BIOGRAPHY / CAPITOL 6/90

REVENGE

PETER HOOK    Bass

DAVE HICKS              Guitar    

CHRIS "CJ" JONES    Keyboards

What Revenge is:

1) A trio formed by Peter Hook, bassist for such legendary enigmas as New Order, Joy Division and Warsaw. For Revenge, Hook is joined by a pair of fellow Manchester musicians he's worked with before: guitarist Dave Hicks and keyboardist / computer whiz Chris "CJ" Jones. Hicks previously played in a band produced by Hook, while CJ was the engineer in Hook's own Suite 16 studios in Manchester, where he worked on records by The Fall and The U.K. Chameleons among others. Touring band includes drummer Ash and a second bassist, David Potts.

2) A new group making their vinyl / magnetic tape / CD debut with One True Passion. Their first U.S. single is "Pineapple Face." The album's other songs are "Slave," "Bleachman," "Fag Hag," "Big Bang," "Kiss The Chrome," "Surf Nazis," "7 Reasons" and "It's Quiet."

3) A band driven as much by sensuous, rhythmic sounds as by sensual, rhythmic visuals. Factory Records art director Peter Saville has created the One True Passion package, which includes seductive photos of women on motorbikes. Shot by Playboy's first female photographer, Suze Randall (herself a former centerfold), the pictures reflect Saville's fascination for the styles of S&M and bondage.

Seven reasons why Revenge isn't what you think:

1) IT'S NOT PETER HOOK'S "SOLO " OUTING: "I'm working with two other people and the songs are co-written. To say this is a solo project is to demean it. It makes it seem like it's more me than them and that isn't the case. I simply realized very early on it's pretty boring working on your own."

2) IT DOESN'T MEAN THE END OF NEW ORDER: "People try to make this out to be more acrimonious than it is. The whole idea of New Order taking this time off was planned long ago. We're just working in a different way now. No one knows what's going to happen and that's the beauty of it. It's very New Order -- very Factory (Records). I think this has changed our attitudes toward one another. It's made us enjoy each other's company more."

3) IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE FOR PETER HOOK TO BE CHIEF SINGER AND SONGWRITER: "At the moment I have to be the center of this group, but I don't really want to be. One thing we tried to do in New Order was stay away from the notion your vocalist was the be-all and the end-ball for everything you did, which I don't feel is the case. Singing is very nerve-wracking. It's like you've got nothing to hide behind but your voice. It's made me appreciate what Bernard (Sumner, New Order' s vocalist) went through. I should obviously be a lot more sympathetic."

4) IT'S NOT SOMETHING TO MARK TIME BETWEEN NEW ORDER PROJECTS: "New Order have worked very hard over the last four years. We all felt we wanted some time off, but that's been kaboshed for the simple fact now we've got less time off than ever, because we're all working really hard on the things we're doing individually. The basic thing I wanted was freedom. I wanted to be able to play when I wanted, and to travel when I wanted. I don't have to play music just with New Order: I can play with these guys as well."

5) IT'S NOT PETER'S REVENGE AGAINST NEW ORDER: "New Order was getting disenchanted playing live. As soon as I got together with Dave and CJ, the first thing we talked about was how it would be really good to play live. It's not a rivalry. The others' stuff is completely different. I'm trying to get back to being less techno and more rock."

6) REVENGE'S FIRST SINGLE, "PINEAPPLE FACE" IS NOT ABOUT MANUEL NORIEGA: "No. I don't want to be specific about what the songs mean. It's personal and I don't feel I want to talk about it now. I'd rather they be an opening for listeners to glean anything they want from them. Which is the way I've always felt. Joy Division and New Order weren't climbing on a bandwagon or bleeding your heart out. We were just doing something we hoped people would pick up on and enjoy just for the sheer aural aspect of it."

7) IT'S NOT A CROSS BETWEEN JOY DIVISION AND NEW ORDER: "What can I say? A lot of the U.K. press has leveled that at us a criticism. I thought that would be pretty bleedin' obvious myself. I guess we're moving away to move back. It's like a bloodline, really. The point is we're just starting out and these are our first eight songs. It's going to be very difficult to be judged against 12 years of New Order and Joy Division on our first album."

© Capitol Records, 1990