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David Corio recalls: "This is Dexys Midnight Runners before they had a major label or hit record. I spent a few days in Birmingham with them before seeing the band perform or knowing anything about their music. When I finally saw them live in London a few weeks later they blew me away. With a mighty horn section and stomping rhythm tightly controlled by lead singer Kevin Rowland, this was one of the most powerful shows I had the good fortune to attend. Journalist Gavin Martin and I met up with them several times always in working-mens cafes for endless cups of tea and to hear Kevins philosophy on life. Kevin Rowland controlled the band completely - banning alchohol and enforcing a strict dress code of white tees, donkey jackets or leather coats and woolen docker hats. Somehow he managed to persuade the others into going for regular early morning runs, long before jogging became fashionable. Despite their immense talent Dexys Midnight Runners werent suited to the commercial music scene and their albums didnt sell as well as they should have. Each new album was always a surprise as they invariably came up with a different musical style. A few years after taking this photo I got on a plane in Lisbon after photographing Rick Wakeman. I was wearing espadrilles with my hair in a pony-tail. And there already on board was the whole band - coincidentally all wearing the same espadrilles and sporting pony-tails."
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David Corio recalls: "NME had voted De La Souls 3 Feet & Rising as the best album of 1989 and they asked me to meet up with the trio as they were promoting their third release Buhloone Mindstate. I got picked up in a minivan in mid-town and whisked uptown. Throughout the whole journey I didnt have a clue what they were talking about. They were well known for their witty lyrics,quirky skits and eclectic sampling but it was as if they were talking in a totally different language interspersed with hysterical laughter. We piled out next to the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and I had to marshall them together to fit them all in the frame with part of the famous venue in the background. They seemed barely aware that I was photographing them but it made for an easy, laid-back photo-shoot."
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David Corio recalls: "This photo of Bruce Springsteen was taken from the audience - I hadn’t got a photo pass but was lucky enough to get a ticket for the show and I managed to get near to the stage at the huge Wembley Arena. Apart from a couple of shows in 1975 this was the first big concert in Europe for ‘The Boss’ as he is affectionately known. He was famous for his energetic sets and this show lasted for three hours and he didn’t stop moving for the entire show. He climbed up onto the speakers, leaped across the stage and pulled girls out from the audience to dance or sing with him. Springsteen supports many social causes, keeps to his working–class roots and speaks out very strongly on political issues. He has donated money to war veterans groups, endorsed Barack Obama early in his political campaign and most recently took part in fund-raising events for Haiti after the earthquake. He still lives in New Jersey where he was born - his 1973 debut album ‘Greetings From Asbury Park’, was named after the run-down sea-side resort where he still occasionally plays the tiny Stone Pony Club (capacity - 775 people) . A contrast to the 137,000 people that were at the Glastonbury festival when he performed in 2009!"
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David Corio recalls: "Billy Braggs musical career was just beginning to take off when I met up with him in west London. If possible I try and find a few suitable locations before I do a shoot which can put a subject at ease and also help to create good compositions. A demolition site seemed ideal for Billy Bragg at the time as he was heavily involved in political causes on the left wing trying to break down the stranglehold that Margaret Thatcher held over the country. His second album Brewing Up With Billy Bragg came out later in the year and continued on his anti-war themes and his discontent with the British tabloid press. He has remained politically active backing the 1984 miners strike and helping to form Red Wedge a musicians alliance to encourage young people to vote for the Labour Party. He has also promoted tactical voting particularly in Dorset where he now lives but surprisingly announced he was voting for the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and must have been unpleasantly surprised when they formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party to gain power."
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David Corio recalls: "I always felt a bit sorry for Adam Ant. He had been around at the beginning of the punk movement collaborating briefly with Jordan and Malcolm McClaren but he never seemed to quite fit the right mould. His music was hugely popular for a time with 11 singles hitting the charts over a 5 year period. Adam & The Ants videos were flamboyant fun and got massive amounts of air-time as music videos were comparatively new and MTV was just starting up but the pantomime pirate imagery had become more important than the music. The use of two drummers for live performances gave the band a powerful set up using the Burundi-style drum beat and he was a captivating live performer but as his audience became younger other music seemed to be overtaking him. New wave and New Romantic music scenes were coming along and suddenly Adam & the Ants were old hat and out of fashion. This photo was taken when they were at the peak of their commercial success Stand & Deliver and Prince Charming were released at this time which would both reach number one in the UK charts but within a year the band had split up. More recently his career has had several ups and downs from having a successful autobiography published and acting in several films to being arrested on a number of occasions and having several prolonged stays in psychiatric wards. In 2009 he started perfoming live again with various line-ups and there are rumours that he has recently started to record again."
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Stephen Wright recalls: "Oddly The Smiths played at event which was part of a series of shows organised by Factory records when they had never signed with them. Morrissey half-stripped in front of an audience of thousands, and at least one shirt he threw to them was torn to pieces."
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Stephen Wright recalls: "Shot at Johnny Marr's house early 1986 - All I can remember is waiting nervously whilst the hairdresser spent a long time on Morrissey's quiff."
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Stephen Wright recalls: "A few hundred yards from the Salford Lads Club this is the other end of Coronation Street. The street sign looks as knackered now as it did then!"
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A rare shot of the Morrissey and Marr standing close together during a pause in filming the Oxford road show. Stephen Wright recalls: "So this is the saddest Smiths photo for me. It was used on the NME front cover 1993 when the Smiths split. It represents the end of an era of simply great music that had also led to a massive rise in vegetarianism."
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Stephen Wright recalls: "This is my favourite Morrissey photo - it is classic young Morrissey. The front stage area at the concert was like a massive rugby scrum, so there was no chance of getting photos. I climbed into the rigging on the side of the stage and hid. I could only afford one reel of film and had to walk home. This was a long way from digital cameras with hundreds of shots on a card! This and the Bum and flowers photo were shot the first time I got to shoot the Smiths and led to the Queen is Dead album sleeve session."
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A strange shot but most people at the time knew who it was immediately - Morrissey had toured throwing gladioli around on the 1984 shows Ive always hoped Levis would pay me lots to use it as an advert. Sadly not happened yet! Voted one of NME best rock photos of all time by the NME also used in NME Warchild exhibition.
