Episode Notes

Four episodes of this podcast (EP5 - Under the Water & Churchtown by Into Paradise, EP15 - A Fierce Pancake by Stump, EP10 - Room to Roam by The Waterboys and EP57 - A Tonic For the Troops by The Boomtown Rats) feature bands that all have one thing in common, they were all signed to Ensign Records by Nigel Grainge.

Nigel Grainge passed away in June 2017 at the age of 70.

All the obituaries claimed that he was the man who discovered Sinéad O’Connor. And whilst it’s true that he did indeed sign Sinéad to his record label Ensign he did a lot more besides.

Grainge was an A&R man and a label boss who happened to release some of my favourite records: Swagger and Beatsongs by The Blue Aeroplanes, This Is the Sea and A Pagan Place by The Waterboys, The Lion and the Cobra by the aforementioned Sinéad, Into Paradise’s Churchtown and Stump’s A Fierce Pancake.

I interviewed Grainge for my documentary Lights! Camel! Action! the story of Stump (that documentary featured back on Episode 15 of the podcast).

Grainge was generous with his time and as well as chatting about his involvement with Stump we also talked about other aspects of his career, from signing 10CC and Thin Lizzy in the 70s, working with The Waterboys, Sinéad O’Connor and World Party in the 80s, right up to signing The Blue Aeroplanes in the late 80s and eventually selling Ensign Records to Chrysalis.

In the last episode of the podcast, EP57 - A Tonic For the Troops by The Boomtown Rats, I played Bob Geldof a short snippet of my interview with Grainge. In the clip Grainge talked about the day that Geldof walking into his office with a demo tape. Hearing the clip sparked some great memories from Geldof about Grainge and his business partner the soul DJ and former Ensign Head of A&R, Chris Hill.

In the episode Geldof mentioned that Hill had sadly passed away last September. So I think it’s only right that in publishing this Bonus Episode with Nigel Grainge that we mention Chris Hill.

“He saw the club as a place of communion and community, diverse, multiracial, without prejudice or exclusion,” wrote Gilles Peterson in his obituary of Hill in The Guardian (The late DJ Chris Hill galvanised funkateers, brought Black music to the clubs – and got Mick Jones dancing).

Peterson continued: “He democratised the dancefloor, breaking the wall between dancers and onlookers opening hearts and minds by fearlessly blending genres. He was untouchable.”

According to Variety magazine, Grainge was introduced to music by his father, who owned a record store in North London in the early 1950s. In 1970, he joined Philips/Phonogram, which would later become Mercury Records. He started off as a credit control clerk but was later promoted to label manager for the label’s US repertoire eventually becoming head of A&R and signing the Steve Miller Band, Eddy Grant, Graham Parker and the Rumour and as I mentioned earlier 10CC and Thin Lizzy.

Thin Lizzy had released three albums with Decca records, they were out of contract, but Philo had just requited two new guitarists in Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham.

Grainge signed them to Vertigo, a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label in 1974. Vertigo was, and still is, famous for the heavier end of prog rock and of course the famous Vertigo swirl centre-label. Lizzy’s debut for the label was Nightlife, which was quickly followed by their fifth effort Fighting, but it was their 6th album Jailbreak that would deliver two of the band’s biggest hits, ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’ and of course the title track, the rest as they say is history.

Ensign Records

The Boomtown Rats

The Waterboys

“Very, very occasionally in this job, you stumble across a veritable crock of gold among the heaps of tarnished old tin that clatter their weary way past your ear drums. You can never be too sure where the next one will come from, but it’s a pretty good bet that it’s not to be found in a young rock band who call their new album A Pagan Place and extol the virtues of playing live and mysticism. Right? Wrong! Because The Waterboys are here, and they’re solid gold. Having just watched them win over an audience in the Volkshalle, Zurich, despite blown-up amps and the support band tag, I’m convinced that Mike Scott and his band are going to be around for a long time.”
Record Mirror (16 June, 1984).

Stump

Sinéad

Sinead O’Connor’s long road to her current popularity underscores the patience and faith required for an A&R job. In February 1985 partners Nigel Crainge and Chris Hill of London-based Ensign Records went on a talent hunt to Dublin, Ireland. One of the local acts they saw was Ton-Ton Macoute. “They were dreadful,” Grainge says, but he did admire their female singer’s “great voice”. About six weeks later, O’Connor (the singer) wrote Ensign to say she had left Ton-Ton Macoute and offered to demo her own songs (which the band hadn’t performed). Ensign sent her a ticket to London, and Karl Wallinger, then just leaving the Waterboys, an Ensign act, produced a four-song demo that got O’Connor signed to the company. “Over the next 18 months,” Grainge says, “we pulled enough songs together which formed the nucleus of the album.”
Musician (June, 1988).

Into Paradise

Into Paradise, Into Paradise (Ensign/Chrysalis)
The Irish Into Paradise first caught the “ears” of the music industry back in 1988 when they released their debut waxing (and subsequent follow up) on the indie label Setanta. Their eponymous Stateside debut is comprised of the best tracks from those recordings, which makes for a solid introduction to the band. Often dark and brooding, frontman Dave Long supposes he must’ve been “influenced by (Joy Division’s) Ian Curtis-that uplifting sadness,” although the heavy atmospherics of the early Cure and Bunnymen might be thrown in as well. Produced by ex-Sound member Adrian Borland, Into Paradise’s heavy pop is crystalized into near -perfection. Tracks to explore include ‘Bring Me Closer,’ ‘The Circus Came To Town,’ ‘The Pleasure Is Over’ and ‘Hearts And Flowers.’ Definitely one to spend some time with, as new discoveries are made with each listen.
The Gavin Report (14 September, 1990).

Into Paradise, Into Paradise (Ensign/Chrysalis)
Ensign Records from Ireland have released some of the most magnificent albums of the year: from Sinead to World Party to the Waterboys and now to Into Paradise. Produced by Adrian Borland, formerly of The Sound, “Into Paradise” exhibits a freshness and enthusiasm, heightened by David Long’s intensely personal songwriting. What is most striking is the band’s potential for future greatness, as evidenced in ‘Bring Me Closer’ and ‘Hearts and Flowers.’
Hits (15 October, 1990).

Note: It’s interesting that Ensign was being described as an Irish label in the US, such was its association with Irish acts.

I once had the pleasure of spending an evening in the company of Nigel Grainge and Chris Hill. In the mid-90s I was managing a band called The Orange Fettishes. Grainge and Hill came to see them in Cork and afterwards took me out to dinner. They were like a double-act, one would start a story and the other would jump in adding more colour. They were hilarious, bitchy and gossipy, it was brilliant fun. I spent most of the evening simply listening to them in awe as they regaled me with stories of the artists they had discovered and worked with.

Grainge and Hill knew that Stump’s Mick Lynch was back home in Cork and were keen to try and meet him. Mick at the time was doing a bit of work in Cork Opera House, I walked them to the stage door and watched as the former Managing Director of Ensign and the former Head of A&R of Ensign chatted to Mick. Years later Grainge told me that Lynch was one of the mostly talented lyricists he had ever worked with and lamented the fact that the band had broken up when they did. He called them “the band that got away”.

Sadly all three men are no longer with us.

So here’s the full interview with Grainge. For copyright reasons I’ve left music off this episode - in fairness a few of the songs discussed here are some of the biggest hits in popular music, not for nothing was Grainge once called “The Man Who Could Pick Hits”. If you want a version of this interview with music you can can find a link at the below.

For Further Listening/Reading:

As mentioned in my introduction to this podcast Episode, I previously broadcasted an edited version of my interview with Grainge for my old radio show on Dublin City FM. It includes all the music I left off the podcast version:

Songs To Learn And Sing – EP 672
A special tribute to Nigel Grainge who passed away on 11 June, 2017. Grainge founded Ensign Records in 1976 and released albums by Sinéad O'Connor, The Waterboys, World Party, Into Paradise, The Boomtown Rats and Stump. This tribute features an interview with Grainge from 2015.

Below Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, pays tribute to his brother Nigel…