Indigo Listen

Indigo Listen was a live band based in Bristol in the 1980's.
History
Originally (1983) the band comprised of only two members Ally (Alistair Patterson-Fox) as lyricist and vocals and Neil Bailey as composer and guitarist plus synthesizer. In the duo days the band was simply known as 'Listen'. Some live work was performed with the aid of backing tapes in local venues.
In 1984 Steve Thomas was brought in as keyboard player. Steve was very different to the existing members and considered slightly wild (some considered verging on dangerous). Steve's songwriting skills were very different to Neil's and the band became more dance oriented. The live performances were aided by live drum computer backing, with Steve playing synthesizers on one hand, drum programming and bass on the other. This enabled Neil to push himself into the guitar 100 percent whilst Ally's lyrical skills developed. Voice training raised the standard considerably and by 1985 the band were pulling in large audiences at all the best local venues.

At this point the band decided to sack the drum machine and bring a human being on board to perform the duties. Tad Korbusz (the band's manager) had been concerned that the live energy had been accelerating too much with the aid of digital assistance and computer technology and felt that a human drummer might bring things back down to more human levels. He was wrong. John Furlong proved that he could outperform the best digital drum technology and the high energy music remained. But with John's skills on the drums the band moved up to another level.

The band released their first single 'Whatever' in 1985 which was featured on the Radio 1 John Peel show.

Late 1985 and 1986 saw Indigo Listen (a new name to reflect the new band) headlining at the major gigs. Unlikely gigs happened (such as support band for King Kurt on the Cocking All Over the World tour) and wonderful venues such as Ashton Court Festival and Glastonbury Festival. Johnny Walker introduced Indigo Listen live on stage at The Thekla in July 1986 as 'an amazing and original bunch of musicians'.

During this time Steve and Ally spent a few consecutive months working as a duo called '4-2' playing very odd ideas to a very odd audience.

However, Steve was getting itchy feet and had several solo projects which he was keen to explore. Ally was also keen to write and perform more grungy stuff so at the height of it all the band amicably went their own ways.

Later Years

Over the next two years Steve released two solo albums and also wrote and performed a single with DJ [http://www.davebarrett.com Dave Barrett] . Steve also played several festivals and gigs with a very large synthesizer and computer set-up along with Tad Korbusz who took care of the lighting and visuals. Also during this time Steve worked with many other artists, such as [http://www.carmina.co.uk/art/cindy/news.htm Cindy Stratton] (ex-Joy Poloi) who recorded her first solo album with Steve. Steve went back to playing live for 1990 but by then had focussed on studio work and wrote and released music for television and films for the next few years. Steve's old mate [http://www.stevejolliffe.com Steve Jolliffe] (from Tangerine Dream days) teamed up with Steve to produce two albums in 1995 and 1996 (Zanzi and Temennu). Steve released a solo album in 1997 entitled [http://www.musicave.co.uk 'More People Have Been to the Moon'] and formed Musicave Productions.

After Indigo Listen split, Ally formed Beef and the Vegans and fulfilled his desire for a grungier style. For a couple of years they played the local area.

Neil did what he does best, and played with various musicians and is still playing the local pub circuit in Bristol.

John sessioned with various bands and apparently now lives on Mars.

-- () 19:20, 22 September 2008 (UTC)