Wildlife

Burning ROCK CANDY

In a long-lost album, the roots of FM.

In the late 80s, singer Steve Overland, his guitar-playing brother Chris and drummer Pete Jupp would achieve AOR perfection with FM. But in 1980, on their first album together, Wildlife’s debut Burning, the raw talent they had just wasn’t enough.

Wildlife had good connections – a famous manager in 60s pop singer Adam Faith, and hotshot producer Rupert Hine, who later worked with Rush. Moreover, at 20 Steve Overland was already a great singer. But while the album’s title track was raunchy like Bad Company, much of the remainder was cheesy pop-rock. And while I’m Winning was a fine song, written by Russ Ballard, it was Santana who had a hit with it.

Wildlife’s self-titled second album, released in ’82, was much better, but even with ex-Free and Bad Co. man

Simon Kirke on drums and Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant pulling the strings, that album also flopped. No matter, because with Wildlife’s demise, Britain’s greatest AOR band was born.

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