MEET WILBERFORCE - ORIGIN
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By Mark Tingley
My previous group Blob Hotel was formed in 1987, originally to collect up the many collaborations I had going at the time. We released 3 albums over 8 years, putting out over 40 songs and played a handful of gigs.
But by 1995 Blob Hotel had run it's course. It was time for something different.
Blob Hotel had spent the best part of 1993 labouring over a half finished double album that never saw the light of day. Running out of inspiration and members, I took a year off, followed by a stint as a radio journalist.
Over a few drinks one night at the Earl Of Radnor in North London (right), I suggested to my musician comrade Nigel Marvin about becoming his manager and heading up "Wilberforce Management". The manager idea got forgotten and we agreed it was a great name for a group!
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The actual name "Wilberforce" came directly from a cat that lived at 10 Downing Street. Wilberforce himself (left) served under four British Prime Ministers and retired on 3rd April 1987, apparently after 18 years service! Naming the group after a cat seemed a really great idea!
And it was a good strong English name too, coming at the right time when I wanted something new. I had new equipment for a fresh sound and Blob Hotel had bitten the dust.
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By the end of the summer of '95 the radio career had foundered in bitter acrimony, my confidence was shot and I was breaking up with my Belgian girlfriend. What better time but to return to the one thing I loved doing most!
So I embarked on a sudden splurge of song writing, thanks to The Beatles. With the excitement surrounding the 1995 release of the Anthology, the very heroes who inspired me to write music the first time round were re-inspiring me again for my own "comeback"!
But before recording began my equipment broke down and I had to drive 40 odd miles to Watford to fix it!
Early recording sessions yielded very little . But by Autumn 1996, Wilberforce finally sprang into life with College.
By this time I'd become a TV / Video production student and had to film and edit a 5 minute short. I seized the opportunity to put together an accompanying promo for the first ever Wilberforce song. Reaction was positive. Wilberforce were now up and running!!
Now it was time for the new album. Except that another 5 years would elapse before anything more was heard from Wilberforce again!
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