Dave and Barbara's entire back catalogue can now be legally downloaded from the Stewart / Gaskin online store . 41 tracks are available as high-quality audio files - you can download individual songs or whole albums. Originally released between 1981 and 1991, the tracks include the 'A' and 'B' sides of Dave & Barbara's UK singles and all the songs from their albums Up From The Dark, Broken Records - The Singles, As Far As Dreams Can Go, The Big Idea and Spin. Revenue from downloads goes directly to the musicians with no record company involvement.
www.davebarb.demon.co.uk
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Dave Stewart started his career in 1969 as 18-year-old organist with the experimental UK rock group Egg and went on to play keyboards with Hatfield & The North, National Health & Bruford. He is recognised as one of the UK's leading keyboardists and rock composers, has written a large number of songs and instrumental pieces and is the author of two books on music. In the early 70's Barbara Gaskin was vocalist with the English folk-rock group Spirogyra. The two first met in 1969 and Barbara subsequently appeared as guest vocalist on some of Dave's bands' LPs in the 70s. After the break-up of Spirogyra Barbara travelled in Asia for a few years, returning to the UK in 1978.
In 1981 Dave struck out on a solo career, recording a version of the Tamla classic 'What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted' with Colin Blunstone on guest vocals. The single (catalogue number 'Broken 1') reached the top twenty in the UK. Dave and Barbara then recorded a tongue-in-cheek version of the old Lesley Gore classic 'It's My Party'. Released on Stiff Records, the single roared to the top of the U.K. charts and stayed there for 4 weeks. 'It's My Party' (cat. no. Broken 2) went on to become a hit worldwide, selling over a million copies.
Encouraged by these events, Dave and Barbara decided to stick together and record more tracks. In late 1981, they went into the studios and emerged six months later with their first LP, the ominously-titled Disappear. Unfortunately, Stiff and other record companies felt it was 'uncommercial' - faced with a choice of making musical changes or staying true to their artistic instincts, Dave and Barbara opted for the latter and continued to release records independently on their own Broken Records label. Disappear was temporarily put on hold . . .
From 1982 to 1985, Stewart and Gaskin released an excellent series of singles on Broken Records, some of which reached the charts. Dave and Barbara's fame spread to the USA and Japan, and in 1986, US company Rykodisc released the 14-track compilation Up From The Dark in the USA, making available for the first time the recordings from the Disappear sessions. Midi Records in Japan produced their own compilations Broken Records - The Singles (a collection of the first six Stewart/Gaskin singles plus their 'B' sides) and As Far As Dreams Can Go, consisting of the remainder of the Disappear tracks plus two extra songs, 'The Locomotion' and 'Make Me Promises'. In 1987, Dave and Barbara started work on a new album, their first to be conceived as such since Disappear - this epic work was finally finished in May 1989 and christened The Big Idea.
Having spent the best part of a decade in the studio the duo decided to venture out and perform live, and achieved this objective (with the aid of guitarist Andy Reynolds and a mountain of equipment) with a 12-date tour of the USA East Coast and Midwest in October 1991. The cheers of the Americans still ringing in their ears, they returned to the UK and polished off a new album Spin. After the release of Spin, Dave, Barbara and Andy Reynolds played a massively successful concert tour of Japan, then in November 1991 topped the bill at Keyboard magazine's Cyberarts festival in Los Angeles. The duo then retreated back to the safety of the studio to begin work on a new album, emerging in 1996 to perform at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and in 2001 to play two concerts in Tokyo. For the latter gigs the trio were joined by drummer Gavin Harrison.
Dave and Barbara would like to thank their listeners for their loyal support over the years and assure them that a new album will be available at some point. Watch this Space!
You can now download all of Dave and Barbara's back catalogue as MP3s and MP4s (and purchase 'The Big Idea' CD) direct from their website. Go to the Stewart / Gaskin online store and follow the instructions!
Thanks to Stephen Green for setting up this page.