Kevin Coyne - An Established Artist

An Established Artist

In 1973 he appeared on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test, performing "I Want My Crown" and "House On The Hill" with guitarist Gordon Smith and percussionist Chilli Charles.

Late 1975 and 1976 Coyne completed a musical called "England, England", written with playwright Snoo Wilson, and described as "an evocation of the Kray Twins". The musical, directed by Dusty Hughes, was performed on stage in August 1977 at the Jeannetta Cochrane Theatre. It was one of the first theatre pieces to reference the fascist associations of a kind of British nationalism that later became more prevalent with the rise of the National Front and the election of Margaret Thatcher. From 18 August to 24 September 1977 it played at the Bush Theatre in Shepherds Bush.

In 1978 Coyne collaborated with fellow Derby Art School graduate Ian Breakwell to produce the film The Institution based on Breakwell's Artist Placement Group work at Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

Early in his career, Coyne turned down a meeting with founder of Elektra Records Jac Holzman (Coyne's band Siren were on Elektra in America) to discuss replacing Jim Morrison in The Doors. "I didn't like the leather trousers!" was Coynes' alleged reason.

The uncompromising stance continued even when he was one of the first artists signed to Virgin Records and it was this attitude that endeared him to label-mates such as John Lydon, who played "Eastbourne Ladies" on a Desert Island Discs–type show, and The Mekons, who recorded his "Having a Party", a scathing attack on Richard Branson.

Coyne's first solo album Case History, recorded primarily with just his voice and guitar was powerful and direct, and was recorded for Peel's Dandelion label. When Dandelion ceased to exist the album largely sank into obscurity. Not before, however, it had come to the attention of Virgin records, who were sufficiently impressed to sign Coyne and release his 1973 album Marjory Razorblade.

Described as being musically "... a mixture of blues and music hall comedy, with a punk edge", this album contained many notable songs, such as the bitter and irreverent "Eastbourne Ladies" and the plaintive "House on the Hill" about life in a psychiatric institution. It was the record that was to be largely responsible for putting Coyne on the map of mainstream rock.

Another Virgin album release, Babble, courted controversy when Kevin suggested, in the theatre presentation of the piece, that the destructive relationship between the two lovers could have been based on The Moors Murderers. Two performances at The Royal Theatre at Stratford in London were cancelled at short notice by Newham Council following negative press reports in The Sun and The Evening Standard. The show was eventually staged, for four nights, at the Oval House in Kennington. Reviewing the show for the NME, Paul Du Noyer wrote:

`Babble' is a particularly thorough, painstaking exploration of the reality of one relationship, stripped of romance and artifice. The format employed is correspondingly stark. Against a stage-set of light-bulb, table and chairs Coyne and his partner Dagmar Krause stand at either side; the only accompaniment comes from Bob Ward and Brian Godding, playing electric and acoustic guitar in the gloom behind.

American singer/songwriter Will Oldham claimed that the Babble album had "changed my life" and he went on to record two of the songs himself. Oldham went on to form a side project called The Babblers - who strictly played covers of songs from Babble.

In 1982 Coyne appeared in concert with his band (Peter Kirtley (guitar), Steve Lamb (bass), Steve Bull (keyboards) and Dave Wilson (drums)) in Berlin. The concert was later issued on DVD as "The Last Wall" (Dockland Productions, 2007, Meyer Records).