In early 2021 Pip was approached by James, the Manager of the band The Rose of Avalanche, about the prospect of doing an original painting based on an old promotional photo that could be used for the band's forthcoming album release "At The BBC". The band wanted to make this release really special, and to try and rekindle that wonderful feeling of poring over the sleeve while you're listening to the music and Pip naturally jumped at the prospect of being involved.
The Rose of Avalanche
The Rose of Avalanche are a goth rock band formed by 3 school mates in Leeds in 1983, and by 1984 were already recording their own Radio 1 John Peel session in the BBC’s Maida Vale Studios.
Peel loved them and followed the BBC1 session by placing the bands first single “L.A.Rain” at number 26 in his 1985 Festive 50, above songs by The Cure, The Smiths and The Sisters of Mercy. From there the next four singles dominated the UK Independent Charts. “Goddess” matched the chart-topping debut “L.A.Rain” and was named Single of The Week by Sounds, “Too Many Castles In The Sky” went Top 5, followed by “Velveteen” and “Always There”. In parallel to this chart success, the band were fine-tuning their live show in the limelight of the prestigious UK & European support slot to media darlings The Mission on their hedonistic 1986/87 World Crusade Tour.
Then just at the point of taking the next big leap, the band hit legal issues which put a metaphorical “stick in the works”. Their much-anticipated debut album was delayed by nearly two years, with “Never Another Sunset” finally being released in 1989. Despite this loss of momentum, the band retained a loyal following in mainland Europe and went on to release two further albums, 1990’s “String A Beads” and I.C.E. in 1991. At the turn of the decade, musical tastes & the priorities of band members were changing and following a final European tour in 1992, the band called time and split.
In August 2019, some 27 years later, the band announced it was reforming the original line up and were confirmed as main support for the UK leg of The Mission’s upcoming UK tour. Unfortunately delayed by COVID, the tour is finally going ahead in 2022, along with the release of the "At The BBC" album.
"At The BBC"
"At The BBC" is the latest release from the 80's goth band The Rose of Avalanche. The release features the bands two Radio 1 sessions, available for the first time since the original broadcast. "The Rose of Avalanche At The BBC" captures that early creative spark of a band who went from buying their first instruments to recording for John Peel in less than a year, and then checks in some 10 months later with their 1986 Radio 1 session for Janice Long, finding a band full of confidence off the back of the success of their second and third singles, and on the cusp of hitting the big time.
The CD can be ordered from Chapter22 Records, along with pin badge and artwork print bundles.
"At the BBC" Album Artwork Reveal
On 22nd November 2021 the artwork for the new album was revealed by the band on their website, together with an interview with the artist Pip. You can read the full interview here
Vive Le Rock Magazine
A review of the "At The BBC" album is featured in the 90th edition of Vive Le Rock magazine in March 2022, receiving an impressive 9 out of 10.
The Mission Deja Vu Tour 2022
In 2022 The Rose of Avalanche comeback tour supporting The Mission finally went ahead following a 2 year pause due to the worldwide COVID pandemic. Pip was kindly invited along and added to the guest list by the band's manager James for the Manchester gig at the O2 Ritz on 14th April 2022. You can read a review of the gig by RockFlesh here.