Pride of Passion

Pride of Passion came into existence in 1984 and made an immediate impact on the London circuit with regular headlines at the Marquee , 100 Club and Mean Fiddler. The band was created around the core musical partnership of Nigel Spennewyn on guitar and former Marillion bassist Diz Minnitt . The initial inclusion of original Marillion keyboard player Brian Jelliman and Barry Talbot on drums resulted in a distictive Progressive feel to earlier instrumental material and this remained as a tangible sub-layer in some of the later work . The line up was completed with the addition of the lyrical and vocal talents of Deborah Hopper . The inclusion of a vocalist with more mainstream interests provided not only a voice for the band , but a catalyst for creativity. The pace of change and the drive to access a wider audience took its toll with the departure of first Brian and then Barry . The role of drummer became a revolving one for a short period (John Sullivan , Barry Connell , Graham Collins) before the addition of the multi talented Grant Gilmour (formerly of The Enid and Solstice) completed the line up in a stable format. The replacement for the role of keyboard player proved elusive and fell to Deborah in live performances and Diz in the studio. The role was finally filled in late 1986 by Steven Wilson (laterly of Porcupine Tree , Blackfield). Pride of Passion's double A side single (All My life / And You Hurt - featuring Mel Collins on saxophone) was released in 1986. The bands final gig was on May 16th 1987.Song Images from www.minnitt.com