Sacred Alien

Sacred Alien, was formed in Manchester around 1980, and recorded the single "Spiritual Planet" in 1981, by Greenwood Music. We had a chat with lead singer Sean Canning, about the early days of the band and bout future plans.

Q. - Hello Sean! Tell us a bit about the beginning of Sacred Alien, how did it all start? How did you get in touch with the other members?

Sean - Hello! It was November 1980. The other members (Martin ‘Ted’ Ainscow, Chris Lea, Dave Clowes) had already been in a band that preceded Sacred Alien called ‘Silverthorn’ – I had been messing around in a few school bands but nothing had really taken off. I had just started at Art College and all the students went on a trip to London to visit the National & Tate Galleries. On the train journey back to Manchester I sat opposite a group of guys whose conversation pricked my ears up. They were talking about music, in particular punk and metal bands and, although they were a bit older than me (I was 16 at the time!) I chimed in and started chatting to them. One of the group set up a miniature drum kit on the table using those little round milk cartons and proceeded to perform an impromptu ‘air drumming’ solo using this teeny tiny kit. It was pretty funny at the time – I guess you had to be there, and be 16, and have had a warm can of lager to get the full effect, but I thought this guy was pretty cool...turns out he is a drummer in a band called Sacred Alien. I glean from his mates that his name is ‘Neil’. At that point the train rolls in the station and we part ways.

The next day in college, I have decided I need to find this guy so am roaming the corridors around where I think their classes might be when I see one of his gang of mates. “Oh Hi!...Remember me from the train?’ He gives me a blank look and takes a swig of coke. “Errm...you were sat opposite me?” No reaction...I am annoying him now, “and you had a guy with you who was drumming on a tiny drum kit made of milk cartons....his name was Neil?” This catches him mid-swig and he nearly chokes on his coke – in fact I am pretty sure some comes out of his nose as he splutters, “Ha, ha! Neil? NEIL??? You mean Chris!” Now it’s my turn to be confused.

“Erm...I’m pretty sure his name was Neil...” I reply meekly. “No, we call him Neil as joke...cos he’s mad about Neil Peart...his real name is Chris Lea.”

So with that sorted out I ask the guy to pass on my number. Chris arrived at his desk that day to find ‘Sean – Singer from the train’ and my phone number. I got a call that night and he invited me down to their rehearsal room in Burnage, apparently only telling the rest of the band I was coming about 10 mins before I showed up “Oh by the way I’ve invited a singer to come and audition”. Ted was a bit shocked as up until now they had been a ‘Power Trio’ with Ted on vocals and guitar, but I guess it went OK as by the end of the rehearsal we were planning dates for gigs. It was the first band I had played with that had a sound I instantly loved. Ted’s guitar in particular was phenomenal, I was buzzing for days afterwards.

Q. - Who were your principal influences at that time?

Sean - I was a pretty mixed up kid musically, there was a lot going on in the late 70s/early 80s musically and although it tended to be quite tribal I was a bit of a rebel...and I think that manifested in the music we ended up making. I was into Sabbath, Van Halen, Rainbow, Rush, Preist, Motorhead...the usual suspects...but I also had time for Bowie, The Cramps, Alice Cooper, Zappa, Buzzcocks, Magazine, Pistols, Kraftwerk and some of the wilder regions of disco and psychedelia. Ted in the meantime was into the same stuff plus more ‘muso’ acts such as Be-Bop Deluxe and King Crimson. He was also a huge Hendrix and Marc Bolan Fan I recall. Chris was Rush, Rush, Rush and more Rush. Dave was into all sorts and introduced me to Parliament, Alex Harvey and early rap (Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Lenny ‘the hat’ White, etc) – we loved all sorts of stuff. And when Warren Heighway (our manager) came on the scene early in 81 it really kicked in to a whole other gear as we were doing gigs with Angie Bowie, Jayne County and the like and he was introducing us to Nina Hagen, Klaus Nomi, Toyah, the New York Dolls and all sorts of fabulous weirdos. That influenced our theatricality a lot. He also managed Jayne County in the UK.

Q. - How did the band name came up?

Sean - When I got there it was already settled – and I loved it so no argument from me, but as I understand it Ted, Dave & Chris were sat around in the pub thinking that ‘Silverthorn’ was a bit rubbish and started toying with ideas. Someone said ‘Precious Alien’ and it was Colin Seddon from Biting Tongues who said ‘What about Sacred Alien’. The Manchester scene was quite small back then...and everyone knew everyone else. So we all knew the guys from ACR, 808 State, The Fall, Crispy Ambulance, Biting Tongues, and later Oasis, Smiths, Charlatans, etc and hung out with them...even though they HATED metal!

Q. - What do you recall from the recording of the 1981 demo tape? Did you sell that demo at shows, send it to fanzines?

Sean - I remember that it was the first time I had ever been in a studio! We did all 4 tracks in two days I recall and the whole thing cost £100. Tracks were:

1. Portrait

2. Eternal Flame

3. Energy

4. Both Sides of the Globe

It was recorded at Graveyard studios (next to a graveyard natch) and was basically some guys’ damp basement. The playing on it is pretty loose and it is not very well engineered. In fact the track ‘Both Sides of the Globe’ has an acoustic intro on it that is so low in the mix you can hardly hear it for the tape hiss. It sounded fine on the playback but when we got it home it was useless. By the time we went back to the studio they had already re-used the 2” multitrack master so we were stuck with it. We ended up cutting if off the cassette versions we sent out. I do have a version with it on...for superfans only! I think the best tracks on that demo are ‘Energy’ (a full 8:56” version!) and ‘Portrait’. We sent it out to record companies and to Sounds/NME but there wasn’t much of a fanzine scene for metal back then, or at least, not one we knew about. We did send it to some rock club DJs who put it on their playlists. Geoff Barton picked it up and featured it in the ‘Armed & Ready’ section of Kerrang! Number 3. I guess we missed a trick but no, we never sold any at gigs so the original cassettes are pretty rare I guess.

Q. - Did you play regularly in the UK, back then? Or was it hard for a heavy metal band to be booked at that time?

Sean - We played as often as we could! We picked up gigs with bands coming through Manchester and played all sorts of rock pub and club gigs of our own. Not all of the shows were quite the right audience for us...we played a couple of gigs where they were expecting a cabaret covers band and it was a bit of a shock when I leapt onstage dressed in red lycra, wailing like a banshee with Ted’s guitar soaring like a passing fleet of UFOs and the double bass-drum and bass guitar assault from Chris & Dave shaking their pints of Mild & Bitter. We were paid off after the first set a few times. We played gigs with Angel Witch, Buffalo, Hanoi Rocks, Jayne County, Mud, Paul DiAnno’s Lone Wolf, Wrathchild, Silverwing, Diamond Head, Venom...loads of bands.

It wasn’t particularly hard to get gigs as there was a huge live music scene back then...more than there is now...but finding the right gigs was a bit more difficult.

Q. - Do you recall the songs you were playing at that time?

Sean - Yes, we have a couple of live tapes that still exist from back then. Obviously, the set changed as we wrote new material, but typically we would play a set that included:

Spiritual Planet

Portrait

Welcome Inside

Eternal Flame

Both Sides of the Globe

Electric Beam Squad

Open Your Eyes

Do You See Me? – (Never recorded and lost in the mists of time).

Attack, Attack – (I believe a version of this might exist from a recording of the Glamfest in Salford, but I haven’t been able to track down a copy).

Legends

Energy

We also revolved a few covers around:

Suffragette City

20 th Century Boy

Nights in White Satin

Foxy Lady

Queen Bitch

Knock on Wood

Q. - Did the single "Spiritual Planet" have air play, at that time, on radio stations? And how was it received by Sacred Alien fans?

Sean - The single got some airplay on local radio but not huge amounts. There was only one rock show on national radio at the time which was the legendary Tommy Vance “Friday Rock Show” on BBC Radio 1. However, we were an indie release so we couldn’t get through the BBC defences to get it played at that time. Things were very different, small bands just didn’t have the same access they do now. We did a run of 1000 singles and they sold out, which was cool. So I guess it went down well with fans!

Q. - Did you try to approach a record deal after the edition of the single?

Sean - Yes, that was the ultimate goal and really the single was designed to be a fancy demo to get us a deal. But it didn’t quite work – we were difficult to pin down stylistically and the cracks were starting to show as the band got more serious. Dave was starting to get cold feet about touring and committing 100% to the band. We had interviews at EMI, CBS, Warners...lots of big labels, but none took the bait and that led to more self-doubt.

Q. - Is there any other recordings by Sacred Alien besides the two singles and the 81 demo tape?

Sean - The complete studio recordings are:

1. Graveyard Demos – early ‘81 – 4 tracks as detailed above – released on cassette as promo only

2. Hologram single recording – late ‘81. Released as first single on Greenwood Music. 1000 copies.

Spiritual Planet

Energy

3. Pennine Studio demos – late ’81 - 48 track swanky studio session we won in a battle of the bands competition.

Eternal Flame (a re-record of the song we did at Graveyard and earmarked as our second single – we never sent this out)

Legends – (this was meant to be the B-side but when we heard it we decided this was the single)

Welcome Inside – likewise, never available as a promo as far as I am aware.

‘Legends’ was released as the second single which we split with a band called ‘Virgin’ mainly for cost purposes – their side had a track called ‘Sittin’ in the Front Row’. I don’t think they would mind being described as an Angel rip-off band. The guitarist and lead singer Paul Rooney now plays and writes for punk legends Vice Squad. Fab guy. It was released on our own ‘Heighway Robbery Wreckords’ and we got a fair bit of publicity from the idea of a shared single, including a feature and interviews on BBC Radio 1.

4. Pluto Studio sessions – late ’82.

Spiritual Planet (Re-record 82 version)

Electric Beam Squad

Open Your Eyes

20 th Century Boy – recorded as live

Knock on Wood – recorded as live

Ziggy Stardust – recorded as live

This session was with two new members. Chris & Dave had left and we had Darren Wilcock on Drums and Paul Davies on Bass. This was missing for years but a beaten up 1/4” tape turned up recently and we managed to extract the tracks by baking the tape. The 3 covers were recorded in a hurry at the end of the session live in the studio and are put down pretty much as performed, no overdubs, no do overs. We recorded them so we had something to play potential promoters if they wanted to hear ‘something we know’.

We have a couple of live tapes in the collection as well. One is from the legendary UMIST gig from May 1981 as reviewed in SOUNDS. With Diamond Head, Silverwing, Tora Tora, Venom. Features about 5 songs. The other is a recording of a gig a bit later at the Spread Eagle, a bikers bar in Ashton. A regular stop for rock bands on the North Western Rock circuit.

Q. - Sacred Alien had a theatrical presence on stage, how did that happened and who came up with the idea?

Sean - It was pretty much a natural extension of our personalities! I come alive onstage and we were always very against the idea of just turning up in an AC/DC t-shirt like a lot of bands at the time. Our music isn’t about girls and motorbikes so our onstage persona isn’t either. I was also a trained dancer so if there is a beat I am going to be moving to it. Ted is a great performer and when I first met him his ‘going to the pub’ outfit included a huge black velvet Dracula Cloak. To this day he is a very ‘interesting’ character...I’ll just leave it at that. Chris has always loved to perform...if you see him play you’ll see he is mesmerising and really stands out for the audience, which is quite something for a drummer stuck behind the kit. We really wanted every show to be an experience so music, visuals and performance all become one...it should be a show! We always strove for that.

Q. - When did Sacred Alien split up? What happened that lead to the break?

Sean - It was a kind of slow death rather than an actual split. Dave (bass) left in late ’81 when we got offered a support tour. He basically said “no, can’t go on the tour, never wanted this to be serious, sorry, I’m joining the Police” (as a policeman, not as a replacement for Sting) so we had to turn the tour down and it was a real setback. We got Paul Davies in on bass who had played in funk bands before and was great, he brought a

real groove to the set, but soon after he joined Chris (drums) left and we got Darren Wilcock in. He was a session guy from Rochdale and a brilliant rock drummer, however after a few shows it was clear neither of them really fitted in and so once again it was back to me & Ted. So, determined to keep going we teamed up with an old pal John Murney (also know as Johnny Vincent, and Johnny Skullknuckles) on Bass and Mark Robinson (Robbo) on drums. As Sacred Alien MKIV we released Legends (the Pennine recording) and it is the MKIV line up on the picture sleeve, even though it was MKI that recorded it. Johnny & I really hit it off and started writing loads of new songs but it was very, very different to Sacred Alien...so with regret sometime in late ’83 we decided the cosmic trip was over. Ted left Johnny & I to form ‘White Trash’ who gigged from 84- 88...but that’s another story.

Q. - Did you stay in touch with the other former members over the years?

Sean - I have lost touch with Darren but I hear he is a studio session drummer in Germany...Paul seems to have completely disappeared. As for Johnny and all the originals we all stayed friends and all stayed in Manchester...so we have seen each other a lot over the years. I joined Chris’s rock covers band ‘MonkeyGun’ in the early 2000s and played with him for a few years and Ted and Dave have been in and out of bands together all through the years since. They have a band together playing Blues and R&B called ‘The Basics’ who are brilliant. In the meantime we all went along to each other’s birthdays, weddings and gigs...each time saying “Hey...we should get Sacred Alien back together sometime” but never doing anything about it...until now.

Sadly, Dave was still a bit reluctant to commit to Sacred Alien full time, so for MKV we have drafted in Chris’s brother Mike who also plays bass for Kopek Millionaires and

Department S. We are keeping it in the family.

Q. - Have you ever thought about doing a proper cd edition, compiling the demo tape and singles recorded by Sacred Alien?

Sean - Oh yes...we have thought about it, a lot! And now we have finally got serious. There will be a release of all the old stuff soon probably on CD and vinyl. Can’t say too much right now but more will be revealed.

Q. - After the split of Sacred Alien you tried to move on as White Trash, how did that happen, is there any recordings as White Trash?

Sean - As I mentioned it was a natural progression for Johnny & I and it was a great band.

Quite different to SA, much less psychedelic and cosmic...more punky-metal. We recorded an album for Music For Nations but they never released it. I have quite a lot of stuff in the vault...maybe someday. Johnny went on to play with Goldblade and now has a great band called ‘Kopek Millionaires’ who have actually recorded a couple of White Trash songs. After White Trash, Johnny and I stayed together and in 1990 formed a band in London called ‘Narcotic’. We recorded an album’s worth of demos for EMI that never saw the light of day.

Q. - What do you think of this recent revival of the N.W.O.B.H.M., and all these bands reforming?

Sean - I love it. It’s brilliant. It was actually my good mate Kev from Tysondog (who also played with Chris & I in MonkeyGun) that finally convinced us to get together and do it, he’d left MonkeyGun to reform Tysondog and every time I met him he was having a blast...doing festivals and gigs all over the world for NWOBHM fanatics, some of whom weren’t even born when we were originally around. I think we, like many of the bands who have got back together are now in the position of having the time and money to be a bit self-indulgent and saying ‘sod it...I’m doing what I want!’ – and if they are anything like us they are looking back on the time they had back in the 80s and realising it was effing brilliant. We’ve paid the mortgage, the kids have grown up, somehow we are not dead, and we can remember how to play guitar...so why the hell not...let’s make a glorious noise.

Q. - In your opinion what are the main differences between the eighties and the reality of today?

Sean - There is really one major difference. Technology:

1. Internet: If we had the internet back then things would have been very different. It was so difficult to get exposure back then without a major label or music press behind you – now you can be a star without leaving your bedroom.

2. Digital Recording: We could never afford to buy the 2” masters of our sessions so once they were mixed, that was it. You couldn’t get a decent recording without tens of thousands of pounds worth of equipment and studio engineering. Now...well...bedroom again. It has taken a long time to find the best surviving versions of our original demos (some of which only survive on cassette), which would not have been a problem if they’d been recorded in this lossless age.

Q. - Anything more you want to say, to end up this interview?

Sean - If there is anyone reading this who would like to book us for a show, or just have a chat please get in touch. We are on @SacredAlienBand on Instagram and have a facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/sacredalienband/  . I am setting up a bandcamp site for new music and of course, as I write in Summer of 2019...there will be release news very soon. Once we have put the original demos and singles out we will start recording new material. We already have nearly an album’s worth of great new songs which I am itching to get recorded.

Watch the Skies!

Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!

My absolute pleasure!