By the time The Pale Fountains had released this single they were already struggling. The frustration of critical acclaim and commercial disinterest had haunted them since their first album. Pacific Street was released by Virgin Records in 1984 and reached No.84 in the charts, their second and final album, From Across The Kitchen Table only made it to No.94.

Their music was out of step with other Liverpool bands, as their influences were unashamedly sixties – Love, The Beatles, Bacharach. They were overshadowed (literally) by the gloomier Bunnymen and the Pop sounds of The Icicle Works and The Teardrop Explodes (constantly referred to as Psychedelic, although I can’t hear it?) The synth sounds of OMD were more in tune with a public that was discovering Electronic music ten years after the German underground.

But their sound was huge (I bought their very first single (There’s Always) Something On My Mind in 1982) and Jean’s Not Happening released in 1984 roars out of the speakers, dense and melodramatic with Buffalo Springfield guitar solos, Joy Division acoustic and a passionate vocal from, singer/guitarist Mick Head. This was the second last single release by the band, the record company were lost, releasing From Across The Kitchen Table’s title track 6 months later but it was all over and in 1986 Michael Head and his younger brother John formed Shack. Sadly, bass player Chris McCaffery died of a brain tumour in 1989. Trumpet player Andy Diagram joined James, drummer Thomas Whelan’s whereabout are unknown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pale_Fountains

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Head

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_(band)