The Railway Children

The Railway Children, built around vocalist Gary Newby with Brian Bateman, Guy Keegan, and Stephen Hull completing the lineup, drew a modest cult audience in England by the close of the 1980s. Still in their teens, the members began issuing singles through Factory Records. Their work echoed the layered guitar pop of the Smiths while drawing on the bright, memorable melodies of 1960s British pop and the brisk post-punk outlook of their own decade. The quartet delivered its first album, Reunion Wilderness, in 1987, an effort that earned a contract with Virgin Records. Follow-up Recurrence, issued in 1988, polished away much of the raw texture found on the earlier independent sides and produced several minor hit singles. Native Place appeared in 1990 and found the band moving through a period of change by folding dance textures into its approach. In 1992, during sessions for the planned fourth album Dream Arcade, EMI assumed control of Virgin Records. The group exited the roster; by 1994 Bateman and Hull had also departed, leaving the project suspended. Newby carried on alone and finished Dream Arcade in the spring of 1999 with an entirely new supporting cast.