Be My Light...

When I was in my early to mid-20's I used to DJ (in the loosest sense of the word) in a club in East Kilbride called Crystal's on a Thursday night. It was termed a Rock Club but was more of an Indie Club. I would play the perennial rock tunes - Ace Of Spades, Born To Be Wild etc - in the first hour before the indie tunes kicked in. It was at the height of Britpop so a large part of the choons were from the likes of Oasis, Blur, Elastica, Sleeper etc...Not sure how it transpired in the first place but do recall it was a huge amount of fun - chaotic fun, but most definitely fun.

Robert Fields, who I DJ'd for, also put on live bands on some of these nights. Some were local bands, some bigger names such as The Bhundu Boys and His Latest Flame. One of the bands I recall, largely because I was such a fan was Gene. Incorrectly dubbed as Smiths copyists, Gene were such a great band in their own right. Gene had a tougher sound than The Smiths drawing not only from the fey tradition of British indie-pop, but also from the three-chord raunch of The Faces, the working-class punk of The Jam and the soulful stomp of Motown.

From memory they played Crystal's sometime in '94/'95 and they were terrific. Their success was short lived but they did produce some great singles and a decent couple of albums, alongside their very own Hatful Of Hollow - To See The Lights which includes the beautiful For The Dead and the ever wonderful Be My Light, Be My Guide.

A band who never quite got the recognition they deserved who, in my humble opinion, deserve to be remembered for being so much more than Smiths copyists.