CALL TO ALARMS
Mike Peters is back on tour with rabble-rousing 80s rockers after he and his wife Jules both battled cancer
MIKE Peters isn’t just one of the 80s’ musical survivors.
The Alarm singer, 59, is also one of life’s survivors having fought leukaemia three times. He was also affected in 2016 when his wife and band keyboardist Jules was diagnosed with breast cancer.
With Mike’s health now “back on an even keel” and Jules in remission, they are on a US tour and will fly back to the UK next week for a National Album Day event. There, he will perform The Alarm’s debut album Declaration and this year’s Equals.
It’s a far cry from 2015 when, amid the excitement of The Alarm’s 30th anniversary celebrations, Mike had a relapse.
The singer, who’d recovered from lymph cancer in 1996, then diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia in 2005, was devastated as he fought serious illness a third time.
He said: “All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to carry on living the kind of life I enjoyed, or if I was going to have to enter into a period of self preservation that would have snatched my ‘normal’ life from me.
“As it happens, I was able to get on to a clinical trial that introduced me to a new oral chemotherapy drug, saving me from the ravages of a bone marrow transplant that would have left my spirit and humanity seriously depleted. I was very lucky.
“At the same time, my wife Jules became diagnosed with breast cancer, forcing us both to immediately step back from all rock and roll activity.” Dealing with the fear and worry for Jules while she was in hospital, Mike began writing his feelings down on paper. She suggested he turn them into a new Alarm album – the first of original songs since 2010. Those songs would become Equals.
It’s taken so long for a new Alarm album because of the 30th anniversary in 2014.
Not many bands or singers from the 80s can celebrate while still releasing music and touring. Mike didn’t want
to release new music while he was ticking off first gig, first single and first album anniversaries. The original band, Mike, Dave Sharp, Eddie MacDonald and Nigel Twist, formed in 1981 in the Welsh seaside resort of Rhyl and went on to score 17 top 50 singles including Sixty Eight Guns and Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke? Their 1984 debut album Declaration peaked at No6 in the albums chart and they supported U2 and Bob Dylan before splitting in 1991. Mike rekindled the band in 1999, proving a point to an uninterested music industry by releasing music via his new Alarm line-up and pretending to be teenage band The Poppy Fields – only unmasking the fake band when their single 45 RPM reached No24 in the charts. The 30th anniversary gave him a chance to take stock. And like U2 touring The Joshua Tree, Mike went back to his past to “set my music free from its 80s timestamp”, re-recording songs for the 30th anniversary.
Mike said: “Back in 1983, when we were making Declaration, I felt like a part of the band’s spirit had been left behind during the recording process that effectively turned The Alarm from an alt-folk acoustic protest group, into an electric stadium rock band capable of breaking around the world.
“Take the album’s most famous song Sixty Eight Guns, which was originally long and complex. I was encouraged to take a verse out by the producer, who wanted to make it more radio friendly and get to the chorus line after one verse rather than two.
“It obviously worked, and Sixty Eight Guns went on to become a huge hit. When singing it live afterwards though, something was nagging at me and after re-reading the original lyrics, I realised to my horror I had taken out the wrong verse.
“The deleted verse contained the lyric that gave the song its true meaning – ‘If they take our chances, we’ll create our own’. I had an opportunity to put that right.”
Mike will delve deeper into this idea when he re-records the Alarm’s first and current albums for National Album Day.
The inaugural event on October 13 celebrates the 70th anniversary of the LP format. On Wednesday at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool, Mike will be performing acoustically.
It’s not just being in remission that’s putting a smile on Mike’s face. He feels The Alarm’s popularity is reaching their 80s heyday.
He said: “We haven’t known a time like this for the band since the earliest days. US Radio is embracing Beautiful, the single from Equals.
“Sales of Equals has put The Alarm back in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It’s always been important to know our music is still relevant and all the struggles I’ve had to stay alive mean I appreciate every opportunity to share our music with an audience.”
● The Alarm play Edinburgh Liquid Rooms December 7 www.ticketmaster. co.uk/event/ 3600550E90AF0F88
It’s important to know our music is relevant MIKE PETERS ON NEW ALBUM’S CHART SUCCESS