Biography
Birmingham's Jameson Raid, much like countless other hopefuls from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal era, never reached genuine commercial heights yet sustained activity across many seasons through steady regional shows and organic fan recommendations, before taking their spot among the numerous overlooked acts enshrined in cult metal lore.
Formed in Birmingham around 1975 as Notre Dame, the group adopted the Jameson Raid name—drawn from a late-19th-century South African uprising—roughly two years later after former Hoi Polloi singer Terry Dark agreed to front the existing trio of guitarist Ian Smith, bassist John Ace, and drummer Phil Kimberley. Punk rock's grip on national coverage left their hard/prog/glam rock leanings, which ranged from Mott the Hoople to Thin Lizzy, and their theatrical stage outfits featuring fake blood, stockings pulled over heads, and surplus military jackets decidedly out of step. Still, the quartet advanced by working the Northern England pub circuit and persisted until Britain's musical climate began shifting in their favor.
In February 1979, as the first indications of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal surfaced, they covered the costs to issue their own debut EP, which highlighted their range through three songs: the refined yet memorable heavy rock of "Seven Days of Splendor," the direct radio-friendly drive of "It's a Crime," and the literary references of "Catcher in the Rye." A March support billing alongside Def Leppard and Magnum at London's Hammersmith Odeon placed them firmly in N.W.O.B.H.M. discussions and resulted in "Hard Lines" appearing on the Metal for Muthas, Vol. 2 compilation released in May 1980.
An ensuing spell of confusion, triggered by the approaching exits of Smith (later succeeded by Mike Darby) and Ace (later succeeded by Peter Green—not the well-known bassist), led the band to request billing simply as "the Raid," apparently to distance themselves from any South African connotations, thereby detaching their accumulated work from what became their strongest career break. The loss of those two founding members nevertheless stalled their progress permanently; after releasing the End of Part One EP to preserve the original lineup's recordings, they navigated a string of replacement players and unproductive demo sessions before dissolving in 1983.
Some of those later demos later surfaced alongside the earlier material on Shadow Kingdom's Just as the Dust Had Settled compilation in 2010, and more than 25 years after the split the classic Jameson Raid lineup reunited for selected performances across the U.K. and Germany.
Formed in Birmingham around 1975 as Notre Dame, the group adopted the Jameson Raid name—drawn from a late-19th-century South African uprising—roughly two years later after former Hoi Polloi singer Terry Dark agreed to front the existing trio of guitarist Ian Smith, bassist John Ace, and drummer Phil Kimberley. Punk rock's grip on national coverage left their hard/prog/glam rock leanings, which ranged from Mott the Hoople to Thin Lizzy, and their theatrical stage outfits featuring fake blood, stockings pulled over heads, and surplus military jackets decidedly out of step. Still, the quartet advanced by working the Northern England pub circuit and persisted until Britain's musical climate began shifting in their favor.
In February 1979, as the first indications of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal surfaced, they covered the costs to issue their own debut EP, which highlighted their range through three songs: the refined yet memorable heavy rock of "Seven Days of Splendor," the direct radio-friendly drive of "It's a Crime," and the literary references of "Catcher in the Rye." A March support billing alongside Def Leppard and Magnum at London's Hammersmith Odeon placed them firmly in N.W.O.B.H.M. discussions and resulted in "Hard Lines" appearing on the Metal for Muthas, Vol. 2 compilation released in May 1980.
An ensuing spell of confusion, triggered by the approaching exits of Smith (later succeeded by Mike Darby) and Ace (later succeeded by Peter Green—not the well-known bassist), led the band to request billing simply as "the Raid," apparently to distance themselves from any South African connotations, thereby detaching their accumulated work from what became their strongest career break. The loss of those two founding members nevertheless stalled their progress permanently; after releasing the End of Part One EP to preserve the original lineup's recordings, they navigated a string of replacement players and unproductive demo sessions before dissolving in 1983.
Some of those later demos later surfaced alongside the earlier material on Shadow Kingdom's Just as the Dust Had Settled compilation in 2010, and more than 25 years after the split the classic Jameson Raid lineup reunited for selected performances across the U.K. and Germany.
Albums
