Marseille was a band that originated in Liverpool, England in 1976. Their style was New Wave of British Heavy Metal and came into existence in the earlier part of the New Wave musical era. Original band members were Paul Dale (vocals), Neil Buchanan (guitar), Andy Charters (guitar), Keith Knowles (drums), and Steve Dinwoodie (bass).
Their first album was “Red, White, and Slightly Blue” and was released in 1976. It was recorded by Mountain records. Several of their hits were “Armed and Ready,” “Rock You Tonight”, and “Walking Through the Night.” Critics tended to comment that Marseille’s songs were of dubious quality, but that the band was tight.
Their music had all of the standard ingredients for a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band. They were known for the volume at which they played, a brash and glitzy onstage look, and offensively sexual lyrics. These characteristics turned some listeners off, while exciting others. Before long, Marseille had a small but loyal cadre of fans. They promoted their album by playing as support the likes of UFO.
This exposure also helped build their fan base even further. They never became a huge heavy metal band in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal for several reasons. The first reason is that Marseille’s music needed better promotion to reach more people. In that same vein, Marseille’s albums had a limited release, so not that many people had the opportunity to hear them play. And third, the lyrics to their songs were very raunchy, even for NWOBHM standards, and turned some people off.
Marseille recorded 3 albums in the 4 years they were on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal Music scene. The first of these albums was “Red, White, and Slightly Blue” (1978) recorded at Mountain records. The second album was self titled release “Marseille” ( 1979) also recorded at Mountain records. This album was promoted better, and received some radio air time, increasing their fan base further. Marseille’s third album, “Touch the Night” (1984), was recorded at Ultranoise studios. Due to record company problems and a general disinterest in their music, Marseille broke up after the release of “Touch the Night.”
At the beginning of the new millennium, a rash of performances, tours and recordings revived some of the NWOBHM bands, sending these bands back on tour and back to the recording studio. In 2003, during this rash of nostalgic revival tours and recordings, Marseille issued their most recent offering – a compilation entitled “Rock You Tonight: The Anthology.”
I just about remember seeing Marseille supporting UFO on that tour from all those years ago. Impressed as I was by them “skint teenager” syndrome meant I didn’t get hold of any of their originals and had just about given up hope of ever getting anything until Rock You Tonight came out. I’m pleased it did and I play it regularly and was of the opinion that they were lost forever again.
Not so – they are back again recording and touring. A new album – Unfinished Business – is due in September 2010 with a tour planned to promote it. More on their web site here.