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City in the Pink

Aberdeen Evening Express (1 July 1983)

A photo of Kissing the Pink used in other articles. It consists of the 6-person Naked lineup standing in a white room. Stevie leans forward towards the camera, his arms grabbing the back of a chair. George sits in front of him on that chair, with his fist at his chin. To George's left, Nick also sits, although it's hard to tell if he's sitting on something. To George's right, Peter kneels and grabs onto the chair for stability. In front of George, Jo sits on the floor. To the left of them all, Jon is standing and looking down at the rest of them.

Via the British Newspaper Archive (link, paid subscription).


Transcript

KISSING the Pink add some colour to the week in Aberdeen, when they make their city debut at the Venue on Sunday.

The group, who have a debut album, "Naked" just released Magnet, come north as part of a 25-date nationwide tour, which for the two Scottish members Steve Cusack and George, means a first chance to play in their homeland.

"This is the third tour Kissing the Pink have done in the last seven months, but we have never been further north than Newcastle until now," said Drummer Steve.

The basis of the band met at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, where the two keyboard players John Hall and George formed a pop group with violinist and bassist Peter Barnett.

"I met them when they came to a studio in Kilmarnock to do some demo tapes," said Steve. "I was playing in a heavy metal band at the time and drummed for them during their sessions."

When the other three departed for London and a final year at college. Steve thought he had seen the last of them. But a phone call out of the blue sent him racing south to complete the line-up for Kissing the Pink.

In the interim, guitarist Nick Whitecross and saxophonist Jo Wells had joined, and the band spent a lot of time gigging in London.

"We got a sort of residency at a place, called the King's Head in Fulham and as our name became known, companies started to take an interest.

"In the end, it became a three-cornered fight between CBS, Magnet and the German company Han-sa, with Magnet offering the best deal of all," said Steve.

The record deal was concluded just over a year ago and after two singles which provided minor chart placings, "Last Film" stuttered its way into the top 20.

"It entered at 78, moving to 65, then 52, then 51 to 49. We began to think we might have the Christmas number one on our hands - It was such a slow climber."

Eventually the single made the grade and the band saw an amazing difference in crowds at gigs after their appearance on "Top of the Pops"

"One appearance on television and suddenly we were good news. It is up to us now to prove we can follow 'Last Film' successfully."

The album "Naked" was produced by Colin Thurston and Pete Walsh, who recently worked with Peter Gabriel and Simple Minds and the new single could be taken from that.


Notes

I like that George doesn't get a last name.