Most remember the hit song “Melt With You” from the British band Modern English. The single was featured heavily on MTV, and has appeared in several movie soundtracks and on American and British television. More people are shocked to hear that the group is still together and boking gigs around the world.
Formed in Colchester, Essex, England, in 1979 by Robbie Grey (vocals), Gary McDowell (guitar, vocals), and Michael Conroy (bass, vocals), Modern English were originally known as The Lepers. The group expanded to “Modern English” when Richard Brown (drums) and Stephen Walker (keyboards) were subsequently added to the line-up of the band.
Cut from a similar cloth as Duran Duran and Simple Minds, thier style of music was a little more on the edge with harder percussion and rhythm’s than most “Pop” groups of the era.
Fans of the band will highly reccomend the album “After The Snow,” which was the album that featured “Melt With You.” In some ways it’s unfortunate that “Melt” did so well, because the popularity of that single overshadowed just how good the rest of the album really is. Radio programmers were reluctant to play anything else off the release due to the popularity of the first single, so some of the group’s best work went unnoticed.
“Life In The Gladhouse” is a pop-dance selection that moves with the same ferver as “Melt,” and actually is a better produced cut than the song that became the hit. The title track “After The Snow” features a deep harmony and recounts the story of life and rebirth after dark times in a person’s life.
If you can find a copy of “After The Snow,” it will help you re-discover a sound and a group many of us grew up with and still revere to this day. Available for download from several internet music providers.
AFTER THE SNOW – 1982 Sire Records
- “Someone’s Calling” 4:01
- “Life in the Gladhouse” 5:54
- “Face of Wood” 5:56
- “Dawn Chorus” 4:43
- “Melt With You” 4:10
- “After the Snow” 3:51
- “Carry Me Down” 5:25
- “Tables Turning” 4:33
