Go West (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Go West


Img_capt = Richard Drummie and Peter Cox in 1987
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born =
Died =
Origin = London, England
Instrument =
Voice_type =
Genre = Pop, Dance
Occupation =
Years_active = 1982 - Current
Label = Chrysalis
EMI
Associated_acts = Level 42
URL = http://www.gowest.org.uk/
Current_members = Peter Cox
Richard Drummie
Notable_instruments =

Go West are an English pop duo, formed in 1982, by Peter Cox (born 17 November 1955, in Twickenham, London, England); and Richard Drummie (born 20 March 1959, in Twickenham, London, England). While they have had many successful singles in their native U.K., they are generally best known in America for their hits "King of Wishful Thinking" and "Faithful."

Musical career

Go West had a publishing deal and possessed a portastudio, but lacked a band or recording company. Cox and Drummie decided, with support from John Glover, their manager, to find a musical producer, and record just two of their songs. The tracks "We Close Our Eyes" and "Call Me" found Go West developing a record deal with Chrysalis Records. The songwriting duo specialised in radio friendly, white soul sounds.

The band's debut single, "We Close Our Eyes", was released in 1985 and managed to reach Number 5 on the UK Singles Chart, and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video for the song, directed by Godley and Creme, became an early favourite on MTV. This helped them to be voted the "Best Newcomers" at the 1986 Brit Awards. The song was part of the soundtrack for the Italian low-budget horror film "Dèmoni", also known as "Demons". The single would prove to be their highest-placing UK single, and only appearance in the UK Top Ten.

The band's self-titled debut album was released in 1985 as well. It included "We Close Our Eyes" and "Call Me" as well as "Don't Look Down", which served as the prequel to what would be the band's first top 40 hit in the U.S.. The album itself was not only very successful in Britain but also moderately successful in America. "Bangs and Crashes", an album of remixes, b-sides and live tracks, was released in 1986.

In 1987, the band released the proper follow-up to their debut, "Dancing on the Couch". Although several singles were released from the album, its success paled in comparison to the first album, particularly in the U.S. Ironically, it did yield the band's first American top 40 hit with the single "Don't Look Down (The Sequel)", a continuation of the track "Don't Look Down" from the debut album. However, "Don't Look Down (The Sequel)" wasn't included on UK versions of the CD, and instead included the track "Let's Build A Boat" in its place.

In 1990, Go West finally broke through to American audiences in a big way, when they scored a Top 10 U.S. hit with the song "King of Wishful Thinking" from the movie, "Pretty Woman". Unlike many hits from soundtracks of major movies that are written by outside songwriters and merely performed by a musical artist, "King of Wishful Thinking" was actually written by Cox and Drummie themselves (in collaboration with Martin Page). In 1991, the song received an ASCAP award for being one of the most played songs in America the previous year.

In 1992, the band released the "Indian Summer" album, which included "Faithful", another big hit in the U.S., peaking at #14. This track later received airplay recognition awards in the U.S. (in both 1992 and 1993) as well.

In 1997, Peter Cox took a break from Go West to release his self-titled first solo album. He has gone on to release several more solo albums into the 2000s. His most recent album, "Motor City Music" was released in 2006.

Their new album "Futurenow" was released on 23 June 2008.

Trivia

* Peter Cox was quickly brought in to replace Then Jerico's Mark Shaw on ITV reality TV show "Reborn in the USA" when Shaw stormed off the series in the first few days of the show's tour. Even though he had success as part of Go West, he was able to go on the show as none of his solo singles had found success in the United States. He was tipped to be one of the finalists, along with Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet and Elkie Brooks, until he forgot the words to the Norah Jones hit he was singing at the time.
* In February 2006 Drummie went on a charity trek to the summit of Mount Roraima with Spandau Ballet's Hadley and Martin Fry from ABC. He spent most of his free time shopping and whittling a six-foot long branch into the "Drummie" stick. [http://lostworldtrek.homestead.com/richarddrummiegallery.html]
* Go West guitarist Alan Murphy later joined Level 42, and has been Kate Bush's session guitarist as well.
* Their song "Call Me" was featured in the video game , on Flash FM, and can also be heard in the Malibu Club. It was also featured on the closing credits of an episode of the BBC One comedy, "I'm Alan Partridge".
* One of their songs entitled, "One Way Street", was featured on the "Rocky IV" motion picture soundtrack in 1985. This song was written for the movie, at the request of Sylvester Stallone.
* The "Dancing on the Couch" album was released late as the band's computer system crashed, losing most of the music they had recorded up to that point.
* In 2007, the band appeared on to recreate a 'fix it' from 1986. In the original show, a fifteen year old girl had peformed the hit "We Close Our Eyes" alongside Cox and Drummie as a backup singer.

Discography

Albums

ingles

Peter Cox solo releases

* 1997 "Peter Cox" - Chrysalis Records UK # 64
* 2001 "Flame Still Burns" (EP) - Blueprint Records
* 2002 "Nine Miles High" (EP) - Blueprint Records
* 2004 "Desert Blooms" - Blueprint Records
* 2004 "Tony Hadley vs Peter Cox & Go West" - Blueprint Records
* 2005 "Game For Fools" (EP) - Blueprint Recording Corporation Ltd
* 2006 "Motor City Music" - Curb Records

References

*Guinness World Records British Hit Singles (16th Edition) - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
*The Guinness Book Of British Hit Albums (7th Edition) - ISBN 0-85112-619-7

External links

*Official Peter Cox Website http://www.peter-cox.org
*Official Go West Website and Forum http://www.gowest.org.uk
*Unofficial Go West fans forum.. http://langersandginge.yuku.com
*Official Japanese Go West-Peter Cox Website http://www.gowest-petercox.jp
*amg|11:9yem97l7krjt|Go West
*Unofficial Go West Fansite 'Go West Arena' http://www.gowest-arena.co.uk