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‘passage’ was formed from the manchester musicians' collective in march 1978 by tony friel (bassist and founder member of the fall) and dick witts (former percussionist with the hallé orchestra and the dreamtiger ensemble, presenter at granada television and arts & dance officer for the merseyside arts association). dick's friend bob dickinson (original keyboardist with magazine) joined them for a short time, and was replaced by tony's friend lorraine hilton.
they released their first recording, a 4-track ep for object music, new love songs, at the end of the year, with the song writing credits split evenly between tony and dick
karl burns (drums, also from the fall) joined the band in 1979, so dick could play keyboards with lol, but karl then joined john cooper-clarke's band, and dick returned to drums. they released another 4-track ep, about time, with equal songwriting credit to tony and dick, this time produced by david cunningham of the flying lizards
after an audience altercation at a london gig, tony quit the band, and followed ex-fall bandmates martin bramah and karl burns to the teardrops. tony was replaced by lorraine's sister martine hilton (bass) and john snowdon (vocals) for live work, while dick continued to write new material for their debut album
dick recorded their first album in a week in july 1980. not long afterwards, his arm was severely injured in a car accident. with the momentum lost, the band separated indefinitely. object music released their debut album, pindrop, in november 1980 (under the name ‘the passage’) to critical acclaim, but a dispute with the record company caused the album to be deleted, after just 5000 copies were made
still recovering, and in need of help with promoting the album, dick recruited joe mckechnie (drummer with activity minimal and modern eon), lizzy johnson (vocals) and a young andy wilson (guitarist with the spurtz)
the passage started their own record label (‘night & day’, published by dindisc/virgin), but had only recorded one single, devils and angels (december 1980), when lizzy left, the following month
a three-piece band again, they went back into the studio in february 1981, resulting in a single (a remake of troops out), and an album (for all and none)
less than satisfied with the marketing of their album, they signed with popular indie label cherry red records, and joe left for college. now a duo, dick and andy made a 12″ single, taboos, and started work on a new album
joined by paul mahoney (drums), the passage finished recording and went on an extensive tour in 1982, promoting new single, xoyo, and album, degenerates, in scandinavia, northern europe and america
after recording a new single, wave, paul left the band and they were rejoined by joe, keeping the momentum going for the recording of their fourth album at the end of a very busy year
their new album, enflame, and single, sharp tongue, were released in march 1983. unhappy with the way cherry red records were handling releases, the passage quit the record label. they continued with occasional live performances, as well as work outside the band, for the rest of the year, ending 1983 with another bbc session
cherry red records compiled and released an unapproved "best of" album through the passage. after an abortive attempt at a new project, the passage was finally disbanded due to disillusionment, lack of success, and alternative interests
dick witts worked for various arts-based organisations, is a writer, and lectures on modern music in edinburgh and lon don
joe mckechnie joined benny profane after the passage, worked with wild swans, pete wylie and echo & the bunnymen, and works as the mindwinder and dj tempest in liverpool
andy wilson worked as a dj all over the world, and now works for radio cadena cien in ibiza
paul mahoney played with ludus & hurrah! (as damien mahoney), tried the police force, played with several manchester bands (including paris angels) and is now a steiner waldorf teacher in the republic of ireland
lizzy johnson continues to sing, and has worked in band promotion, has lived in australia, and now works for a children's charity in merseyside
tony friel produced for several manchester bands, including blue orchids, and recently played with the woodbank street band and the scavengers
please spot the mistakes and fill in the blanks
by e-mailing keith at ourselves@thepassage.co.uk