Career
FM was formed in the summer of 1984 in London. The band was originally composed of the ex-Samson pair of bassist Merv Goldsworthy and drummer Pete Jupp, the Overland brothers – vocalist/guitarist Steve and lead guitarist Chris Overland, both formerly of Wildlife, and keyboardist Philip Manchester, also known as Didge Digital. The band initially wrote six songs. In December of that year they secured a recording contract with the CBS/Portrait label.
The first public appearance of FM (not to be confused with the Canadian band of the same name) was on Valentine’s Day in 1985. The debut album, Indiscreet followed and their debut single "Frozen Heart" was heard in many venues during 1986. FM hit the road in Europe supporting Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Foreigner, Gary Moore, Status Quo and Magnum, also opening for REO Speedwagon at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. At the year's end they accepted a spot with Bon Jovi on their Slippery When Wet tour.
When CBS folded the Portrait label, FM switched to Epic. The Overland brothers went to the United States to write with Desmond Child, returning with the hard rock anthem "Bad Luck". Queensrÿche and Dokken producer Neil Kernon was engaged to oversee 1989’s Tough It Out.
To promote Tough It Out, the band set out on a 42 date UK tour that saw them returning to the Hammersmith Odeon. Soon afterwards, Chris Overland decided to leave FM, his final performance taking place at the Town & Country Club. In his place, FM recruited Andy Barnett, a guitarist who had already been in a prototype line-up of the group, and had a co-writing credit for the Indiscreet song, "That Girl," which was later covered by Iron Maiden as a B-Side. His debut with the group was 1991's Takin’ It To The Streets.
FM moved to another record label, Music For Nations, and Didge Digital left in late 1991. A cover version of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was not a hit, but was followed by their next album, Aphrodisiac. They undertook a string of acoustic concerts in the winter of 1992.
With Europe and the Far East markets opening up for FM, a full-time keyboard arrangement was made with Jem Davis (former Tobruk and UFO), joining the band. The arrangement was short-lived. After the release of Dead Man's Shoes in 1995, the band split up.
However, at Nottingham's Rock City venue on 27 October 2007, FM played together again in public for the first time in twelve years and were also playing at Winstanley College (Wigan, UK) on the 19th March 2009.
In late 2009, the new single "Wildside" was released, as part of an EP containing new recordings and live tracks. For the first time new recruit Jim Kirkpatrick was featured on record. The single was a taster of forthcoming new album, Metropolis.
Metropolis, FM's first new album since Dead Man's Shoes in 1995, was showcased at a sell-out launch party at The Roadhouse, Covent Garden, London in February 2010 and was released on 31 May 2010. Produced by the band, Metropolis met with critical acclaim and the two singles from the album - “Hollow” (released 17 May 2010) and “Bring Back Yesterday” (released 7 September 2010) each spent a month on the playlist at BBC Radio 2 and were playlisted on many other radio stations.
FM toured all over the UK in support of the album throughout 2010. Their live schedule included a set on the main stage at Download Festival as a late replacement for Ratt in June 2010 and a set on the main stage at Hard Rock Hell IV at Prestatyn in December. December also saw the return of an FM tradition with a 'Christmas Party' show at Islington Academy London.
FM started 2011 with a show at London's Hammersmith Apollo on January 22 with Thin Lizzy. The rest of the year saw the band return to many overseas strongholds of years gone by including headline shows in Holland and Spain (their first ever live concert in that country); a show with D-A-D in Portugal; dates with Journey and Foreigner in Germany, Dublin and Belfast and appearances at major festivals such as Graspop in Belgium and Sweden Rock. They were also invited back to play at Download Festival again.
FM are writing and recording for their follow-up album to 2010's Metropolis. In January 2012 they headlined the Sunday night Rock Stage at the Great British Rock & Blues Festival in Skegness and during March they staged three special concerts in Glasgow, Manchester and London to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the release of their début album INDISCREET. These shows saw FM play Indiscreet live in its entirety for the first time ever as part of a full show. In mid-August 2012 FM performed as Special Guests of Thin Lizzy at shows in Carlisle and Belsonic 2012 in Belfast.
In September 2012 FM announced a UK tour for March 2013 in support of their forthcoming album. They are Special Guests on Thin Lizzy's UK tour during November/December 2012 and also in November released the nine-track mini-album "Only Foolin' EP" featuring a mix of new studio tracks and live tracks recorded at their "Indiscreet 25Live" shows in March 2012.
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