Kane Gang

Kane Gang
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Blues rock, Blue-eyed soul
Years active	1982–1991
Labels	London, Capitol
Members
Martin Brammer Paul Woods Dave Brewis

Kane Gang were a Blues rock trio from North East England that had a few UK hits and two U.S. hits in the 1980s. Named after the movie, Citizen Kane, the trio recorded for the indie record label, Kitchenware, that was also home to Prefab Sprout.

Career

Vocalists Martin Brammer (born 13 May 1957,^[1] Seaham, County Durham) and Paul Woods, plus multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis formed the trio in 1982, after meeting in small local bands, and signed to a small record label, which led to a deal with London Records in 1984.

Their debut album, Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang (released in the United States as Lowdown), was released the next year, and spawned two United Kingdom hit singles. These were "Closest Thing To Heaven" (#12) and a cover of The Staples Singers' "Respect Yourself"^[2] (#21). The latter was also a hit in Australia, reaching #19. The album had a decent pedigree, being produced by Pete Wingfield, and having both P. P. Arnold and Sam Brown as backing vocalists.^[3]

The band's next album, Miracle, released in 1987, spawned two US hit singles: "Motortown" (#36 US / #45 UK) and another cover - this time of Dennis Edwards' "Don't Look Any Further"^[2] (#64 US / #52 UK). The latter hit #1 on the US Dance Charts.^[4]

Woods left the band in 1991 to attempt a solo career. Woods and Brewis also worked on an album which was never released.

Adaptation

• The Kane Gang performed the music for the 'Ooh Gary Davies...on your radio' jingle for BBC Radio 1. As was the fashion around the time, bands would adapt songs to provide the radio station with a jingle, and embed the hook of the track in the public's consciousness. The Gary Davies jingle was based on their track "Smalltown Creed" (from The Bad & Lowdown World of the Kane Gang LP).
• The same track was used as the basis for the theme tune of the long running Children's BBC Byker Grove, the television program that launched the careers of Ant & Dec (as PJ & Duncan), and Donna Air.

Post-Kane Gang

Brammer continues to write songs for other artists such as

• Beverley Knight - various songs on her Music City Soul album
• Tina Turner - "Open Arms"
• Lighthouse Family - "Lifted", "Loving Every Minute" and "Raincloud"
• James Morrison - "Undiscovered" and "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore"
• Sheena Easton - "Time Bomb" (from her What Comes Naturally album)
• Roland Gift - "Flown"
• Nick Carter - "My Confession" and "Is It Saturday Yet?" (from his Now or Never album)
• Jack McManus - "Bang on the Piano"
• Tony Moran and Nicki Richards - "Lighthouse"

^[5]

Discography

Singles

• "Brother Brother" - (1983) - Failed to chart
• "Smalltown Creed" - (1984) - UK Singles Chart #60
• "Closest Thing to Heaven" - (1984) - UK #12
• "Respect Yourself - (1984) - UK #21; Australia #19
• "Gun Law" - (1985) - UK #53
• "Motortown" - (1987) - UK #45; U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #36
• "What Time Is It?" - (1987) - Failed to chart
• "Don't Look Any Further" - (1988) - UK #52; U.S. #64

^{[6] [7]}

Albums

• The Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang - (1985) - UK Albums Chart #21
• Miracle - (1987) - UK #41; U.S. Billboard 200 #115

^{[6] [7]}

The Miracle of The Kane Gang was released late in 2007, a double CD collection, released on Kitchenware Records, containing tracks from the two albums plus previously unreleased tracks and b-sides:-

Disc One

1. "Brother Brother"
2. "Gun Law"
3. "We'll Take This Train"
4. "How Much Longer"
5. "Loserville"
6. "Printer's Devil"
7. "Respect Yourself"
8. "Closest Thing To Heaven"
9. "Smalltown Creed"
10. "Crease In His Hat"
11. "It's A Gift"
12. "Angel On A Motorbike" *
13. "Six O'Clock City" *

Disc Two

1. "Motortown"
2. "What Time Is It?"
3. "Looking For Gold"
4. "Take Me To The World"
5. "King Street Rain"
6. "Don't Look Any Further"
7. "A Finer Place"
8. "Let's Get Wet"
9. "Strictly Love (It Ain't)"
10. "Sitting Ducks" *
11. "King Of Nothing" *
12. "Love Thing" *
13. "Lonesome, Weary And Blue" *
14. "Start Walking" *
15. "Brightest Star" *

• Previously unreleased *

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart
• Number-one dance hits of 1988 (USA)
• List of 1980s one-hit wonders in the United States
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• Bands and musicians from Yorkshire and North East England
• Now That's What I Call Music 4 (UK series)

References

1. ^ Allmusic.com - overview
2. ^ ^{a b} Onehitwondercentral.com
3. ^ Mmguide.musicmatch.com
4. ^ "Allmusic ((( Kane Gang > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p23970/charts-awards/billboard-singles. 
5. ^ Allmusic.com discography - songs
6. ^ ^{a b} Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 296. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Allmusic.com - Charts & Awards

External links

• Mini biography/discography at ear.fm
• Biography at 80's Pue Pop website
• Martin Brammer interview at Zioshow.com - Archived copy from Sep 29, 2007 - Retrieved Feb 10, 2011