The Christians enjoyed a string of hits around the world in the late 80s and early 90s. They never stopped making music and have been busy touring again in recent years. BEN WEST caught up with Garry and the band during a visit to The Blackheath Halls
Wearing his trademark Ray-Bans as he lounges in Blackheath Halls’ dressing room waiting to go on stage, it’s hard to believe Garry Christian’s chart-topping band has been going for 30 years. He’s certainly looking very good for his 61 years.
Renowned for an endless string of soulful yet socially aware hits including Born Again, When the Fingers Point, What’s in a Word and Words, the band was formed by Garry and two of his brothers, Russell and Roger, and Henry Priestman.
Praise was heaped upon them from the start. Rock critic Charles Bottomley has described them as ‘The Temptations in ripped jeans, producing gritty-centred songs in a sugary vocal shell’. Garry is widely considered to have one of the most beautiful voices in pop, while BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans recently described The Christians’ set on air on BBC Radio 2 as ‘the best gig I’ve ever been to’.
When Garry was growing up, with 13 children in the family, the Christian household was always full of music.
“From a very young age I was an avid listener to music,” he says. “My dad used to play Ink Spots 78s. I wondered how these guys got those wonderful voices. I’d listen to my older brothers’ stuff, like Ray Charles.
“My older sister Pam had Merseybeat records, then Beatles records. In fact, she went out with John Lennon at one point. I first recollect The Beatles when I was six, in 1963, hearing I wanna hold your hand. It made me feel great. I was hooked the whole way through. I just loved it.
“I was totally into voices and harmonies. I tried to copy Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards [of The Temptations] and John Lennon. I’d try and mimic their sound. I’d wonder how they reached that tone in their voices.
“Then at school my geography teacher told us about a guy who got up at 6am each morning to go and work in a factory. He’d sit all day long looking at a tank, looking for a bubble in this airtight tank. That was his job. He was a bubble-watcher. My teacher said ‘don’t become a bubble-watcher.’ It made me feel a bit sad, thinking about that guy, but it was a great inspiration, it made me think about what I wanted to do with my life.
“My brother Vic gave me a bass guitar for my 16th birthday. He was a music teacher in Liverpool. Everyone knew him. Even today people come up to me and don’t say ‘you’re that singer out of The Christians’ but ‘you’re Vic’s brother’.
“I learned to play the bass and formed a band with my brother Russell. I couldn’t sing and play at the same time so I gave up the bass and sang. We played pubs and clubs in Liverpool for a few years, before meeting Henry Priestman.
“In 1986 we did a little session of one of Henry’s songs in this little studio, Benson Street Studios in Liverpool, and then sent demos to record companies like Decca, Parlophone and London. They said they were good but that there were no hits. However, the demos included Ideal World, Forgotten Town and Hooverville – which all became hits soon after.”
“But Island Records said they were interested. Their A&R guy Bernie Griffiths, came and saw us. A week later we were signed to Island Records. We were thrilled to be on this label as it had artists like Traffic, Free, Yusuf Islam [Cat Stevens] and Bob Marley. We were made up to be signed to this great label. First thing we did was go into Island’s basement and delve into their back catalogue.”
The band came to south London to record their double-platinum-selling first album The Christians at the legendary Workhouse Studio in the Old Kent Road – with drinking and pool sessions in the evening at the Henry Cooper pub next door. I break it to Garry that The Workhouse was bulldozed some years ago to make room for an Asda supermarket.
“No! That’s a shame. It was Manfred Mann’s place.”
I point out that Manfred Mann has lived in Blackheath for years.
“Laurie Latham, our record producer, he lives in Blackheath too.”
As well as producing The Christians’ first album (which reached number two in the charts and became the biggest-selling album by a debut artist for Island Records) Laurie also produced the band’s second album, Colour, which reached number one.
(By the way, as well as working on numerous Manfred Mann’s Earth Band albums at The Workhouse, Laurie also worked there producing Ian Dury and the Blockheads’ classic album, New Boots and Panties and hit singles Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll, What A Waste and Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, as well as some of Squeeze’s 1985 album, Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, and Paul Young’s hit album No Parlez. But I digress.)
Perhaps The Christians’ success was boosted by the fact that they stood out because they didn’t go down the synthesiser route, as many bands were doing in the late 80s.
“I didn’t get into the synthesised sound,” says Garry. “What worked for me was the vocals, the human aspect, mixing the harmonies.
“Our first single was Forgotten Town in early 1987. We played this venue called JB’s in Dudley, Birmingham, before it came out. There was an audience of six, they were all punks. When we played, they were sitting on the stage with their backs to us. And there were these four record company people at the bar right at the other end of the club. It was a bit surreal. A few weeks later Forgotten Town was playing on the radio all the time and we came back to play and the place was chocka, you couldn’t get into the place.”
They were instantly thrust into the spotlight and a whirlwind of live performances, TV shows and interviews. They performed on the original Hillsborough Disaster Fund charity single, Ferry Cross the Mersey alongside Paul McCartney, Holly Johnson and Gerry Marsden, and in Europe with James Brown. In Europe, being top of the charts at the time, they were placed top of the bill – until Garry insisted they perform before James Brown as he’d be embarrassed for such a musical legend to have gone on first.
The band has had numerous formations over the years – and in 1998 was struck by tragedy when Roger Christian died from a brain tumour – but Garry has remained a constant. The band currently consists of Garry on lead vocals, Joey Ankrah and Neil Griffiths (vocals, guitar), Cliff Watson (bass guitar), Lionel Duke (drums) and Mike Triggs (keyboards).
“Our latest album is called We,” Garry says. “We work on albums between gigs. We’re relentlessly getting gigs, so it can be difficult to find time to record. We find time a few days here, a few there. It came out in late 2015 to rave reviews. ‘They’re back’ they said – although we never went away.
We certainly has the same tight musicianship, silken vocals, infectious melodies and warm harmonies the band are renowned for.
“There’s a song on the album called Mother. My mother died in 2014, and when I came back from the funeral I wrote this song. It touches a lot of people who’ve lost their mums.”
The band are busy touring this year, and Garry loves it.
“I’m still up for it, 100 per cent,” he says. “Performing the music, getting on stage and doing it live – you just can’t beat it.”
We is available at thechristianslive.co.uk, which also details live dates
This article appeared in the Feb/March 2017 issue of Black + Green Magazine
