Freeze Frame were an English new wave and synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1981. The band consisted of lead vocalist Steve Byrne, guitarist and producer Ronnie Stone, and later keyboardist Clive Gee. They released six commercial singles between 1981 and 1985 through local independent labels including Crackin' Up and Inevitable Records, as well as major distributor RCA Records.
Contents
History
Singer Steve Byrne and guitarist/producer Ronnie Stone first met around 1980–1981. Byrne was originally the frontman for local punk/new wave group The Posers, while Stone had been a member of Next, The Blank Tapes, and Afraid of Mice alongside Philip Franz Jones. Stone was initially hired to produce a recording session for The Posers, which led to a songwriting partnership with Byrne. The duo made their early material in a basement rehearsal room in Oxton, Birkenhead, using a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder alongside Teac and Revox tape machines.
Prior to adopting the name Freeze Frame, the duo performed live under the name In a Glass Darkly, playing early shows at The Waverley venue in Ellesmere Port supported by an early line-up of China Crisis. The band subsequently renamed themselves Freeze Frame as an homage to the 1979 album Freeze Frame by 10cc spin-off duo Godley & Creme.
Freeze Frame developed primarily as a studio-based indie project, recording extensively at Amazon Studios in Kirkby managed by Jerry Lewis, the co-founder of Eric's Club and owner of Inevitable Records. Sound engineer Gil Norton collaborated with the band on their studio recordings, and poet/actor Craig Charles was also among their early creative circle at Liverpool's Temple Street scene. Freeze Frame's debut single, "Touch", was released in 1981 on Dave Owens' Liverpool-based label Crackin' Up. The band later signed a publishing deal with Hit and Run / April Music (the management company for Genesis) and joined Inevitable Records, which secured distribution through RCA Records.
Keyboardist Clive Gee, formerly of Afraid of Mice, joined Freeze Frame prior to the recording of "Foxhole" in 1984. Produced by Dave Bascombe, "Foxhole" features artwork by Steve "Jacuzzi" Hardstaffe and photography by Tom Wood; it became the group's most successful commercial release, peaking at No. 105 on the UK Singles Chart. During recording sessions, Stone introduced traditional Turkish saz instrumentation on tracks such as "Where's The Girl".
Freeze Frame recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. The first session was recorded on 26 March 1983 and broadcast on 31 March 1983, featuring the tracks "Foxhole", "Personal Touch", "Your Voice", and "Today Tomorrow". A second radio session was recorded in March 1984.
In 1985, the group released "Today/Tomorrow", produced by Jerry Lewis and featuring guest vocals by Linda Wright, followed by a re-recorded synth-pop arrangement of their debut single titled "Touch (Re-Touch)". After RCA declined to fund a full-length studio album, Freeze Frame disbanded in late 1985. Byrne and Stone subsequently collaborated under the project name Push Button Pony.
In 2019, Cherry Red Records released a comprehensive 3-CD box set titled Birth Of A Nation: Inevitable Records An Independent Liverpool 1979–1986, which anthologised fourteen tracks by Freeze Frame, including their single releases, B-sides, and BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions.
Discography
Compilation appearances
1982: Cracking Up at the Pyramid ("Touch") – Crackin' Up Records
1984: Small Hits and Near Misses: The Inevitable Compilation ("Culture Won't Wait") – Inevitable Records
1990: The Invaders: The Inevitable Sampler Volume 2 ("Someone", credited as Someone) – Inevitable / Probe Plus
2018: Revolutionary Spirit: The Sound Of Liverpool 1976–1988 ("Touch") – Cherry Red Records
2019: Birth Of A Nation: Inevitable Records An Independent Liverpool 1979–1986 (14 tracks included) – Cherry Red Records
2019: Electrical Language: Independent British Synth Pop 78–84 ("Your Voice") – Cherry Red Records