The musical scene of the 1980’s was filled with synth pop due duos and new wave spin-offs whose music would pave the way for the ‘boy band’ phenomenon of the late 80’s and 1990’s. Once such band that emerged on to the international stage was Go West.
Handsome, confident and with a handful of catchy tunes to match their boyish good looks, this pair of London lads looked certain to break through into the big time. Otherwise known as Richard Drummie and Peter Cox, Go West had nothing but a portastudio and the songs they’d written, but with help from their manager John Glover, they were able to record and produce two songs that would eventually become hits on their eponymous first album in 1985.
‘We Close Our Eyes’ would make No.5 on the UK singles chart, Go West peaked at no.8 on the UK album chart and one of their B-Sides ‘One Way Street’ made it onto the soundtrack for the legendary Rocky IV movie. On the back of this success Go West would be named Best Newcomer the 1986 BRIT awards.
Determined to underline the strength of their song writing abilities, Go West released ‘Dancing On The Couch’ in 1987 and although their sophomore album did not match the success of their first album, it spawned a number of top 30 UK hits and ultimately became something of a cult collector’s item.
After five years away on tour and time away from music, Go West returned to the studio to record ‘Indian Summer’ in California in 1992. Their hit ‘King of Wishful Thinking’ became one of the most played songs on American radio and was featured as the opening piece of music in the smash hit movie Pretty Woman. The Pretty Woman soundtrack would go on to sell 10million copies worldwide, delivering huge exposure for the band.
A greatest hits album ‘Aces and Kings’ followed in 1993, but in 1994, Cox decided to move to Los Angeles to concentrate on his solo work whilst Drummie constructed his own studio and would focus on musical production and song writing.
Since 2001, Go West have been more active, releasing ‘futurenow’ in 2008 and performing sporadically with the likes of 80’s stars Paul Young, Kim Wilde, Belinda Carlisle, and The Human League.
With a multi-date UK tour currently underway, Go West’s popularity endures to this day, and we’re excited they’ll be joining Paul Young at The Green Room Christmas Live in December. For more information on what is London’s essential festive warm-up, follow this link here.
