ALASDAIR MURRAY freelance copywriter
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In the beginning, back in 1981...

...I had this dream about being a singer in a rock n roll band. Here's the story of what nearly happened one balmy
Summer when a pint was less than a quid and smoking the occasional ciggy didn't mean you were the Anti-Christ!
Never did get to do the sex and drugs, but the rock n roll was OK while it lasted!
Bete Noire was a musical collaboration between Pete Vas (aka 'Beethoven' - ex Gloria Mundi - a punk band on the London circuit in the late 70s) and Alasdair Murray (whose plan to use the rather cheesy stage name of 'Ewan Mee' (as in you and me girl, how aboput it?) never came to fruition. Following his days as Gloria Mundi's guitarist, Pete enjoyed a brief solo career with RCA, with whom he released one single under the name 'Beethoven'. Subsequently dropped by the label, he was living in Langham Street, W1 in the summer of '81 when he met neighbour and aspiring vocalist Al.

 

Somewhere on the rooftops of London, W1

Up until that time, Al had been dabbling with a bit of singing and also helped manage/roadie a band from his local town of East Grinstead - The Edge Band, aka 1999, aka The Promise in their various guises that followed. The demo tracks on this site are the result of that meeting. Aimed at a more mainstream audience than Pete's previous musical ventures,



I always did look better in soft focus


Spanish Girl.mp3    Diamonds.mp3
the four song EP 'Langham Street' attracted interest from a couple of record companies, who said they would definitely go and see Bete Noire if they played live. The trouble was, by this time, Pete, whilst an extremely accomplished guitarist, as demonstrated by some of his work on these tracks (he also played the drums, bass (a ten pound one from Woolworths so he claimed) and 'Wasp' mono synthesiser, had by then developed what amounted to stage fright, thus the songs never got an airing in public.




Johnny Ball meets Keith Richard but plays guitar like Jeff Beck

That wasn't quite the end of the story however. A couple of years ago, a chance conversation with one of the 'dads from school' who is a mastering engineer, and a rather hissy 25 year old cassette was given a bit of a digital polish. Then, this year Al was interviewed on Absolute Radio for their 'One Last Dream' competition, to reunite bands and have a lucky winner guest at 'Hyde Park Calling' on the same bill as Springsteen. Sadly I never found Pete, and Springsteen would end up Bete Noire less.

 

There upon the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me

Disco Posing.mp3    Only One.mp3