Close, The Alarm, And U2: The Words I've Been Holding In For Too Long

The song “Close” was released for review in the UK in mid-December 2004.   It’s little late in the album cycle for “In The Poppy Fields”, and without a single to sell in the stores, it’s kind of a wasted effort.   Still though, it’s nice to see The Alarm MMIV get some press, even though it’s not really the kind that does the much good.  Why? Because reading through most of the reviews of the single (Google '"The Alarm Close" review' to read what I mean) you might think it was 1986 all over again.  With a new U2 album out (the satisfyingly but light mega-hit  "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb") the same year as a new Alarm album (the unsung adventurous comeback "In The Poppy Fields"),  comparisons have arisen again.    Almost every review, good or bad, says "Close" sounds like U2.     It’s funny though, because if you asked any one of those people to tell you the specific U2 song “Close” sounds like, they probably could not.   Why? Because, really, it doesn’t sound like U2 at all.  It sounds like an idealized burst of rock and roll , ardent in its obvious love for the medium, while gripping with simple lyrics of yearning and hope.  It’s what people think U2 “should” sound like, but have not for many years now (sorry, not even on their new album).  Furthermore, “Close” has none of the signature guitar sound of U2 or even much of Bono’s vox style.  It sounds more like a cross between Icicle Works and Echo And the Bunnymen, shouted from the roof-top of decaying building somewhere in the dystopia of cold-war Europe. Funny though, that "Close" was written in 2001, long before the current U2 album was even being considered…but then that's not really the point.   The point is, The Alarm and U2 have never really much sounded the same.  They were friends and confidants with similar ideals who played guitar rock at time when it was patently unfashionable to do so.  They might have affected each other in various ways, but that the influence was definitely not a one-way street.  

113 Questions For Mike Peters

 My second massive interview with Mike Peters from 1997.  This is the longest interview I ever conducted.  The first interview was mostly about The Alarm, but this one covered more of his solo career. 
-Steve Fulton

 1. 'Feel Free' has been a success in many European countries, especially Italy. Can you tell us just what happened in Italy? Do you consider it a breakthrough?

'Feel Free' has generally been received well in every country of release. The album has enjoyed positive reviews and has definitely advanced the overall perception of Mike Peters as an artist working at the cutting edge of modern music. In Italy, the album received some decent airplay and I was able to perform on national t.v. which helped to ensure the concerts were very well attended. As to this being a breakthrough, only time will tell.

2. What about France? The Alarm had a tough time breaking through to the French, did you make any encouraging in-roads with them this time?

Yes! The French music press have been very favourable towards 'Feel Free' and the album actually scraped into the lower regions of the French charts.

3. You played at Disneyland France. That must have been a strange couple of days. Can you let us in on what happened there?

That was a closed show for the French media, although I played a warm up show with the band the night before to a lot of bemused families, who were quietly munching burgers (or as in Pulp Fiction should that be a "royale with cheese"). I think they were expecting a doo wop group or something but when we blasted into 'Rip' a lot of them fled for the exits leaving us alone to get on with our rehearsal.

41 Questions For Nigel Twist

An interview with Nigel Twist of The Alarm, conducted via email in 1997.  Twist had just started subscribing to Steve Varty's mailing list at the time, and it was a wondrous time to have a member of The Alarm communicating with us on daily basis.   Twist is a very unique character and has never wavered in his opinion on just what The Alarm is, and who it should be.

 Do you have a favorite Alarm song? How about a favorite Mike Peters or Dave Sharp solo song?
  Favorite Alarm song: I have many, but I like "Rain" , "Sold Me" & "We are the light" Twist & Sharp song: "Drive these blues away", Peters song: I haven't heard the album yet. 
 Do you still listen you your Alarm albums, or do you find it difficult to do so? 
 I haven't listened to an Alarm album in a while. The band never reached the production plateau we should have, however we came close with "Change" and "Eye of the Hurricane." Listening to our albums is like opening a photo album & seeing all the memories come flooding back (the bitter taste of dissapointment). ("Knife Edge").

 Was there a time when you felt The Alarm had finally "made it"? 
 "There was never a time that The Alarm had "made it", it was a continous struggle from the get go. Maybe after the US tour with U2, when we should have exploded into America. But due to many factors it never happened". 

 Since you were once a guitarist, would you have rather played guitar in The Alarm than drums? Do you play guitar now?   "I still putz around on the guitar but I never had any delusions about being a guitarist for The Alarm. Providing the backbone to the band was very fulfilling and I'm happy I did it, although at times it was like trying to drive a stagecoach with three crazy horses in front!" 

 How do you view the "Raw" album now 5 years later? 
 "The Raw album was a very saddening experience for me. My stepfather had just commited suicide and the atmosphere between the band members was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It felt like all we were doing was trying to make a fast buck so that everyone could leave and do their own thing. I think Mike was laying his foundation here to leave the band". 

76 Questions For Mike Peters

This is the first expansive interview I did for TheAlarm.com (then actually www.demon.co.uk/alarmpo) as the web master for the site.  My wife and I picked up Mike Peters at the airport in June of 1996 and drove him to the MTV Movie Awards Radio Roundtable where he was interviewed and played a few acoustic songs.  The 76 questions came out of the long and in-depth conversations we had that day.  This was the first time I had spent any length of time with my boyhood hero, and I was blown away by how easy going and open he was to al lthese question.
-Steve Fulton


1. How avid of an Alarm collector are you?

If there was a Top 10 of Alarm collectors I like to think I would be in it. I used to collect everything when I was in The Toilets/Seventeen but when success eluded both bands I started to view my scrapbook collection as a bit of a curse and so stopped around the time The Alarm came into being. I started collecting again in about 1985 and now have a fairly extensive catalogue My most recent purchase was a copy of the IRS (U.S. only) Finyl Vinyl "Unsafe Building" ($10.00) from Bleeker Bobs in Los Angeles. The one record I do not have, much to my regret, is a mustard vinyl "Deceiver" which might keep me off the number one spot!


2. Do any tapes of The Toilets or Seventeen exist, and will we ever get to hear them?

No Tapes of The Toilets exist to my knowledge. I had a live tape from a support slot with the Buzzcocks at Eric's, Liverpool in 1977, but lost it in 1980 when my car was broken into. Seventeen made numerous demo tapes during the years 1978-1980. The most definitive would be a 12 song 4 track demo recorded in 1979 at WSRS in Wallasey. I personally don't have a copy of this, although Twist still has the masters somewhere. I think this would be a fascinating release at some point as it features all the original members of The Alarm. Some song titles are "Talkin' About The Weekend", "Lies Lies Lies", "Stop Thinking About Yourself" and a cover of the Beatles "Please Please Me" among others. It may or may not include a cover of Tom Jones "It's Not Unusual" which was brilliant.


3. How many and which Seventeen songs went on to become Alarm songs.

Of the many Seventeen songs, only "Sixty Eight Guns" went on to become an Alarm song. It was the last written during the Seventeen era and was played during the band's last tour of Scotland and at the final Seventeen show (The Half Moon, Herne Hill, Dulwich London, January 1981). It was at this show that we announced our new name "Alarm Alarm".