- Go West (band)
Infobox musical artist
Name = Go West
Img_capt = Richard Drummie and Peter Cox in 1987
Img_size =
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Background = group_or_band
Birth_name =
Alias =
Born =
Died =
Origin =London ,England
Instrument =
Voice_type =
Genre = Pop, Dance
Occupation =
Years_active = 1982 - Current
Label = ChrysalisEMI
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 , inTwickenham ,London ,England ); and Richard Drummie (born20 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 fromJohn Glover , their manager, to find a musical producer, and record just two of theirsong s. The tracks "We Close Our Eyes " and "Call Me" found Go West developing arecord deal withChrysalis Records . The songwriting duo specialised inradio friendly, white soul sounds.The band's debut single, "
We Close Our Eyes ", was released in 1985 and managed to reach Number 5 on theUK Singles Chart , and #41 on theBillboard Hot 100 . The video for the song, directed byGodley and Creme , became an early favourite onMTV . This helped them to be voted the "Best Newcomers" at the 1986Brit Awards . The song was part of thesoundtrack for the Italian low-budget horrorfilm "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 Americantop 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 fromsoundtrack s 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 withMartin Page ). In 1991, the song received anASCAP 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 onITV 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 withTony Hadley fromSpandau Ballet andElkie Brooks , until he forgot the words to theNorah Jones hit he was singing at the time.
* In February 2006 Drummie went on a charity trek to the summit ofMount Roraima with Spandau Ballet's Hadley andMartin 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 guitaristAlan Murphy later joinedLevel 42 , and has been Kate Bush's sessionguitarist as well.
* Their song "Call Me" was featured in the video game , onFlash FM , and can also be heard in the Malibu Club. It was also featured on theclosing credits of an episode of theBBC 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 RecordsReferences
*Guinness World Records British Hit Singles (16th Edition) - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
*The Guinness Book Of British Hit Albums (7th Edition) - ISBN 0-85112-619-7External 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
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