Beau Leisure

Beau Leisure was a remarkable, underachieving synthpop band from South Manchester. Formed circa 1981 by Clive Farrington and Dave Powell they went through a couple of drummers and synth players before the definitive line-up of: Dave Powell - Lead vocals/guitar, Clive Farrington - Bass/ vocals, Kris Saint - Keyboards, Tony Johnson - Drums. Dave Powell was a superb songwriter, and his collaborations with Clive Farrington ensured that Beau Leisure had a collection of true synth pop gems. Good looking guys great musicians, with excellent stage shows and a hard core following, the band seemed destined for bigger things.They were 'endorsed' by Piccadilly Radio and post a successful and request-repeated Radio 1 session for Peter Powell, they were courted by the London majors, however, after the release of their first and only single 'American Beat / Take The Exit', in 1983, the band sadly imploded after disagreements over direction. Immediately post-split, Dave Powell re-recorded American Beat for EMI, in a more dance oriented style, but for whatever reason this was never generally released. The band regrouped almost immediately - without Dave Powell - and recorded more demos as 'Leisure' (dropping the 'Beau') but despite the vocal prowess of Corinne Drewery - who went on to success with Swing Out Sister - the new direction never took off and the band finally called it a day. Clive Farrington then formed 'When In Rome' - featuring former Beau Leisure roadie Andy Mann on vocals - who went on to have some success in the UK charts and particularly in the USA, with their 80's anthem 'The Promise'. When In Rome are now totally USA based and are still going to this day, but without Clive - who last heard of was producing and DJ'ing around the London area. Kris Saint, (real name was I think, Chris Sant) disappeared into the ether after the final Leisure split, as did Tony Johnson. Both great musicians though, so MUST have done something else. Dave Powell has also not been heard of since the second recording of 'American Beat'. The great Crumar/Korg driven songs still exist in demo form, and there are rumours of a Myspace site being set up so that more people can hear the work of a band that really could and should have made it big. Biog supplied by Chris Wright.