A History of It Bites
On 31st August 1991, Navajo Kiss left the stage of the
Marquee, London, to an enthusiastic reception, not least from
myself because the set had been great and I'd been able to get some
decent photographs as well. They had survived the sudden departure
of their vocalist, front-man, guitarist, focal point and life-long
friend and were setting out on a new venture with good material and
a bright future. It Bites may have come to an end, but
Navajo Kiss was just starting out.
Personally, there ends the story of one of the most influential
musical influences on my life so far, and one of the most intimate
and enjoyable associations between fan and band that I have ever
known.
Some five-or-so years have gone by since that Marquee gig, but
the impact of It Bites is still as strong as ever, kept
vividly alive through their recordings and the lovingly-treasured
files of correspondence that I've kept safely up in my loft.
However much my life changes, and it has certainly changed a great
deal in those five years, It Bites are still there, giving their
all and never ceasing to make the hairs on the back of my neck
stand up with a potent mix of excitement at the music and the happy
memories it all brings back to me.
I know that somewhere out there the band members must be earning
their living, be it still in the music business or not, perhaps
launched on their way by the It Bites experience. It may
be just a fading memory to them now, or it may be the foundation upon
which they have built their careers since, but I suggest that I may
not be the only person to whom their lasting legacy is fantastic
music that continues to provide many hours of listening pleasure,
even all this time later. Backward-looking remeniscence this may
be, but it still has the ability to make the present day a lot more
fun! Here, then, is my summary of the life and times of It
Bites.
- Francis Dunnery - Guitar, Lead Vocals
- John Beck - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
- Dick Nolan - Bass, Backing Vocals
- Bob Dalton - Drums, Backing Vocals
Frank, Bob & Dick all come from Egremont, Cumbria, and have
known each other since an early age. Frank and Bob met at junior
school, later transferring together to the local comprehensive
school where they met up with Dick and found a common desire to
pursue music rather than their academic studies.
Frank's elder brother, Barry, had known success in the music
business as guitarist with Ozzy Osbourne and
Violinsky, a spin-off from 80's art-rock band The
Electric Light Orchestra. Dick, Bob and John all followed in
the footsteps of musician fathers, John having already got a taste
of the local club scene playing accordion with his father's Country
and Western act.
John himself hails from Whitehaven, five miles or so up the
Cumbrian coast, and joined the other three a short while after
they'd all left school. They spent their formative period in the
early 1980s as a covers band on the tough northern England club
circuit playing contemporary chart hits from bands like Level
42 and Haircut 100. The name they chose, It
Bites, makes reference to a dog owned by one of their
roadies.
The fledgling band re-located to London in 1984 to further their
chances of making a successful musical career, spending two years
squatting in Peckham whilst putting together demo tapes of their
songs to send to the big record companies. The all-important first
big break came in 1985, when they met the man who was to become
their first manager, Martyn Mayhead, as they tried to blag their
way into the offices of record label WEA. Mayhead listened to their
tapes, saw their potential and secured an eight-album deal with
Virgin Records plus a support slot with Go West on their
UK tour. The first album as It Bites, released in August
1986, was exotically entitled "The Big Lad in The Windmill".
All In Red
Calling All the Heroes
Whole New World
It Bites toured Britain in 1987 to showcase TBLITW, at which time the It Bites Appreciation Society was established to cater for the ever-increasing requests from fans for information about the Band and any up-coming gigs and recordings. Dick's sister, Maggie Ward, was its superb and tireless Secretary; Joanne Slater, John's girlfriend, ran the London office. The Band then booked into the Manor recording studios, Oxford, to record their second album, "Once Around The World". The rest of Summer 1987 was spent playing the major European outdoor festivals, including the Montreaux Jazz Festival, broadcast live across Europe by Swiss TV,
and a support slot for Marillion at Loreley, Germany.
series, shown on the 18th September 1987. Channel 4 TV's "Equinox"
programme documenting the history of the electric guitar, "Twang,
Bang, Kerang", shown 20th August 1987, featured Frank, as an
up-and-coming young British guitarist, comparing his Japanese and
American Fender Strats, and also footage of It Bites
recording OATW at the Manor. The Band also toured as support to
Marillion on UK dates in mid-late December 1987.
The Old Man and The Angel
appearance on the BBC1 "Wogan" TV show was broadcast on the 12th
February 1988. The Band played four gigs in February 1988 (Trent
Polytechnic, Nottingham; Warwick University, Coventry; Surrey
University, Guildford; The Marquee, London).
a two-day open-air music festival at the Nurburgring motor-racing
circuit, Germany in July 1988. At this time, Dick contributed bass
parts for three tracks on Genesis keyboard-player Tony
Banks' 1989 solo album Bankstatement.
1988 also saw several tours cancelled; America, supporting Robert Plant, Japan, and Europe, supporting Brian Adams. The Band
also got a new manager, Brian Lane, who also managed Yes, Jon Anderson, Asia and GTR - the link with the Band's musical tastes and influences being clear. Not only this, but Frank managed to conceal two operations he'd undergone to fix a perforated ear- drum.
In early 1989, It Bites recorded their third album, "Eat Me in St Louis", at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, produced by Mack (who'd previously worked with Queen and
the Rolling Stones). B- sides for singles from the album were recorded at Town House Studios, London.
The Band made a brief promotional visit to the USA with Virgin Records staff. There followed a UK tour mid June - early July 1989
to promote EMISL, which was duly released on the 12th June 1989. The album reached the British Top 40. One of their more exotic and unusual gigs saw them play a 15,000-seater ice rink in Moscow, Russia.
Still Too Young to Remember
Sister Sarah
Underneath Your Pillow
In Summer 1989, It Bites played European dates supporting The Beach Boys. They played three gigs in Tokyo, Japan, mid September 1989 then the USA and Canada in the support slot for Jethro Tull late October - early December 1989, plus six UK dates mid December including a first-time headliner at the Hammersmith Odeon, London. The first and only It Bites Appreciation Society convention took place at The Rock Garden, Covent Garden, London, on the 17th December 1989. Frank took time out from rehearsing for a gig at the Hammersmith Odeon to make an appearance, answer questions, play a couple of songs and demonstrate his new Tapboard guitar.
Angeles, USA, in June 1990 to start writing and recording the next album. At that stage, a producer had not yet been confirmed.
However, news reached the Society membership in mid October 1990 that Frank had left It Bites the day before rehearsals were due to start in Los Angeles. Rumours about Frank's musical differences, his desire to be the sole band leader, love interests and other personal aspects have still to be satisfactorily cleared up. What is known is that he set up home with a female partner in LA. John, Dick and Bob stayed on and continued writing, with John taking on more guitar-playing than his usual keyboard role. Whilst still in the States they tried, unsuccessfully, auditioning for a new vocalist. On returning to England, without Frank, they recruited Lee Knott, singer from Innocence Lost, who had played support slots to It Bites on previous UK dates, and continued working on material for a new It Bites album initially scheduled for early 1991.
With John now focusing on guitar, leaving the bulk of the keyboard parts to sequencers, the music took on a harder edge and therefore something of a new identity, so the name It Bites was dropped in favour of a new one to reflect the change. The name they settled with was Navajo Kiss. In the Spring of 1991, they played their first gig as Navajo Kiss at the Cat Club, New York, USA, then played four UK dates in late August 1991 (Duchess, Leeds; King Tut's, Glasgow; Boardwalk, Manchester; Underworld, Camden, London). The Band also took the bold step of parting with Virgin Records to pursue a fresh, new record deal in their own right.
Virgin Records subsequently released a live album, "Thankyou and Goodnight", consisting, somewhat to the Band's dismay, of most of the Thames TV Town & Country gig. Whilst not a bad gig in itself, this meant rejecting much live material which may have better represented It Bites live in concert, even if it had not necessarily been recorded with a live album in mind.
THE FUTURE:
Frank has gone on to release three solo albums at the time of writing: "Welcome To the Wild Country", "Fearless" and "Tall Blonde Helicopter". John and Bob are rumoured to have supported John Wetton, formerly of UK and Asia, on a recent tour
to Japan. There is no evidence of Navajo Kiss having been recording or playing live since the Marquee gig of 31st August 1991. Further rumours suggest that the Band's name later changed again to Sister Sarah before they finally split for good.
In an interview with Guitarist magazine, Frank said that he'd
re-join the others as It Bites in the future, if they'd have him, but not for at least five years. Those five years have come and gone: those of us out here who are still fans can only wait and hope...
© Martin Best, 2-3.1.97
THE PRESENT:
July 2000: More can now be added to update the above.
John and Bob were indeed part of John Wetton's band and appear
on the LP "Chasing The Dragon". Now they have another band of their
own called Unicorn Jones, who have recorded one album to date - "Let's Go Do
A Million Interesting Things". Frank has released another solo
album, "Let's Go Do What Happens", and continues to gig around
America and Europe.
...and it doesn't end there!
Gradually, since late 2003, the four members of It Bites have begun to co-ordinate various tour dates to include appearances by other band-mates and performances of It Bites songs. The success of the release of a DVD and live CD via www.itbites.com has galvanised interest both in us loyal fans and the band themselves to the point where, sometime in 2005, they plan to get together and write new material and possible even go on tour again as It Bites.
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