This was not my intended choice for this feature. Rest assured, there have been many splendid eulogies following the death of Mike Peters, and I will not even try to compete. But since the news of his recent death, I have been reminiscing. Back to the time of the mid-eighties up to the early nineties, when The Alarm soundtracked many of our lives. Peters established the Love Hope Strength Foundation—a great man.
I can’t remember the last time I listened to the track ‘How The Mighty Fall’. I managed to find my limited edition 7” single that came with the vinyl LP “Change” and put some backing to my memories. The album’s long gone, the single now a bit scuffed and well-travelled. Sounding a bit bombastic and bygone, but still stirring. Too easy to attach the Dylanesque lyrics to the here and now. We will wait.
I want to go back to November 1985. I’d be lying if I said I’d listened to the BBC broadcast of The Alarm’s gig at the Boston Orpheum. I can’t say if it was live or recorded. A flatmate in Dundee told me he’d listened to it on his radio at home in Greenock. He still mentions it now and then. On ‘68 Guns’, he heard Mike Peters ask Bob for the house lights to be put up and encourage the audience to “tell those people at home on the radio what they’re missing tonight”. A great gig, by the sound of it.
But I’ve still got a 5-track Mini LP from 1985 with recordings from that Boston gig. At the time, The Alarm were the only Welsh performers to crack the US… apart from Tom Jones and Bonnie Tyler. Yes, a bit bombastic and bygone, but the EP is still an enjoyable listen. The Alarm covered Dylan’s ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ and always seemed to nail it. This live recording starts with Peters declaring, “This is a song that I taught Bono how to play”.
I’m fairly confident Mike Peters didn’t have to knock.
