After the Fire
After The Fire were formed in the UK in 1972 by keyboard player Peter Banks, Andy Piercy (guitar, bass), Ivor Twidell (drums) and John Russell (guitar). The market was responsive to UK adult-orientated rock during the early 70s but the band's mixture of "pomp Christian pop" was slow to break through. They eventually secured a contract following the release of their debut album on their own label. CBS Records invested in them and they were rewarded with a UK Top 40 hit, "One Rule For You", in 1979. The accompanying album, although polished, sold only to the converted. The band's subsequent recordings were minor hits until the unexpected major success of "Der Kommissar". Originally recorded by Falco in his native Germany, After The Fire's version went on to sell over a million copies worldwide, and made the US Top 5. However, by the time it charted, the group had already broken up, frustrated by record company indecision and the Christian ethos that "made things worse, as we couldn't have a good old swearing and slanging match." Banks built his own studio before becoming managing director of Maldon Computer Company, a software and networking enterprise. Twidell released three Christian rock solo albums, Waiting For The Sun (1981), Secret Service (1981) and Duel (1983), after leaving the group following the debut album. He then became a member of the Bedfordshire police force. Russell was last sighted working in a hi-fi shop. Piercy retained the rights to the name, although it was now abbreviated to ATF. Still a practising Christian, after submitting an unreleased solo album for CBS he went on to do production work for the Truth, T'Pau (when they were known as Talking America) and Gary Numan. (Source : VH1)
Life In The City (Released 1979)
Life in the city can be land of the lonely
Who's gonna know you when you're lost in the crowd
Everyone's looking after their one and only
Everyone's frightened of talking out loud, they say
You're one of the lonely people
Cause nobody knows your name now
Don't smile at people or they'll tell you your crazy
Be nice to no one or they'll say you're a fool
Look to the ground all the time that you're walking
Stick to yourself, don't you know thats the rules, they say
You're one of the lonely people
Cause nobody knows your name now
Across the street is an open door
There's a man standing out of the rain
He turns his collar to the wind
And you know you'll never see him
You know you'll never see him again
He's one of the lonely people
Cause nobody knows his name now
Say what you like I think you're on in a million
There's nobody like you, you're a class of you're own
The city's the place that we've all gotta live in
If we think of each other we can make it our home
Everyone's fighting for a way to survive
Nobody listens to a word that we say
There's more to life than just staying alive
We can make it, we can make it all day
I'll show you the way
And you'll find
Life in the city's okay
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