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Stephen Cummings
After a
successful career as lead singer with the Sports in the latter Seventies,
Stephen Cummings carved himself a career as an enigmatic, reticent solo
performer.
 When the Sports
split up in 1981 there was no bitterness
or recriminations. The group had simply run its course. After six years in
the deep end Stephen was jaded about the music industry, but not about
music itself. The year he spent waiting out all his existing contracts was
also spent at home making tapes of new song ideas. When he was free to go
wherever he wanted to go he approached ultra-independent Phantom with the
tapes for a single, 'We All Make Mistakes'. Even Phantom thought Stephen
deserved better distribution than it was able to offer, and a four single
deal was negotiated with Regular. What appealed to Stephen was that there
was no requirement for him to play live.
'We All
Make Mistakes' was followed by 'Stuck On Love' and a version of The O'Jays'
'Backstabbers', and by the time Stephen recorded his first solo album with
the Sports' Martin Armiger producing, the former New Wave rocker had moved
towards a new musical direction. 'Senso' was dominated by Stephen's
interest in soul and dance music. The album said he was determined to
experiment musically. 'Senso' also set the pattern for the albums to come,
with Stephen surrounding himself with the best musicians available. Each
album determines its own direction, and over the years added up to the image
of Stephen as a laconic performer and passionate songwriter with a
distinctive vocal style. Success writing advertising jingles, in particular
Medibank's 'I Feel Better Now' theme, presented Stephen with the luxury of
not having to rely on record sales or live performances to keep a roof on
his head and food on the table. He could record exactly what he wanted, and
perform only when he felt like it.
After
the dance-oriented 'Senso' came a triology of intimate albums, the
reflective 'This Wonderful Life', a step into fantasy with 'Lovetown' and
the seductive 'A New Kind Of Blue', albums which cast Stephen into a rock
cabaret mould. 1990's 'Good Humour' returned Stephen to his funk passions,
followed by a rock album, 'Unguided Tour'. In 1994 he entered a new era of
musical adventure with two albums ('Falling Swinger' and 'Escapist')
produced by and contributed to by Steve Kilby of Church, the singer
allowing Kilby to indulge his imagination and push Stephen into musical
situations he'd never dream of going of his own free will. With 1999's
'Spiritual Bum' Stephen went back to his acoustic reflections on life.
2003's 'Firecracker' took a sidetrack to rockabilly. In 2009, aided by
producer Billy Miller of Ferrets fame, Stephen returned to his garage rock
roots with ‘Tickety Boo’.
In 1996
Stephen Cummings added novel writing to his creative output.
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