VETERAN pop star Lloyd Cole has re-opened a 20-year-old feud with Wet Wet Wet by claiming their reunion is ‘sad’.
The singer has re–formed Lloyd Cole& The Commotions for a short 20th anniversary tour.
He chose to get back with his old bandmates to celebrate the 1984 release of his band’s acclaimed debut album Rattlesnakes.
But Lloyd says he would never have agreed to a tour with his old bandmates if he had known bands like Wet Wet Wet had also re-formed this year.
The Wets will tour in December to coincide with a Greatest Hits package being released by Mercury records.
Lloyd said: ‘Every f***** is re-forming this year. If I had known they were re -forming it would have been even harder to persuade me.
‘The record label got in touch with us to say they were putting together a new Rattlesnakes package and we thought we should get involved to make sure it was a decent package.
‘It’s not like a reunion. We’ll be rehearsing for three years and after the concerts we’ll go our separate ways. It will not be a regular occurence.
‘I don’t want to be in a band. I don’t mind getting together with my old friends, but I hated making democratic decisions with the others.
‘It was a pain in the neck and I wasn’t comfortable thinking my future lay in being in a band.Everybody is re-forming. Wet Wet Wet were around at the same time as us but we never shared a bill.
‘We found it amusing because they were so combatitively competitive. Their manager made ludicrous statements about Marti Pellow being a better singer than Otis Redding.
‘It’s sad in a way, but I’ve never met Marti. Although I did think their version of Love Is All Around was beautiful.
‘There was also a rumour I’d been involved in a fist fight with Edwyn Collins because we stole his band Orange Juice’s thunder.
‘Both bands were on Polydor and when Rattlesnakes came out they were no longer a priority and that was it.That fight didn’t happen.’
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Rattlesnakes album, it is being reissued on October 4 as a double CD with the original tracklisting on CD1and a variety of live songs, demos, radio sessions and outtakes onCD2.
Another album, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions: The Singles, is released this week.
Lloyd, guitarist Neil Clark, keyboards player Blair Cowan, bassist Lawrence Donegan and drummer Stephen Irvine will play Glasgow Barrowlands on October 12 as part of a five-date UK stint.
Lloyd explained: ‘I just wanted to play Glasgow and London. It’s a way to see everybody celebrate that record and go away again. We’re just not the Rolling Stones or Depeche Mode. We never had that kind of camaraderie U2 have. We hated touring. I told the band that if there was a tour bus involved I wasn’t going.
‘I was sceptical.We are not re-forming. We are not making a record. We’re just getting together for a few shows.’
The 43-year old Englishman admits not all his memories of being on the road are fond ones.
He recalled: ‘I remember one Glasgow gig where our manager had a clicker in his hand to check how many people entered because we were on a percentage of the door. A bouncer stubbed a cigarette out on to his hand.
‘And I remember Blair was walking to a Glasgow venue in the middle of winter when he was mugged on Bath Street.
‘That was the same night his girlfriend got assaulted by a bouncer. But there are fond memories, too.
‘In 1984, we were the best band in the world – just for a minute – and to me that’s something worth celebrating.’
Publication: Scottish Daily Record
Publication date: 30/09/04