GOING SOLO

The break up of Help Yourself left everyone downhearted. Malcolm: “We hadn’t sold many copies of the Ken Whaley album and I couldn’t really see the point of doing another one if it wasn’t going to sell. I didn’t really have many songs finished, just some half-formed ideas. I just got fed up with the whole thing, so we decided to knock it on the head. We weren’t getting the gigs, nobody wanted to re-book us because we weren’t pulling in the crowds and so it all came to a natural conclusion in a way”.

The Helps story didn’t quite end there however. A year or so later the band got together for a one-off benefit concert at the Roundhouse organised by Pete Frame of Zig Zag magazine. The famous London venue was completely packed – and to the band’s surpise most people seemed to have come to see them. Help Yourself went down a storm.

After Help Yourself, Malcolm joined Bees Make Honey, doing more gigs in a short period than his former band had in their entire career! Thoroughly enjoying himself, Malcolm says “I was getting six quid a night, so for the first time I was rich. I thought it was terrific – we just didn’t do enough gigs in the Helps, not enough people liked us until after we had disbanded.”

Nevertheless, Malcolm was tempted away from Bees Make Honey, by an offer he couldn’t refuse… to join Man.However, after recording one LP (Rhino Winos and Luncatics) and experiencing an American tour (which he said was “great”), he decided to return to London to start writing material for a solo album.

Backed by members of Plummet Airlines, the LP was recorded at Foel Studios in Wales during 1976, and produced by ex-Brinsley Ian Gomm. However, the LP wasn’t released and for a long time, the tapes were believed to be lost.

Around the same time, Malcolm moved into the attic of famous London pub-rock venue, the Hope & Anchor in Islington. While staying at the pub (run by former Helps manager John Eichler) he tells the story of turning down the keyboard player’s job in an early version of Dire Straits – who had a regular gig at the pub at the time!

CONTACT PROBLEMS!

Sadly, the old form that was on this website was proving to be rather problematic. We became aware that quite a few messages were being sent that weren't being received ~ so we've resorted to using a simple email address for the time being. Many apologies if you sent me a message and I didn't reply. I urge you to try again! Send your email to: hello(at)malcolm-morley.co.uk

MAN BOX SET

On the Road / On Air is a new box set that document’s Man’s BBC sessions between 1972 and 1983. There’s some great music here, including a BBC Radio 1 session that features Malc from 1974! Visit the Cherry Red website for more info.

SOCIAL MEDIA?

Putting together this website has certainly been a 'learning curve' ~ but I think we're getting there. For a more interactive experience visit the Malcolm Morley Facebook page and the fledgling Twitter account (@bewaretheshadow). If all goes well, who knows, we may even consider a YouTube channel.