PULSE - music and more, with Simon Donohue

WITH seemingly casual ease, The Bluetones wring sumptuous melodies and striking guitar lines from their musical armoury.

But their perfectly-measured blend of melancholic guitar pop has yet to flow as effortlessly as the quartet had hoped.

After an initial flurry of chart activity, the band found inspiration harder to come by when they went back into the studio to start work on their second album.

That process has taken the best part of 15 months, give or take the odd break for summer festival gigs.

"It started off slowly and gradually moved to a pace of ticking over," admits boyish Bluetones singer Mark Morriss. "It was never a speedy process. We're not the kind of collective that works flat out.

"It's not in our genetic make-up.

"These things take time, you know.

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

Flushed with the creeping effects of tequila and champagne slammers, glugged at a photo shoot, Morriss continues: "At first, when we were devoid of ideas, the idea was to make the album as good as the first album.

"We didn't know whether we could even do that.

"But that's the crisis of confidence you enter when you make a second album.

" You ask yourselves: 'Are we good enough or was it just a fluke? Can we do it?'

"Eventually, the ideas started to trickle out and once we had four or five good songs under our belts we realised it was going to be some way there - if we kept up the standard in the songwriting." He and drummer Eds Chesters point out that the first album, Expecting To Fly, took a good five years of writing from the inception of the band - which began when the lads shared a house in Middlesex.

"We had nothing better to do.

"Then you come round to record the second and you realise all of a sudden that you're no longer a kid on the dole, writing songs in your spare time.

"It's now your responsibility. It's what you've chosen to do," says Mark.

"It's like: 'Can I do it? Am I burnt out? Is that all I've got to offer?'

"It's that kind of turning-the-corner scenario for all four of us. We suddenly grew up a little bit and realised this is what we do."

The first new single, Solomon Bites The Worm, gives an indication of the heavier edge to the album, with its boisterous blues-soul appeal.

"It's a bit more of a fat sound," says Mark.

"It's a hell of a lot groovier as well. "I guess that's just a by-product of touring for two years.

"It's just a tighter group. We've gone into the studio and, without realising it, we are a little bit better than we used to be.

"But we're still not the finished article. We've still got a hell of a long way to go.

"It's essentially still The Bluetones but it's got these underlying vibes.

"We've not suddenly come out with trumpets and castanet players and stuff like that - which is a shame really.

"Lyrically, I've stepped away from a lot of the stuff I was writing before.

"That's where you've got to realise that a lot of those songs were written between the ages of 17 and 21, when all you're doing is staring at your navel."

You sexy missus, you!

SILKY smooth singer Errol Brown has revealed how his Valentine became the inspiration for his biggest ever hit.

The former Hot Chocolate frontman, who visits Blackburn in May, said the song You Sexy Thing was based on his relationship with Ginette, his wife of 22 years.

He said: "We were introduced in a nightclub and, although we got on, it wasn't love at first sight. Things developed slowly and a year later I wrote the song because I felt so good about my life and my relationship with her."

The song enjoyed renewed success after inclusion on the soundtrack of The Full Monty film, which won a Brit Award this week and also pushed Errol back into the spotlight. His second re-release, It Started With A Kiss, entered the charts at number 18 this week. Hot Chocolate split up in 1985.

Errol said: "We could go no further. The band had run its course."

It was not without some bitterness, however. Brown believed the rest of the group simply weren't pulling their weight.

Almost 10 years ago, he released a solo album, which immediately flopped, and he retired from the music industry vowing never to return.

But the singer soon became restless and, encouraged by his love for music, decided it was time for him to go back to work.

"It's brilliant, so much better the second time around," he adds. "I'm a born again pop-star."

Errol's nationwide tour calls at King George's Hall, Blackburn, on May 1.

Stripped-down Harley as powerful as ever

STEVE HARLEY UNPLUGGED (Burnley Mechanics)

WHAT a refreshing change!

Minus the big band and with only one acoustic guitarist, Steve Harley showed a packed theatre his music does stand up virtually unaccompanied and unplugged.

And what a duo!

Nick Pinn had the audience hypnotised with his musical prowess and you could feel the chemistry as the two jammed on stage. They kept the audience waiting for the last song to "come up and see me" but it was worth the wait and everybody smiled.

That and Tumbling Down had the audience chanting the chorus long after Steve and Nick had finished.

In fact, he only managed to shut us up by reminding us it was "his show".

Damned Lies and Best Years of Our Life were haunting and Steve used his gravelly voice to good effect. His personality shone through as he chatted to the audience.

His hammed-up embarrassment when he spotted two children and realised he had over-used the "F" word was delightful.

But he made their day when he gave them T-shirts by way of an apology.

This year marks his 25th in the business and '70s music fans can see him on TV on the Clive James' show on March 22.

CATHERINE SMYTH

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