Michael Head, and his brother John, in their various musical guises, have been more or lesss constant companions on my musical journey over the past forty years or so. From the Pale Fountains, through Shack (and a brief interlude as The Magical World Of The Strands) to Michael’s current incarnation with The Red Elastic Band, the Brothers Head have produced an impressive body of intelligent, lyrically inventive, guitar-based, melodic pop.
Their story would make for a great movie although there would be people who found it all a bit unbelievable. The origins in late 1970s Liverpool; the multi-million pound deal with Virgin Records which resulted in two seminal albums and no commercial success, the multiple attempts to get Shack the recognition they deserved, thwarted by dodgy management, lost master tapes, burnt down studios and disappearing record companies; the years of hiatus, the comebacks, the eventual dissolution of one of Britain’s greatest ‘almost’ bands (Noel Gallagher famously described Shack as ‘the second best band in the world’). It seemed as if Michael and John would be no more than a footnote in the history of indie music.
Then in 2017, at the age of 55, Michael somehow found the energy, the passion, the drive, to start again. And this time, it seems to be working out for him. Dear Scott, the band’s second album, released in 2022, gained not just critical success (it was named as Mojo’s Album of the Year) it also saw a degree of commercial success, reaching number #2 in the UK album charts.
And last week, the follow up (Loophole) was released, and as I write, it apparently stands at #6 in the midweek charts. 45 years on, has Michael finally ‘made it’?
I really hope so. There can’t be a musician out there who deserves success – whatever that looks like – more than Michael William Head…
Enjoy…
The 'Spill 
Good call. This was in The Guardian today:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/21/singer-songwriter-michael-head-loophole-ciao-ciao-bambino?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Interesting, entirely new to me.
Ditto 🙂
I remember reading about the Pale Fountains in pop mags round about 1983. The only song I definitely remember by them is Jean’s Not Happening from about a year later. I vaguely remember the name Shack , didn’t realise there wa sany link though.
I remember reading in a music paper about them getting a Killing Joke support slot with disastrous consequences. I think Joke had a policy of using support bands as cannon fodder back then.
Yes, I don’t see a common audience between Killing Joke and the brothers Head!