Cast your mind back to the late ’80s and it was a strange period.  Rock was rubbing shoulders with indie, new country, dance, hip hop and a major back catalogue scene based around old records being reissued on CD. At the time I was editing a magazine and would receive all manner of advance cassettes, one being Kick, the forthcoming album by the then little-known INXS. In Australia they had toured with Duran Duran whose John Taylor tipped me off about them, but they were not yet famous in the UK.

I interviewed soon-to-be-legendary singer Mike Hutchence and this is part of what he had to say: “I suppose we were a bit art rock once but lately we’ve been more hard-line.  Heavier music is picking up all over the world now, be it Bon Jovi or thrash metal, because there’s so much in the middle.”

A week or two later I bumped into old mucker Chris Pope whose band, The Chords, had split up some years earlier. He was now with a group called Gatecrash Heaven and pledged me a three-track demo. I actually preferred their songs to the INXS stuff, probably because like The Pretenders and other acts of the time they were “in the middle” – catchy pop rock with a bit of an edge courtesy of Chris’s hard-rocking Gibson Les Paul guitar playing.

I went to see them a few times at London venues like The Marquee and Mean Fiddler and vaguely found myself managing the trio which included a singer/bassist and a keyboard player. My job was to use my contacts to get them signed to a major label and copious amounts of publicity. The deal also entailed handing over my spare room to Chris who lived nearby but was in the process of splitting up with his girlfriend.

Though a loyal Sarf Londoner he claimed to “like the vibe of your gaff” on the other side of the river. “The Kinks were brought up round the corner, weren’t they?” So, Summerlee Gardens, N2, it was, the end-of-terrace house meaning noise could be made when accessing my growing record collection. When not writing songs Chris turned his hand to journalism, contributing to the magazine I was editing, For the Record.  His highlights were interviewing alt. country star Steve Earle, San Franciscan producer Rick Nowels (Belinda Carlisle’s timeless ‘Heaven Is a Place on Earth’) and reviewing a Who compilation, a 32-track double CD spanning their career from debut single ‘I Can’t Explain’ to ‘Who Are You?’, the last Who song to feature the immortal drummer Keith Moon.

Here Chris was totally in his element, pointing out that this group, between the early ’60s and late ’70s, “had a ceaseless stream of perfect pop songs such as ‘I Can See for Miles’, ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ which were incisive and irresistible. Pete Townshend (singer-songwriter/guitarist) possessed talent that he channelled into his compassionate lyrics which absorbed his generation and consolidated The Who into one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time.”

Opinions of this kind fed into many a conversation while Chris was around, especially during the evenings which inevitably passed boozily at free gigs, parties and aftershows. “Freemans?” he would enquire, his code for guest list or name on the door. One DJ referred to him as Mr Alternative and indeed many things about him answered to that adjective. At a time when most of our pals sported denim or leather, the Pope opted for a battered baseball jacket acquired second-hand.

As a lyricist himself Chris was more than keen about what his fellow wordsmiths had to say. Like most of our crew he was nuts about The Clash, especially the way their songwriting progressed towards the classic ‘White Man in Hammersmith Palais’. He was also impressed with the ideas of Mick Jones who had left the band a few years earlier. When Mick released a song called ‘Get Out of London’ Chris seemed to take it as a telepathic connection and started to think about moving himself, New York being the preferred destination. This despite the fact he had just written a song called ‘Down and Out In New York City‘.

Anyway, off he and Kevin, the Gatecrash Heaven singer, went although we always kept in touch – and not without good reason. Some of his news was almost uncanny, or surreal as today’s generation tend to say.  A former manager of Diana Ross was so impressed with their demos he offered financial backing and some kind of roof over their heads.  Further momentum led to an LA showcase only for Kevin to flee the stage in what may charitably be called a panic attack.

Another musician friend explained to me that you can chase success for so long that when it comes the result can be frightening. Talk about being careful what you wish for, to quote one of Chris’s later songs. 

These songs opened the next chapter of Chris’s career. He had started writing some of them as early as 1978 when he was still in his teens and joined The Chords. By this time punk had partly morphed into mod because of the revival of that sound by bands like The Jam. “Mod seemed to be the last youth movement which promised fun” the band’s singer-songwriter Paul Weller told me in an interview for Record Mirror. “When I first heard ‘My Generation’ by The Who I thought ‘what’s all this about?’ It may be nostalgia for some but for me it was a total innovation, guitars slashing through the mix and that whole wild production. It reeked of youth.”

Obviously, Chris, now 65, like Paul who is a few years older, was too young to remember the original mod scene but ended up releasing their records on the same label, Polydor. The Chords’ first single, ‘Now It’s Gone‘, came out in ’79 while the following year they made the Top 40 with ‘Maybe Tomorrow‘ shortly before their debut LP So Far Away followed suit. Then their luck ran out. Not only did they part company with singer Billy Hassett, but the next few singles failed to chart. Consequently, a second album never came out although some of its intended tracks appeared on … But Then Again which came out on CD and vinyl earlier this year.

…But Then Again is a 44-track behemoth on Chris’s own E-Pop (Pope backwards) label. It has been around for most of this century knocking out singles and albums of his own songs under the brands Pope, Chris Pope, and Chris Pope & The Chords UK. These, dating back to the lost second Chords album, include such crowd-pleasers as ‘The British Way of Life‘.

Like many of the songs it tends to fall into one of two categories: what’s been experienced and that which has been observed. ‘Man on the Northern Line’ covers both, referencing his daily commute as an employee of the Red Cross, as well as to rehearsals and other engagements involving group responsibilities. ‘Gentrified The Elephant’ (as in Elephant & Castle) and ‘Hipsters of London’ are two other jaw-droppers indicating how the new tribes think they are taking over, just as the New Romantic, rockabilly and ska brigade allegedly put paid to the original Chords career.

But the work-a-day week (Eat Sleep Work Repeat) also has its upside: the breathless anticipation of ‘Get Me To Saturday Night’, ‘Indie Disco Friday Night’ and the “yeah rightishness” of ‘In The Land of Milk and Honey’ which almost got them a publishing deal in the Gatecrash days. Then there are the deliberately deluded cuts, ‘Mutiny on the Thames‘ and ‘Hey Kids! Come The Revolution’ offset by the more yearning, reflective ‘Somewhere Beyond the Rainbow’ and personal favourite ‘Dreams of Yesterday‘ which wouldn’t sound out of place at an Ian Hunter gig.

And there’s more, much more, with singles galore this year alone. ‘World Gone Crazy‘ came out as a single in the summer but continues to be relevant on account of ongoing political crises. The fecund E-Pop machine is in full swing and sales are buoyant too. The triple CD …But Then Again sold out its first 500 pressing in four days while a week later the double-LPs were briskly changing hands at £20 apiece. I saw this myself at London’s renowned 100 Club, where Oasis also recently played.

The Chords UK, named with respect to original singer Billy Hassett keeping the Chords name even though he lives in Japan, currently comprise Sandy Michie (lead guitar), Mic Stoner (bass) and Kenny Cooper (drums) and, of course, Chris adding newer, more powerful vocals to his list of talents. They have been promoting …But Then Again which is no ordinary compilation since all the cuts have been re-recorded, or “re-imagined” as the singer puts it. Why, I wondered, when he first told me what he had in mind a couple of years ago.

“I get fed up with banging out the same old stuff,” he replied with characteristic frankness, “we still must keep pushing forward. The album is not just a milestone but a statement of intent. It’s too early for happy endings, there’s plenty still to come.”

Which means the current tour – playing a re-imagined ‘So Far Away‘ – is part of that process. Too soon for happy endings, perhaps, but there have been many happy days and nights to remember. Apart from the sold-out shows replete with original fans and their children to make sure they make it home, there was Chris’s wedding to Sandra around a decade ago. Yes, I was there, but these days I usually see the wife, to quote ‘The British Way of Life’, on some venue’s merch stand, cheerfully flogging their colourfully handsome array of Chords UK shirts and discs. That’s Sandra on the cover of …But Then Again, serving his lordship tea in their Sarf London flat.

Funny but back in the day I could have sworn it was more of a lager lounge…

Get The Chords UK triple CD …But Then Again here.

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