Swiftly regrouping following Skyfall’s dissolution, Phil became frontman and driving force behind prog rock outfit Next. Taking their name from an album by explosive Scottish rockers The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the nascent group were heavily inspired by the theatricality of Peter Gabriel, Genesis and David Bowie. Chiming with an era of bands who possessed strong, dynamic musicianship and whimsical lyrics, Next’s bracing live shows became the stuff of Liverpool legend.
Opening their shows with a blistering cover of Faith Healer by the aforementioned SAHB, the peak of Next’s live set came with the ambitious, multi-part Oliver Twist Trilogy. Regardless of the size of venue they were playing, Phil’s dedication to live performance saw him go through the costume changes and characterizations that made up the eleven-minute epic to the delight of audiences.
Captured on a primitive tape recorder at Jenks Bar, Blackpool a 1977 Next concert surfaced on YouTube in 2015. Despite the understandably rough sound, the quality of the band’s musicianship and Phil’s swooping, dramatic vocals cut through strongly.
Parallel to their gigs as Next the group developed a sideline as Happy Medium, an outfit who could play dates at Merseyside’s booming cabaret and working men’s clubs. A vastly more extensive circuit than the rock venues of the era, alongside classic rock staples the five-piece incorporated their own material into sets, the covers serving as “stepping stones” as Phil describes them to self-penned tracks.
Recording demos at the newly established Amazon Studios in Kirby, Next were early adopters of the facility which became the North West’s leading recording hub during the 1980s. Founder of the complex, future music business mogul Jeremy Lewis oversaw the set-up relocating to Liverpool city centre in the early 1990s. Rechristened Parr St. Studios, the complex saw a string of world-famous artists pass through its doors over the ensuing decades.
After being wowed by Next’s live set, seeing them play at a Wirral pub where the queue outside “wrapped around the place”, Lewis agreed to manage the band. With a fanbase firmly in place Lewis set about securing a record contract, shopping the group around the music industry power players in London.
A bidding war quickly ensued with one of the UKs biggest labels Phonogram, cult indie set up Charisma and American giant CBS all vying to sign the group. Maurice Oberstein, the legendary head of CBS’s European division personallu courted Next in an attempt to secure their signatures.
Showcasing the business acumen he’d displayed with Amazon Studios, Lewis negotiated a stunning deal with CBS. The agreement Next inked in 1977 was for £250,000 the equivalent of £1.4 million in 2020, surely the biggest record contract ever signed by a Liverpool band. Under contract to the vast US company, Next became labelmates with music icons Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.
Showcasing the business acumen he’d displayed with Amazon Studios, Lewis negotiated a stunning deal with CBS. The agreement Next inked in 1977 was for £250,000 the equivalent of £1.4 million in 2020, surely the biggest record contract ever signed by a Liverpool band. Under contract to the vast US company, Next became labelmates with music icons Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.
As part of the agreement the group were directly handed a £30,000 equipment budget. Armed with a colossal PA and the most expensive instruments any of them had owned the quintet set about touring the UK.
With their debut tour completed the band headed into the studio to record their first LP. The location chosen for tracking was one of the UKs leading residential studios, The Manor in Oxfordshire where Queen had recently recorded their fifth album A Day At the Races.
Producer of Soft Machine alumnus Kevin Ayers’ 1974 LP, Rupert Hine who went on to work with The Waterboys and Stevie Nicks in the 1980s was behind the recording console for the sessions. Lodged in the studio’s palatial surroundings for two weeks, the album’s seven tracks were set to tape easily.
With the tracklisting finalized and artwork prepared, live favourite Second Chance was due to be issued as the first single from the LP in May 1978.
The upsurge of punk and New Wave meanwhile in 1977-78 had completely changed the UKs musical landscape. Ironically, one of the most influential bands of the new breed The Clash who released their groundbreaking debut LP in April 1977 were labelmates with Next on CBS.
Realising how fundamental the shift in the music scene was, with many prog rock acts now considered passé, Phil suggested that the LP should be shelved and the group draw a line under proceedings.
An audacious move given how much was at stake, Phil wrote to Mo Oberstein personally to set out his position. The American mogul was in agreement with Phil’s judgement and Next and CBS went their separate ways by mutual consent. “I wish I had a copy of that letter today!” Phil marvels of the missive he sent to Oberstein, releasing the group from their contract without incurring any debts.
While Phil changed direction following Next’s break up with Afraid of Mice, many of group’s tracks including the remarkable Oliver Twist Trilogy remained mainstays of his live shows.
With the exception of the fortuitously recorded live set recorded in Blackpool, largely due to technology and the passage of time, nothing else survives of Next’s stage work. Despite this, people fondly remember their time as one of the best live acts on Merseyside, while former manager Jeremy recalls “Phil’s undeniable star power”.
Aside from lo-fi bootleg copies that were later pressed as CDs and distributed amongst fans, Next’s sole LP their eponymous debut remained formally unreleased until 2020. Available digitally for the first time, the album is a fascinating snapshot of an era coming to a close, a time capsule just before a sea-change enveloped the UK’s musical landscape.
You can listen to Next’s eponymous album on your chosen platform here.