Big Country mainman Stuart Adamson suggested Mike Peters should front the band long before his tragic suicide, says the Welsh singer and guitarist.
He remains proud to be fronting his old friend’s outfit – and he’s also preparing a unique movie-and-music tour with his own squad, the Alarm.
Peters was named as Adamson’s replacement in 2010 when Big Country returned. But he says the idea was discussed before the Scotsman hanged himself in a Hawaii hotel in 2001.
“The last time I saw Stuart was the last time he performed with Big Country in Glasgow in 2000,” Peters tells WalesOnline. “I was supporting the band on the tour. It was called ‘The Final Fling’ because Stuart wanted a break from Big Country.
“He wanted to go and live in America, and the band wanted to do a different style of music than he did. So he told the band he thought they should carry on with me fronting them.
“It’s weird that here I am doing just that – and it’s something Stuart suggested more than 10 years ago.
“The next time Big Country played I was the singer and we were in Glasgow for the first gig back.”
Peters performs with original members Bruce Watson, Tony Butler and Mark Brzezicki, plus Watson’s son Jamie. They recently released Another Country, their first single in 12 years.
Meanwhile, he’s finishing work on a new Alarm album – and plans to present it to the world in a way he hopes will capture people’s imagination.
The idea is based around his 2004 scheme to score a hit in a time when he knew radio stations would refuse to play his band. Instead he hired young outfit the Wayriders to rename themselves the Poppyfields, and pretend his track 45RPM was theirs. It worked – the Alarm scored their first chart hit since 1989.
The story has been turned into a well-received movie, Vinyl, starring Quadrophenia’s leading actor Phil Daniels.
Peters reports: “I said, ‘Let’s take it to gigs and do something no one has done before: release a film into rock’n’roll venues.’
“There will be a premiere tour with the film showing and the Alarm playing as well. Hopefully we can create a buzz around it. We want to create as much excitement around it as we can.”
Classic Rock Magazine
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