The Poems (early 80s): There is little known about the first group. They released one EP, Achieving Unity, in 1981, before Rose McDowall moved to the group Strawberry Switchblade. The members included Rose McDowall (of Strawberry Switchblade, Boyd Rice and Friends, Sorrow, Spell [with Boyd Rice], and collaborations with Coil and Current 93) and her then current husband Drew McDowall. The music could be described as post-punk or art punk. The modern Poems (mid 00s) are: |Robert Hodgens studied design at Glasgow School of Art, He started his first group the Oxfam Warriors when he was 14, heavily influenced by the third Velvet Underground album, Big Star and the Byrds. The Bluebells, part of the Postcard Records(Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Josef K) canon before going major and at 18 he was in the UK charts with the band, who were signed to Sire in the States by Seymour Stein. They topped the UK charts with ‘Cath’ and ‘Young at Heart’. He has worked with, amongst others, The Eurythmics, Sinead O’Connor, Texas, Ian McCulloch(Echo and The Bunnymen),Paul Quinn and The Independent group, Belinda Carlisle, B*witched before deciding it was time again for some self-expression and started writing for and with The Poems. Adrian Barry studied photography at the Glasgow School of Art started his first group the Candy Kings at 16, influenced by Orange Juice, the Beatles and the New York Dolls. Moved on to playing bass with The High Fidelity for 5 years signed to BMG in the UK and Freedom In Exile in the States. Now concentrating on The Poems, DJ’ing and photography. Bobby Paterson A founder member of renowned rock funk pioneers Love and Money Bobby is best known for his production of the legendary ‘Velocity Girl’ by Primal Scream, regarded by many as their finest recording. After abandoning the music business for several years to design and run a chain of boutique hotels a chance meeting with Robert Hodgens led to a song writing road trip through Italy which became the seed from which The Poems grew. Kerry Polwart An accomplished exponent of modern dance techniques Kerry decided that singing was her true vocation after her recent pregnancy and subsequent birth of a baby boy forced out of her dancing shoes. Remarkably ‘Young America’ represents her first ever attempts at singing, she has never performed or recorded before, an amazing fact considering the calm resonance of her voice. Kerry is a doyen of Glasgow’s club scene through which she met the DJ’ing Robert and Adrian. ‘Every day’s a poem’ is one of her favourite sayings… Amy Ogletree Despite having a father who was the drummer in Simple Minds, full time model Amy is another new addition to the world of recorded music. She collaborated with Robert on several songs and demos for various British pop acts like Sophie Bextor Ellis and The Corrs which were rejected for being ‘weird and sick’’ in retrospect they probably were. |
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