The Papers: Bio

The Papers Story

The Papers were formed in 1979 and were based in Brixton South London. The band oscillated between the music scenes in Brixton and Deptford Crossfields estate – the home of Dire Straits, Squeeze and many other fine bands. The scene was agitated, uncompromising, exhilarating - ripe for political protest and full of invention and unstoppable musical carnage. In the middle of this The Papers emerged with their strident tough-talking explosion of challenging agi-pop.

Twin brothers John and Mike Fitzsimons were born in Orpington, Kent in 1951. The sons of Irish emigrants they graduated from Essex University in 1971 and directed most of their energies towards various music projects (Plod www.themightyplod.com, Targets, Stan Laurel Band, ...) until forming The Papers with John Wilkinson and Norman Marsh.

Following an introduction by their good friends The Skunks (later The Craze) to Salamander Productions, within a year The Papers were recording their first single with Tony Taverner at Maison Rouge Studios in Fulham, London. Panache Music (Malcolm Forester) signed the band for publishing and produced the first two singles.

The first single 'How Many More' featured the then US president Ronald Reagan (probably the world’s first ‘sample’). This single gained the band the reputation they wanted – politico agi pop. The single rose to number one in the indie charts and was played by national BBC Radio 1. They were playing all over London and headlining some big festivals. The bands journo-pop credentials were becoming very well known and CND, No Nuke Music booked them for big London South bank gigs. The Big tour followed – out to the West – Cardiff, Exeter, Bristol and Glastonbury then back in time to play two sell out London hotspots. Star writer Paul Strange from Melody Maker wrote a glorious review. Elton John’s producer Gus Dudgeon got interested and arranged a live recording.

The follow up single ‘Reggae On The Radio' while as strong musically did not have such an impact. The music industry were unsure what to do with a band that straddled politics and pop. Deals came to an inevitable end. The band continued to play for a couple of years and expanded the line up to include sax (Bernie Hagley of Vanity Fair), vocals (Jenny Geraty) and percussion (Barry). In 984 they released a third single 'The Only One I See', an anti war epic recorded at Mekon studios with Rob Doran (Hard Corps).

Then the band went their separate ways. Mike joined the Piranhas in Brighton, John Willo became part of God Made Trouble (GMT). Norman and John went west.

In 1999 John Fitzsimons re-engineered the unreleased recordings and issued 'Roxy Plays The Wild Card' - an 11 track album.

Following the emergence of the new wave of British Bands such as Hard Fi, Futureheads and Bloc Party it was decided to digitally re-master and re-release some of the The Papers material. Listen in and you’ll see why. 'Fahrenheit In A Centigrade World' is available on this site and on iTunes.

But why stop there! The music and the message needs to be out there. In 2007 the band will re-formed with young, new musicians and will be releasing a single in 2008.

Keep up with developments at www.myspace.com/thepapersmusicuk

Get ready for another dose of hard-nosed agi-pop – and learn to dance.

The Papers views - politics and pop

The Papers music was created to reflect the political tensions at the time: impending world war, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and emerging environmental issues - non renewable energy policies, the growing preoccupation with consumerism, the loss of spiritual focus, the destruction of a cohesive society and the divisive right wing vision among politicians such as Thatcher and Reagan.

The Papers mounted their own global stand and used contemporary music to try and wake up their audience to these important issues. Tracks such as 'How Many More (For The Third World War)' and 'Hello Oblivion' were set against a backdrop of cold war politics that was spiralling out of control. 'Miracle' and 'Spacer' highlight the development of the consumer is king culture - make anything they want and sell it - hang the consequences. 'Android' and 'Telephone' highlight the growing artificial nature of human relations and the deterioration of human dignity and its harnessing by the new media to sell everything from cars to toothpaste. 'Dead Man’s Shoes' pointed to the futility of 9-5 sheep-like career ambitions in an uncaring society. And 'Must Be A Better Way' is a direct challenge to the way the planet is plundered for commercial gain.

So what's happened since then?

As ever the world didn’t quite implode and some good stuff happened as well as bad. However we came close and today many would say it’s getting worse. Perhaps the threat of a world war has receded, perhaps not. Current events in the Middle East point to uneasy tensions. Global economies are growing faster than ever, consumerism is out of control, the third world is being plundered. Environmental issues are better understood but little has been done despite evidence of irreparable damage in the interests of global capitalism. And humanity still finds it hard to get along with each other on the basis of politics, religion, economics, resources, race, gender and sexuality.

But it is not all doom. Bob Geldof is an example to us all, as are the good folks at Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and many other organisations that are trying to bring a new balance to this fragile world.

The Papers music is strong and uncompromising, totally committed. Has it dated since the 1980’s? Not a bit. You will find synergies with today’s issues, some frighteningly so. Eerily the music sounds closer to the new wave bands of today than the bands of the 1980’s and the sentiments as current now as they were then.

Time to stop reading and start listening.

The original line up

John Fitzsimons - lead vocals, guitar, writer

John Wilkinson - lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, writer

Mike Fitzsimons - bass, backing vocals

Norman Marsh - drums