Deaf School

* Eric Shark (aka Sam Davis) sadly died on 7 January 2010 after a long illness.
Please visit www.deafschoolmusic.com if you would like to leave a comment about Sam* Eric Shark (aka Sam Davis) sadly died on 7 January 2010 after a long illness.
Please visit www.deafschoolmusic.com if you would like to leave a comment about Sam or just to hook up with the rest of the band and the wonderful Deaf School family of friends and fans. .



"In the whole history of Liverpool music, two bands matter most one is The Beatles and the other is Deaf School. If that seems like a sweeping statement then consider this after the pop revolution of the 1960s led by The Beatles and other Merseyside groups, it looked as if the citys music scene had dried up forever. But in 1975 there came a motley band of Liverpool art students called Deaf School. And they were the catalyst for the most dramatic revival since Lazarus. THEIR IMPACT ON THE CITY IS WITH US TO THIS DAY.



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Deaf School are an inspired, chaotic live act who in the early days never numbered less than eight and numbers sometimes climbed well into double figures. They play a wild amalgam of cabaret and pop; they are camp and theatrical but rock like crazy too. They are supreme entertainers. They were signed to Warners by The Beatles droll confidante Derek Taylor and between '76 and '78 made three albums, each to be cherished. They galvanised Merseysides moribund local live scene (Ian Broudie said, "There was nothing going on in Liverpool before Deaf School"); they were the figureheads of the newly opened Erics Club and set the template for a generation of younger Liverpool acts, from Echo & The Bunnymen to Frankie Goes To Hollywood.



So why aren't Deaf School better known? They were a band in the right place (Liverpool) but the wrong time on the cusp of punk rock. Deaf Schools wit and verve were, in hindsight, a bridge between glam rock and new wave, but in between came the year of the Sex Pistols and The Clash and Deaf School simply didnt fit. Liverpool loved them always they were a bridge, as well, between the arty collegiate crowd and down-to-earth Scousers. Everyone recognised a good time when they saw it and Deaf School were exactly that. But the message got lost in its translation to the wider world.
Much of the bands talent was not lost however. Guitarist and chief songwriter Clive Langer found fame producing acts including Madness (who were in Deaf Schools London fan contingent), Dexys, Morrissey and Elvis Costello (with whom he wrote the spellbinding song Shipbuilding). Male lead vocalist Enrico Cadillac, alias Steve Allen, formed The Original Mirrors with Ian Broudie before a new career as a top record executive; bassist Steve Lindsay became The Planets; female lead vocalist Bette Bright, alias Ann Martin, made some brilliant solo records before marrying Madnesss lead singer.
(Its sometimes said she became Mrs Suggs but we prefer to think of Suggs as Mr Bette Bright.)
A few reunion shows since their glory days have seen Deaf School delight diehards and converts alike with the power-pop punch of Hi Jo Hi, What A Way To End It All and a dozen other classic souvenirs of that brief, fabled career. The re-born Picket, happily restored to the heart of a resurgent city, is the perfect place to witness Deaf School together once more both band and venue are living symbols of Liverpools musical resilience".
Paul Du Noyer 2006.



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