The Breathers – Jim Bell’s photo collection 1

supplied by Jim Bell.

Ric Hool, Jim Bell, John Wilde, Steve Demetri

Diane Knight… I remember them rehearsing in our studio in Fairlight Avenue…one recording went on all night.. pretty sure it was the same verse

James Bell… they were long rehearsals sometimes. The same verse was probably me getting it wrong.!!!! Thanks for being understanding, you guys were always supportive. Have a great Xmas jimx

Ric Hool… Rehearsing wasn’t optional with The Breathers. Chanced acts of creativity – there are those who will call them ‘mistakes’ – were pounced upon and used to flavour an established number differently, or else be the seed of a new song. Rehearsals were never solely concerned with dotting an ‘i’ and crossing a ‘t’ – they were much, much more than that. The Fairlight Studio was haven and heaven for us. Thank you for indulging us Diane.

It’s a lot faster than it used to be…

 

 

The Breathers – final line up 1981

The Breathers in their final phase acting as support for The Sensational Alex Harvey Band at a gig in Mountain Ash, Wales. Red Ferrari gtr, Kevin Hoad drums, Bryn Gregory  vocals, Ric Hool bass.

The_Breathers_3 copy

The_Breathers_2 copy

Photos supplied by Ric Hool

Andy Knight….What about those long rehearsals at Fairlight Studios Rick and where are you now?

Ric Hool….Hi Andy, Yes, too true, the Fairlight rehearsals were measured in days, not hours, as The Breathers found replacements for, firstly, Steve Demitri and then Izzi Peptone.Kevin Hoad made good the drumming stool and heroically stuck it out with Red Ferrari and myself. The difference between the rehearsals above Steve’s cafe and those at Fairlight were well demarcated: the former being hugely creative in terms and the making of the Breathers whereas the latter were spent in reparation.

Mick Mepham….Isn’t that Jim Bell on guitar? Excellent player and nice guy too.

Tony Qunta….Yes it is – last time I spoke to him was about twenty years ago!

Kevin Hoad….OMG.Never seen this Photo. The singer was guy called Bryn.(Welsh you know) can’t remember surname.We did Welsh tour and support to Sensational Alex Harvey Band.The Famous Digger was our Roadie.Great Guy.

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The Breathers at The Crawdaddy Club and other photos by Allan Morrow

Photos © Allan Morrow

Steve Demetri, John Wilde, Jim Bell, Ric Hool

Ric Hool… The Crawdaddy Club. This was the first public outing of ‘No Beginner’. I’m pretty sure the gig was recorded – wonderfully RAW! Getting back to ‘No Beginner’… This, Roger (Carey – and Hi!) is the song with the chorus
indelibly imprinted on your grey cells: my apology. Every song written for The Breathers was special so in one sense
‘No Beginner’ is no exception… but it is. But before I launch into that, I have to make known that as the group’s
lyricist and tunesmith, I brought some raw fudge that The Breathers cooked into what became fabulous songs. We never ‘played’ them; we were inside them punching them out in every performance: rehearsal and actual.
Jim, Steve and John were right there and right into it. Back to ‘No Beginner’…

The Chorus:
‘You’re a breather
A soul survivor
A racing driver
A man of action
A space ship captain
An outright winner
And no oh oh oh oh beginner’

Checked out each group member but as soon as John released it on stage there became a realisation of those words moving out to the audience in the very first word of the chorus: You’re That word; that song found complete connection. It said, you are all these things… and more. It shared a limitless inspiration. ‘No Beginner’ was the ever-developing live song, in the vocal of an ‘in the moment’ singer: Izzi Peptone. Fun; engagement; field holler; call and reply, absurdism primed for exploration.

‘You’re a breather
An ice-cream cornet
A nest of hornets
A ghostly spectre
A train inspector
A Surrealist painting
An actress fainting
A rhino charging
A misspent farthing’

To infinity… The Breathers should have taken it there… and beyond. Ric Hool

John Wilde… spot on Ric, those songs were a call to Action! I would love to hear them again.

Alan Esdaile… Action!

Grant Young… I’d love to hear these recordings

Jim Bell… Good news, I’m looking to restore all of the Breathers catalog over the summer holidays.

 

The Breathers – Jim Bell’s photo collection 3

Supplied by Jim Bell

Ric Hool, Steve Demetri, John Wilde, Jim Bell.

Alan Esdaile… Second photo is at the recording of ‘Living In The Age Age’.  Not sure who the guy with glasses is but seem to recognise the guy in the red shirt? What had you done to your arm John?

James Bell.. They were exciting and creative times. I would like to say thanks Alan for putting this group together, it’s wonderful looking back. From this the remaining Breathers have all being in contact, and are going to try and get together sometime in 2022. One thing though, Can’t remember Kermit being in the band. Cheers Jim

Ric Hool… Hi Jim, you might recall, the frog had a failed auditioned: he had no ‘Kermitment’…

James Bell… Ric, That made me laugh out loud. X

Roger Carey… Good pictures! I remember attending one of The Breathers’ first gigs at the Carlisle upstairs- they had a contemporary modern approach at the time with shorter snappier songs and looked good doing it!

John Wilde… Ric was a good song writer.

Roger Carey… John, Still recall that chorus “you’re a breather, a man of action, a racing driver “etc!

Alan Esdaile… Roger, so do I!

Tony Qunta… Great band!

Phil Gill… The guy in the red shirt is Jim Tatham, he and Digger were roadies/sound men for Tich Turner’s Escalator, and presumably, The Breathers.

The Breathers – Living In The Age Age biography

The Breathers:  Livin In The Age Age

ACTION!

Ric Hool and Jim Bell (aka Red Ferrari) moved to Hastings from Newcastle, in late 1978, on the back of an abortive management deal with Brian Leahey, who was working at that time from East Grinstead: Brian managed musician friends in the group, ‘Goldie’.

A few weeks after arriving in All Saints Street, Old Town, Hastings Steve Demetri called round to check-out the Geordies, apparently steered that way by Tich Turner.  Steve returned a few days later with John Wilde (aka Izzi Peptone) – they were musical celebrities of Hasting. There was an instant recognition of energy.

Daily rehearsals soon began above Steve’s parents’ café on the seafront, on the corner of St Mary’s Crescent: things got tight. It was a purple patch of creativity for each member and Ric was pushed forward as the song writer, exploring and synthesizing the musical capabilities of the group. It might be said that these pre-gig days were the best and most joyous.

Steve introduced a keyword to the group, ‘Action!’

He would say it, animating the word with an arc of his fist in the air, as if delivering a left hook. It became an uplifting statement and a vital gesture to The Breathers.

A name had to be found.

Izzi Peptone burst in one day and declared, “We are The Breathers.”

Nothing to argue about.

‘Livin In The Age Age’ was written on demand by Steve and Izzi  who wanted an all-out 120mph post-punk thrash but without any compromises on good lyrics or instrumental and compositional integrity.

Ric had picked up on facts that medical science had increased the human life span and that 45% of the UK population were over the age of 45 years (1979). The social comment and sci fi overtures were right for the embryonic Thatcher years.

Simon Davies, ex EMI and United Artists A&R man signed The Breathers to Curly Management, working in tandem with the brother of Chris Squire (Yes) and  operating out of the York Street, London W1 office of Ric Lee (Ten Years After).

Regrettably, Steve Demitri left The Breathers before the recording of ‘Livin In The Age Age’. The session drummer at Ambience Studios in 1980 was Clive Pierce.

‘Livin In The Age Age’ b/w ‘Count On Counting’ was produced by Dave Foister & The Breathers, engineered by Allan Morrow and released by Diversion Records.

The Breathers original line-up:

Izzi Peptone (John Wilde) vocal

Steve Demitri                      drums

Red Ferrari (Jim Bell)         Guitar

Ric Hool                                 bass

supplied by Ric Hool

Tony (Anthony) Davis… I can remember the guys in the Breathers hanging around the Golden Hind a lot, probably because Stevie D owned it. I was DJing there at the time and remember that I often played a demo tape – wish I had it now! Also remember going to the Windsor Castle pub in London to a great gig. Like everything Steve and John did – filled with energy!

John Wilde… Ha. Thanks for the memories. Bless the Soul of Steve. Best wishes to Ric and Jim. It was a blast.  Sorry I was so fucking ego tripped. L O V E x

Yvonne Cleland… Blimey! I remember these guys. Derek Bolland and me met them when they’d just moved into that gorgeous house at the bottom of All Saint’s Street. They invited us back to talk about how they could get into the local music scene. All I can remember now is their lovely accents, how they were really into Buggles’ ‘Video killed the Radio Star’, and how amazing that house was. That was in the days when me, Tich and Derek used to hang around a fair bit…. Derek must have put them onto Tich, and now I know what happened afterwards. Cool.

Darren Holmes…  remember Jim he used to teach my mate Michael Delpeache and myself the guitar in the 80s – I think he called himself Jim Dubelle at the time and his lead singer then was his girlfriend Dee

Dave Nattress… Really interesting story – nice one. Thanks for posting. Knew a bit about The Breathers and the connection with the wonderful John Wilde and Stevie D but this fleshed it out wonderfully.

Clive Pierce… Hi All, I am Clive Pierce who played the drums briefly with The Breathers. I very much enjoyed my short stint with them and agree they were lovely guys. If anyone is interested I have a photograph of The Breathers in action at The Windsor Castle gig mentioned above. Just let me know how and who to send it to and I will gladly do so. All the best Clive.

John Spence… I saw the band at the Golden Eagle pub in Blyth, Northumberland in late 1980, really enjoyed their set so I bought Livin in the age age off the band that night, I still play it now as I think it’s catchy and a cracking song.

Darren Holmes… I’ve actually played Jim’s Les Paul pictured above, what a fantastic guitar.