Tony Gaughan reflects upon Wirral-based pop/rock act Pele's 1992 debut album, which has just been re-released in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition
It has been twenty-five years since the release of this first album from Pele in 1992 and much has changed in music and the world in general. They say you have your whole life to write your first album and that the second is the difficult one. Pele were from Ellesmere Port and consisted of front man Ian Prowse and keyboard player Andrew Roberts, but swelled to a six piece for live shows. 'Fireworks'is given the old spit and polish /remaster and scrubs up very well today. Pretty much every one of the twelve tracks on this edition could stand up as a single in its own right. The controversial 'Raid the Palace' was play listed in 1992 on Radio 1 for six weeks despite its reference to scratching the cars of the rich and shooting them! 'Megalomania' follows, which was a number one single in South Africa for them. It is a well-crafted and pretty polished pop number with the clearly Celtic influence of violinist Andrea Nicholson (Nico) and it is also evident of the influence of Bruce Springsteen. 'Policeman' follows this and the third single from it 'Fair Blows the Wind For France', which was the biggest seller for the band in the UK chart. The acoustic led title track was the fourth single release and is also a winner with the Celtic references of the Waterboys and Dexy's becoming evident once more on this and the closer 'Oh Lord' If you are a fan of well crafted, tuneful and catchy pop, then this is a must have for your collection