The Escape Club

History

The band first formed in 1983, comprising Mad Shadows members lead singer/rhythm guitarist Trevor Steel and guitarist John Holliday, along with former Expressos members bassist Johnnie Christo (a.k.a. John Christoforou) and drummer Milan Zekavica. The seeds for the formation of The Escape Club were sown when Zekavica joined Steel and Holliday in Mad Shadows, who would subsequently perform on an album by the obscure early 1980s Stephen Milford-fronted new wave outfit, Planning by Numbers. Before long, Christo had also joined the lineup, and The Escape Club was born. The fledgling band quickly released the single, "Breathing".

In 1985, The Escape Club signed with EMI and recorded the album White Fields, which was released the following year. In 1987, the group moved to Atlantic Records and began recording their next album, Wild Wild West. The album was released in the summer of 1988 and spawned the single "Wild, Wild West", which climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while the song's video received major rotation on MTV. However, it is rumored it was banned from being used in their homeland for being extremely sexist.

In 1989, they released two more singles from Wild Wild West: "Shake for the Sheik", which climbed to No. 28, and "Walking Through Walls", which peaked at No. 81. The Escape Club's cover single of The Doors' "20th Century Fox" appeared on The Wonder Years: Music From the Emmy Award-Winning Show & Its Era, which also received airplay on MTV. The band's official website reported that the song was produced by a member of the Doors. However there is no independent evidence that this is true. A reliable citation is needed to confirm this claim.

In 1990, the band returned to the studio to record what would be their final album, Dollars & Sex, which saw a March 1991 release. The first single, "Call It Poison" failed to crack the US Top 40. Atlantic Records then released the song "I'll Be There", which the group said was heavily influenced by the death of a friend's wife. The song has become an anthem among those who have experienced losses of their own. "I'll Be There" reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved gold status in the US. The group disbanded in 1992. The Escape Club is the only British band to have a No. 1 hit in the U.S., while not charting at all in their native UK.

Trevor Steel and John Holliday reunited, with new band member Red Broad, in 2009 for a new album and a handful of live shows, and released a new studio album, Celebrity, in February 2012.