The Servants – in session for John Peel – March 18, 1986 – BBC Radio 1 –
The Servants tonight. Since I ran former Servants lead singer David Westlake‘s solo session at the BBC last night, I was casually reminded that, if I wasn’t aware of the band before David Westlake’s departure and embarking on a solo career, then it was my debt to fans to bring as much of this material to light as I could.
And as I was reminded that The Servants were one of the better, if not more marginalized bands during the 80s, then I was truly missing something. And in fact, I had been.
So I ran across this session via various excerpts and compilations, and was suitably knocked out. I confess, I was not aware of The Servants before today, and I was kicking myself for not being made aware of them in the first place.
Truths to tell, it was a particularly busy time for Music. MTV was still the be-all/end-all to see new bands, and many bands who were worthy of exposure just didn’t get it during their tenures. But why The Servants didn’t achieve household name status is a mystery to me. A thoroughly enjoyable band, with finely crafted tunes, replete with hooks and harmonies. It was the perfect addition to the growing numbers of Indie bands, springing up all over Europe.. .
Like a lot of bands during this period, exposure was the key.
If you’re familiar with The Servands or not, please check this session out – it’s the only one they did for John Peel at the BBC. Sadly, the band broke up in 1991, with their second album shelved and not released until 2011 – by then it may have been too late, but it got a whole new generation interested. And certainly got Mojo interested to the point of going back and looking at their debut album and proclaiming it the best British Indie album of all time. Better late than never, I suppose.
