It was a dark, breezy summer night in the leafy streets of Ealing, queen of the London suburbs, when future Underground Circus lyricist and singer Mark Bradley first met drummer WIlliam Hatfield and bass guitarist Simon Senior in the sprawling garden of a mutual female friend, their subsequent conversations about music, lyrics and influences, notably their love of Duran Duran, together with David Sylvian’s arthouse ensemble Japan formed much of the impetus to start ‘Underground Circus’, as it would later be known.

These bands together with other so-called New Wave groups such as The Cure and Bauhaus, and older influences such as Bowie, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground were singer Mark’s inspiration to leave school mid ‘A’ levels and work in the City as a trainee stockbroker, a job he loathed, but which met his ends, namely to help finance a dream. All he had was his book of jottings and lyrics, inspired by an early poetry competition win entered by kids drawn from a cabal of South-East England schools, but essentially, the dream was more of a determined goal to find like-minded souls to form a band — he didn’t have a clue where he would find them — but in that breezy summer night, their fate was sealed.

Inspired by their discussions on musical influences: Mark was, some days later, invited by Simon to audition for his newly formed (and as yet unnamed band) in Will’s parents converted loft in the next road from where Mark lived. This would be the first gathering/practise of the individuals that would later become known as Underground Circus (well, after a couple of other names were tested first — but these original personnel — plus one more would in essence become UC, also know to insiders as ‘The Circus‘).

Although Mark and Will were close neighbours they had gone to different schools and thus were in different friendship ‘tribes’.

The initial practise went well, and consisted of U2 covers as the guitarist Gary McGovern was a massive fan of U2’s guitarist, The Edge. Soon after discussions and musical treatments, Mark and Simon’s Duran/Japan New Wave sensibility started to influence and create the embryonic DNA of a different sound. Soon Duran’s ‘Careless Memories’ was added to the bands initial covers in the fledgling rehearsals. On the second rehearsal Mark’s lyric book appeared from a satchel and so the the concept of writing their own songs was born.
The resulting compositions included ‘Diary of a Clown’, ‘She Plays Dead’ and ‘State of Reason’.
The City job was soon to provide the finance needed for them to blossom into a gigging band with the purchase of a half decent PA system — well, that and an MG sports car which the PA system fitted perfectly into with the soft top down of course — This was not going to be a Ford Transit band, this was going to be Roxy Music in a convertible with super models, provocatively sat on the boot with stilettos puncturing the leather on the back seats.

Within months the band played their first gig at Mark’s joint 18th birthday party to a captive audience of over 500 drunk teenagers at Ealing Northern Sports Centre. In an era prior to ‘Facebook parties’ some ‘cheeky self publicists’ had decided to announce the gathering on a major independent London radio station, advertising it as a ‘free-for-all party with the hottest new band in town’, so from the get-go, there was no expectation and no pressure!

Despite general mayhem, the on stage debauchery extended to a buxom stripper dressed as a police officer, so that as fights erupted (amid alcohol spillages) there was confusion when the real police arrived to take charge of the drunken rabble, but not before the boys had hurriedly managed a lightening set and had escaped with both their PA and their MG roadster intact.

Shortly after that first gig, the boys secured a regular venue at the notorious down-at-heel but aptly-named Half Way House pub in West Ealing. Surprisingly, the band and the regular clientele managed to co-exist and after months of a once-weekly ‘residence’, word spread, and a loyal fan base was established.

Next the band were invited to enter a ‘talent contest’ (specifically a band competition) that was being sponsored and organised by retailer ‘Ealing Music’ where their PA system had been purchased from, most of the other contestants were also clients of the music store run by a lovely couple who looked after the aspiring rock and pop stars of the suburb.

On the night of the Ealing Town Hall contest, tensions were high as around eight fairly decent local bands, mainly New Wave, played to a packed house.

But the band had been in dire need of a keyboard/synth wizard to infuse the Kraftwerk/Japan element to balance the livewire inspired rock guitar. The band noticed one keyboard player in a rival group that looked like he had the right hair to fit in, but he seemed to have several expensive keyboards like the ones that cool chart-topping bands on Top Of The Pops had — plus it looked like he could actually play which was an added advantage — so the band decided to take an impromptu punt on meeting Paul Turner after Paul’s band had finished their set, and with some fast talking, managed to persuade him to jump ship (taking with him his snazzy looking aptly branded kit).

As the night drew to a close the winning band was announced and the early line up of UC, then known as ‘Nouveau Riche’ won the band competition outright, a tremendous victory and played to a rapturous encorè… The judges decision swung in no small part by the extremely loud encouragement of six-formers from local Notting Hill girls school who went on to become a loyal legion of fans for the band! At which point, Paul knew he had made the right decision in changing allegiances even before the winning band had been announced.

Within months of Paul joining, UC band members had started introducing him to newly frequented haunts in the cool West End club scene. Those included Philip Salon’s Mud Club at Centrepoint and Philip’s glorious Opera House club, as well as the wonderful Wag Club on Wardour Street. Firmly bonded as an ever tighter musical troupe, the original lineup of UC, (who changed their name again at this point to Paris and Back) were ready to take on all-comers.

Soon the band changed gear again and one phone call and subsequent meeting later with the owners of the infamous Gatecrasher Balls, (Eddy Davenport and Jeremy Taylor), secured their first of many central London nightclub gigs – the first at the Limelight club. Other Gatecrasher gigs were to follow, including the Astoria, the Hippodrome and the Hammersmith Palais.

Together with regular gigs in Fulham and Hammersmith, which included the Greyhound music venue in the Fulham Palace Road, the band were earning a reputation as a post new wave Japan/ Duran/ Police/ U2 livewire act, they seemed to be the band ‘the girls wanted’ and the ‘guys wanted to be in’… So far, so very good indeed.
One famous gig at the Hammersmith Palais just as the dropped stage was raising with the drum kit, the DJ quietened his speakers and just as the band was about to enter on to the stage, one key member of the band was missing. Found minutes before the bands announcement on to the stage, in a broom cupboard, mid-babymaking with a fashionable young female — he was swiftly retrieved before the lights hit the stage, slightly disrobed (but not dishevelled) he hit the first note like a true pro. The young admirer waited patiently by ‘stage left’ and as soon as the band stopped playing to thunderous applause, she grabbed his hand and they disappeared – not to be heard from for another two days.

Tragedy then struck the band as Simon (who had just secured a modelling contract with Pepé Jeans and was hanging around the fashionable Chelsea-set and had even completed photo shoots for Face Magazine) died aboard the Marchioness on 20 August 1998. Crashing a good bash seemed a mantra for the 1980s and that fated riverboat was a party that the rest of the band could well have been at. For every band member, the outcome of that night was to be far-reaching in the wake of Simons death. His friends would never forget that collective shock watching the BBC footage near Cannon Street Railway Bridge that then panned in on a photo of Simon playing bass at the band’s first Gatecrasher gig at the Limelight club. It was a great photo of Simon, he looked like the true star, that we all knew he was, in fact in many ways he was the star of the band. It was Simon’s band regardless of Mark writing the lyrics and the others writing the music. Simon was the magnet that brought the band together and after the Marchioness that force seemed spent. The remaining members of the band may have been lost… but at least they were lost together, and that, in the face of adversity and sorrow for Simon and his family, brought them even closer together. No-one could diminish his outstanding contribution… Simon Senior RIP.

After the Marchioness, grief and sentimentality left the boys temporarily rudderless as they battled to replace the pivotal sound that Simon had made his own on bass, the band lost its live momentum completely: They couldn’t even remember calling the Gatecrasher impresarios to explain an uncharacteristic ‘no-show’ — that time in their lives after Simon’s passing was “all a bit of a blur”.
They became reclusive, and decamped to Paul’s recording studio, his step-father Graham had kindly built it for him and the band, such was his faith in where their exploits were headed. Thank you Graham.

This writing and recording period produced some odd results that amongst other things had a vague country feel about it and very much marked a time of being artistically lost in a wilderness. It was both a deep sense of longing, and a reflection by the remaining members of the band. Like Floyd’s Syd Barrett, Simon’s presence was never and has never been forgotten.

At this time fellow Ealing band members the Brand New Heavies had been signed for a while and had starting to become critically acclaimed — Bass guitarist Andrew Levy, a friend of Simon’s, took an interest in UC and produced some of their early work. Andrew was a great and very inspirational musician, I think he found our influences a bit odd but he was great to work with.

Meanwhile the ‘funk’ that was igniting the Ealing scene meant that the time was right for local artist Jason Kaye to sign to Sony with his band Jamiroquai, this irritated UC and inspired them to light a fire under their arses to get a record deal.

The ball really started to roll following a chance introduction instigated by Mark’s primary school friend and later broadsheet newspaper writer Roger Carter, who connected the band to music industry luminaries Claire Rudderham and Orin Cozier. Both were genuine treasures and in seeing the boy’s vulnerability wanted to help them circumnavigate the ‘dark side’ of the industry. Their efforts secured an initial £1,000 investment from Jeff Young (the ex-Radio1 DJ who was now the head of A&R for MCA Music), this was excellent and the band set about producing the four-song demo/EP together with engineer Mark Kelsar, a kindred spirit from Survival Studios in Acton, who engineered the early Jesus Jones demos. It was this mini-journey (kicked off by Mark’s childhood friend Roger) which culminated in the demos that would ultimately see the band signed.

The Circus used the opportunity of MCA having booked a day of showcasing at Nomis Studios in Olympia, to create a ‘domino effect’ to let all the major labels know that UC had arrived and was ripe for signing. These included Virgin, Polygram, Polydor, EMI and a new label Planet 3, fronted by A&R supremo Dave Ambrose (whom Mark had first met at EMI but had subsequently lost contact with as Dave had left to start a label, and due to contractual commitments couldn’t tell anyone. Anyway,
a chance re-encounter, during the week before the big Nomis showcase had woven Dave back into the fabric of the band’s lives.

Such was the chemistry the band had with Dave Ambrose (plus the fact that he had plucked from obscurity so much musical deity), that from all the conversations that were being had in the music industry at that time, there was really only one person that they wanted to sign a deal with, but he had disappeared! The band had lost touch… and then, there he was, with his lovely wife Angie, at a Duran Duran Dominion Theatre gig that all the band had attended — it was more than luck, it was fate. After home numbers were exchanged at the gig, a call was put into Dave on the Sunday, and an offer was made by Dave’s Planet 3 legal team to the band’s lawyers within the week, and contracts were signed within a few subsequent days.

Ironically, the date of the signing was 20 August 1993, exactly five years to the day of Simon’s death — so ironic — a reminder from the founding member ‘please don’t forget me’ — something that UC have seen as a sign from their friend that they have never forgotten, an object lesson that loyalty and perseverance pays off.

So, Underground Circus’ were finally signed in ’93 by Dave Ambrose (ex EMI head of A&R who signed the Sex Pistols, Duran Duran and countless others) to Planet 3 Records, an arm of Sanctuary Music, Iron Maiden’s management Company based at their Nomis Studios, a facility originally set up by Japan and the Yardbirds manager Simon Napier Bell.
Dai Davies (ex Mainman management who managed David Bowie and Iggy Pop) were part of the Planet 3’s management team ultimately overseen by Iron Maiden’s managers Andy Taylor and Rod Smallwood.

Key personnel that Underground Circus recorded with, were:

Colin Thurston who produced Duran Duran’s first two trailblazing albums and engineered Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ album with Brian Eno.

Neil X from Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Jah Wobble and John McGeogh (Public Image Limited) contributed bass/guitars on UC re-mixes. Sylvia Mason James, Shirley Lewis , Terry Roland and Teri Douglas (who married Mark J Bradley and became Mrs Teri Bradley, mother to their four daughters) — all sang backing vocals on the album.
Tom Fredrikse, M-People’s and D-ream’s producer, who is now the band’s music lawyer and a partner at music law specialist Clintons in London, produced two singles; ‘I am the King’ and ‘Something’.
Craig Logan (ex Bros) produced a track on the album. Clive Farringdon (Lead singer and writer ‘When in Rome’) produced a track for the band and Peter DeHavilland a wonderful London socialite and Chelsea Arts Club member also co-produced another track.
The band recorded, wrote and rehearsed where the band’s record company were based, at Nomis Studios, Olympia, London.

The band’s lineup changed over the years, and included original member Gary McGovern the graphic designer and photographer; guitarist Jim Lowe who went on to produce the Stereophonics; and producer Mark Kelsar. Three founder members: William Hatfield on drums; Paul Turner keyboards/bass guitar and frontman/lead singer Mark J Bradley stayed the course – Simon Senior stayed with the band in spirit.
The band went on a hiatus in 2000 after working with Andy Taylor from Duran Duran on the writing/production project ‘Triptych’ and are now currently pursuing various personal projects, the band never actually disbanded, nor did anyone resign or and were re-signed with label continuity.

Mark’s brother and original Ealing fan Ad Bradley was behind Elvis Presley no 1 ‘Little Less Conversation’ and produced ‘Rubbernecking’ while at BMG and now runs his own music synchronisation agency Ad Bradley Music.

The band have just signed a deal to re-release the Underground Circus album under licence to BMG Rights Management (UK) who now own the rights to the original masters.

The album ‘Metropolis’ is available on all the usual online streaming and download outlets including Spotify and iTunes from February 2018.