Fairground Attraction

This year, after an absence of 35 years, all four original members of 80s band Fairground Attraction are reuniting for a 14-date UK tour and a brand new studio album, with the first single, ‘What’s Wrong With The World?’ out today.

The band’s debut, ‘Perfect’, went to Number One not only in the UK but in countries all around the world and, in 1988, it won Best Single at The Brit Awards. It has gone on to be regarded as a genuine pop classic.

Like ‘Perfect’, ‘What’s Wrong With The World?’ was written by the band’s guitarist Mark Nevin and sung by their brilliant vocalist, Eddi Reader. In a similar upbeat Country-pop vein as their huge hit, they finally answer the question on everyone’s lips: “What’s wrong with the world?”

There is no other band like Fairground Attraction – their use of the guitarrón (a large, Mexican acoustic bass), played by Simon Edwards, gives the bottom end of their records a warmth and character that combines with drummer Roy Dodds, Nevin and Reader to create a charming acoustic antidote to all that is modern and digital. When they arrived on the scene all those years ago, their unique sound was described by many as a “breath of fresh air” and it is even truer today than it was then.

The band’s meteoric rise to the top of the charts was as surprising as it was welcome, not least for the members themselves, who struggled with having their lives turned upside down and, unfortunately, the whole thing was over too soon, leaving a legacy of just four singles and one double-platinum album, The First of a Million Kisses.

During the past three decades, a lot of water has passed under a lot of bridges and when the estranged members of Fairground Attraction finally re-opened communication last year, they realised there was a lot more that united them than divided them.

And here it is, Fairground Attraction are back – older, wiser, coming “face to face with imperfection”, except that this is, ironically, the perfect song at just the right moment. A song that answers the question: “What’s wrong with the world?” with another question: “Maybe it’s me?”

‘What’s Wrong With The World?’ is the first single from a brand new album due for release later this year. Details are under wraps for now but Mark promises the band’s patient fan base who’ve been waiting over three decades for another record, won’t be disappointed.

While The First Of A Million Kisses was a romantic record, from the iconic Elliott Erwitt cover shot of young lovers reflected in the wing mirror of a car on a Californian beach, to the joyful waltzing tales of love, longed for and lamented, the new record might be a “where are they now“ of the characters who peopled it.

And where are they now? Who are they now? They are here, alive and well, they are Fairground Attraction. They survived and they’re still smiling.