Please note that after 30 years, people may remember things differently - but we have done our best.....

Let me tell you a story.....

Once upon a time in the 1970's there was a band called "STRIFE". They played high-energy rock - and they played it very well. Wherever they played, the audiences loved them. You would think that they were bound to make it big - travel the world - sell millions of records - make their fortune and live happily ever after. You would think...... From the start, they were unfashionable - they came from Merseyside at a time when even the Beatles didn't go there. They did not have a trendy manager - they didn't have a manager at all! They could not get a record deal in London. They had to travel to LA. to get a record deal - and then it was with Chrysalis Records who were based in London! The first album "Rush" went into the top 10 of the Virgin LP charts just as they finished a tour supporting "Baker Gurvitz Army". They were getting a reputation in the music business as a band you did NOT want as a support band - they were likely to blow the headlining band clean off the stage. One big push from their record company and they would be there! Chrysalis were having great success with Leo Sayer etc. and less success with their Rock acts, and were considering repositioning themselves as a more MOR label. Without a manager to fight for them, STRIFE were put on hold. Chrysalis would not release any further recordings, but would not release "STRIFE" from their three-year contract. They were trapped. They gigged more than ever, and continued to go down well. The situation was frustrating, but they were still much in demand, and the contract would soon run out. In 1977, they released a maxi-single on their own "Outlaw" label. EMI heard it, realised its potential, and released it. It is a great single but it didn't chart. Gull records released the "Back to Thunder" LP later that year, but the time had passed - punk had arrived - and "STRIFE" split leaving lots of "if only's" and "what if's". "Rush" was released on CD in 2001 and has reached 2,252 in the Amazon charts. A very respectable position for a re-release from a comparatively unknown 1970's rock band.....

Pauls History