NEWS & GOSSIP 2012

2012 : 2011 : 2010 : 2009 : 2008 : 2007 : 2006



East 17's Brian Harvey writes song for Newhaven schoolgirl
27th March - The Argus
Nineties pop sensation Brian Harvey is back with a new song.
But the former East 17 star won’t be singing it – instead an 11-year-old girl from Newhaven will.
Morgan Smith, who was not even born when the band enjoyed their biggest hits, needed a song for the national Live and Unsigned competi- tion next month.
Her proud mum racked her brains for ideas before using a few old contacts.
Danielle, 30, a self confessed former East 17 super-fan, got to know the lads when she was a teenager.
She said: “I found out where they lived and used to go round to their house.
“We got to know each other quite well and spent some timewith thembut we haven’t spoken for years.”
Danielle remembered his East London address and went round with her daughter to ask the former pop-star for a song.
Brian wasn’t in, but they dropped a CD of Morgan singing through the let- terbox along with an old picture of him with Danielle.
Morgan said: “He emailed me later with a song for me to sing and he said that he hoped I did well.
“I just think he’s a really good man.”
The song is called I Can and the Tide- way School pupil is now set to perform it at the Live and Unsigned regional final at the Hove Centre.
If Morgan gets through then she will go to the showcase area final in Portsmouth.
The winner of the final, which is to be held at London’s 02 Arena, will win £10,000 as well as a 100-show tour of the UK.
(The article was not quite accurate. Morgan puts it staright "brian did NOT write it for me he gave me the backing track and said i can sing any of his songs")

East 17 Stopped By Immigration
12th March - NTV
[Translated from Russian to English] Foreign groups were in Moscow without a work permit.
After "Superdiskoteki 90 "in the sports complex" Olympic "FMS staff checked whether the foreign artists permission to work in Russia. As it turned out, the foreign stars of show business appeared in the Moscow underground.
Show documents that allow the performers to work in Russia, failed to nine performers from the four groups. In particular, the group acted illegally Snap, East-17 , La Bouche and Culture Beat.
In the absence of a work permit artists fined in the amount of two to five thousand. And punish the organizers of the event on the Russian side. In the FMS say that the law makes no difference, working overseas visitor on a construction site, or performs in concert.

Tony: Brian Is Welcome Back
27th January - Daily Record
East 17's Tony Mortimer reveals Brian Harvey is welcome back despite punch up and ecstasy boast
AS statements go it isn’t quite up there with ex-bandmate Brian Harvey’s “ecstasy makes you a better person” - but Tony Mortimer claims he’s glad his “missus” is on the mend after a back op because she can do the washing and make the dinner.
Mortimer, 41, has penned the moving East 17 track Counting Clouds about his partner of 23 years Tracey Davis’s spinal operation, and a track called Can’t Get You Off My Mind (Crazy) as the group’s comeback single.
And when I suggest the comment about Tracey may be sexist, but a little tame compared to the quotes that left Britain’s biggest boy band’s career in tatters, even Mortimer has to laugh.
“Counting Clouds is a lovely little song. I wrote it for my missus who was having a back operation, just before she went into hospital,” he explains.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen with the op. There was uncertainty but it has been OK.
“She had some discs in her back cleaned and chipped away at.
“She can do the washing again, so that’s good, and she can make the dinner, so we’re all happy.
“I can say that and we might be all right because Brian isn’t around any more.”
In 1997, East 17 were out-selling Take That, having amassed 20 million album sales and 18 Top 20 singles.
But when Harvey told a radio programme that drugs were cool and “ecstasy can make you a better person” - the comments coming in the aftermath of Leah Betts’s ecstasy-related death - East 17 were finished.
Harvey was sacked and the band imploded soon after.
Now Mortimer has dusted off the brand and is back with a completely new sound, teaming up with old bandmates John Hendy and Terry Coldwell.
Yet he insists Harvey is welcome to join them - even though the last get-together ended with a punch up.
Tony says: “We were always arguing. It was the pressure of the industry and a lot of pressure on me and Brian because we were the focal point of the band.
“I get on with everyone and don’t have a problem. I’m a laid-back guy.
“I can’t believe I lost my rag with Brian, but it was a culmination of things.
“He’s not into doing the East 17 thing any more and I was trying to make it work and he wasn’t that bothered.
“That was the crux of it. So there is no Brian this time. He is doing his solo thing. He might come back on stage with us if we are doing a gig or something.
“Maybe he’s not ready but in a couple of years he might be. The door is open for him. That would be great.”
Touted as a UK version of New Kids On The Block, and managed by ex-Pet Shop Boys manager Tom Watkins, their 1992 debut single House of Love managed to shift a staggering 600,000 copies.
Hits that followed included Deep, Steam, Let It Rain, It’s Alright, and Christmas No1 Stay Another Day – the latter remaining in the top spot for five weeks.
In 1995, the band played to 100,000 in Moscow’s Red Square.
Recalling the height of the group’s fame, Ivor Novello-winning songwriter Mortimer said: “Back in the old days, we had the fans outside the house camping and it was a wonderful period.
“It was a blessing. We were huge and that is a nice problem to have.
“It won’t be like that now. Like us, they’re older and will have full-time jobs. The early-90s was a boy band era. We were so busy with what we were doing we never had time for rivalries with other bands.
“We were locked in our little bubble, which was the East 17 party.
“Take That was the closest thing to us but there was no real rivalry.
“They were middle class and we were lower middle class. We tried to behave but we kept messing up.
“And, yes, it was a spectacular fall. If you are going to fall from grace, do it in style. Don’t whimper out.
“Sometimes the writing is on the cards and it does end quickly, especially if you give it some help.
“We made mistakes in public and that is what happens. But I didn’t have to forgive Brian. He paid the price for that. I know that it rebounded on the band but that’s OK.”
Now a dad of two girls, aged 16 and 18, Mortimer says he has settled down and East 17 - once billed as the rough to Take That’s smooth - have a new and mature sound that suits an older audience.
The new album Dark Light is released in April, while the single is out next month.
A tour is also planned, though Mortimer admits his priorities have changed now that he is a father.
But he is hopeful fans will take to the band’s new sound.
He said: “I have been working in the background on my voice over the years.
“We had to change. We couldn’t come back doing that stuff again.
“It’s 20 years old and sometimes you have to adapt to survive. It should be good. Fingers crossed.”

Preview "Can't Get You Off My Mind (Crazy)"
27th January - Amazon
Looks like the new single "Can't Get You Off My Mind (Crazy)" is due for release on the 26th Feb if Amazon is correct. You can check the preview to the single there too. "Can't Get You Off My Mind (Crazy)"

Pre-Order "Dark Light"
27th January - Grooves
Still waiting on the release date for the new single? Yep me too. But while waiting why not pre-order the soon to be released East 17 album from Grooves (Release date: 30th March).

East 17 set to release a new single this month
8th January - Radio Cremebrulee
Not too long ago, we published a post called “East 17 – Victims again?”. The impetus for that post for the firing of new East 17 lead singer Blair Dreelan. Rarely has a new lead singer been fired during the interim between the first new single (featuring the lead singer) and the album. This has been perceived by many fans as a blow to the band. But it looks like the band has rebounded.
Fans expressed their outrage when an official announcement was made on the East 17 website indicating that Blair had been fired. Many fans commented on the band’s facebook fanpage asking the band to bring former lead singer Brian Harvey back into the fold. It looks like the band has arrived at a solution – one that shines a positive light on their situation. Here is the essence of that situation.
The band’s primary songwriter Tony Mortimer will take over as vocalists. The new single “Can’t you get off my mind” will be released at the end of January. The new album will be released at the end of March. The band has signed a 4-album deal. For those of you that have forgotten what Tony Mortimer sounds like as a vocalist, here is a video to remind you of that!
Now let us just hope East 17 can recreate the quality benchmark that they set for themselves back in the 90s. We are definitely holding our breath for the new material.