made available through a fan website.
Regan latterly worked with The Eden House, In April 2009, Regan stated on her Facebook page: "All About Eve are dormant and may never happen again. I don't ever like to say never though, but it seems we've all moved on and are exploring other avenues."[16]
A double CD collection entitled Keepsakes, consisting of the singles, key album tracks and previously unreleased rarities, as well as some newly recorded songs, was released in early March 2006, and was initially available with a DVD of the promo videos and TV appearances.
2019
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing on 20 July, Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno created a video and song called "Pale Blue Earth". The pair released another song and video on 31 October 2019, called "Seance". Both songs are available on YouTube.
Martin Howard Willson-Piper is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as a former long-time member of the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church. He joined in 1980 after seeing an early gig where they were performing as a three-piece. He was an integral member of the band for 33 years. He was also the guitarist for the English alternative rock band All About Eve from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1999 to 2002. He has also worked with Swedish progressive rock band Anekdoten.
Mark Gerard Price is an English drummer known for being a member of Nik Kershaw, All About Eve and Del Amitri.
JulianneRegan is an English/Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. She achieved success in the late 1980s and early 1990s having formed the band All About Eve. Her major role in the band was as lead singer and songwriter. AllMusic describes Regan as "certainly one of the more talented singers of the late eighties British goth rock scene".
Tim Bricheno is an English guitarist, songwriter and music teacher. He was a member of several notable English indie bands, including All About Eve, The Sisters of Mercy, XC-NN and Tin Star. He has also played as a tour guest and recorded with The Mission.
All About Eve is the self-titled debut album of All About Eve. Commercially, this was their most successful, reaching No. 7 in the UK charts and spawning four Top 40 singles. Most of the album was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith.
Scarlet and Other Stories is the second studio album by All About Eve. It was held to be considerably darker both in tone and lyrics than their first album, All About Eve. The relationship between lead singer Julianne Regan and guitarist Tim Bricheno broke down during the album's recording and production, and Regan later said that she hadn't wept as much in her life as she had during the making of this album.
Keepsakes - A Collection is an anthology by All About Eve released on 13 March 2006. It is available either as a double CD or as a limited edition double CD and DVD set.
Touched by Jesus is the third studio album by All About Eve. It was the first album to feature Church guitarist Marty Willson-Piper on guitars. Despite this, the album fell short of the commercial achievements of both the first album and Scarlet and Other Stories, reaching No. 17 in the UK charts. Of the three singles released only "Farewell Mr Sorrow" charted, reaching No. 36.
Ultraviolet is the fourth and final studio album by All About Eve, released in October 1992. It was the only album that the band released with MCA. Despite quite positive reviews at the time this album was not commercially successful, reaching only #36 on the UK Albums Chart. The two singles only reached, respectively, #38 and #57 in the UK Singles Chart. As a consequence of this, the band was dropped by MCA shortly afterward.
Fairy Light Nights is the collective term for a large number of acoustic gigs performed by All About Eve between January 2000 and February 2002. The name stems from the fact that fairy lights were hung from the music and microphone stands. Two live albums were released during this time, one as Fairy Light Nights in 2000 and Fairy Light Nights 2 a year later. These recordings were also later released as a double album, Acoustic Nights, in 2003.
... Because I Can is the first studio album by Mice, and released through the Permanent Records label. Although a second album, New And Improved, was released, this was not a new album but rather an extended re-issue, released through the Jamtart label.
Return to Eden, Vol. 1: The Early Recordings is a compilation by All About Eve released in early 2002 on their own JamTart label and widely sold at gigs at that time, though also it was available to buy in shops and online. It was the fourth album released since the band's reformation in 1999.
Cinemasonic is a live album by All About Eve. It was released both as a CD and as a DVD and is a recording of the band's gig on 31 May 2002 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Andrew Cousin is an English bassist and radio presenter from Mirfield in England. He is principally known for being the bassist of All About Eve and he has also played for The Mission. Since 2016, he presents the Andy Cousin show on Deal Radio.
Toni Haimi is a Finnish guitarist originally from Hamina, Finland. As Toni Sailor he is the current guitarist of British electronica band Sohodolls, which he joined in 2004.
God Is a Bullet is the eighth studio album by The Mission. It was released at the end of April 2007 by SPV Records in Germany and Cooking Vinyl in the UK. The album features guest appearances by Julianne Regan, Tim Bricheno and Simon Hinkler. It was preceded by the single "Keep It in the Family" which was followed by "Blush". "Running with Scissors" reuses the music Wayne Hussey composed for Atsushi Sakurai's 2004 song "Sacrifice".
"Martha's Harbour" is a song by English rock band All About Eve. The acoustic ballad reached No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart and helped the group's self-titled debut album reach No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. The song features only Julianne Regan's voice, acoustic guitars played by Tim Bricheno, and sound effects of ocean waves.
Live in Bonn 1991 is a concert DVD from the British alternative rock band All About Eve. The DVD comprises the full 5 September live concert at the Biskuithalle in Bonn, Germany, part of the band's 1991 European tour promoting their recently released album, Touched by Jesus. The footage was originally recorded for the German music television programme Rockpalast.
Seeing Stars was the only album by the band Seeing Stars. It was essentially intended to be the fifth studio album by UK band All About Eve. In the aftermath of the Ultraviolet album's release – its bad reception and lost recording contract – whilst this album was being recorded in early 1993, lead singer Julianne Regan left the writing and recording session.
The Mission are an English gothic rock band formed in 1986. Initially known as the Sisterhood, the band was started by frontman Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams, soon adding drummer Mick Brown and guitarist Simon Hinkler. Aside from Hussey, the lineup has changed several times during the years and the band has been on hiatus twice.
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