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English post punk band

The Wild Swans are a post punk band from Liverpool, England, formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson left The Teardrop Explodes. The band's personnel has been subject to regular turnover, with vocalist Simpson being the only constant member. The original incarnation of The Wild Swans lasted until 1982, issuing one single. A reconstituted version of the band issued two albums from 1988 to 1990 before dissolving again. In 2009, Simpson put a new lineup together and the group played numerous live dates, issuing a new studio album in 2011. The Wild Swans also spun off two charting splinter projects; Care and The Lotus Eaters. Members of The Wild Swans have also been members of Echo & The Bunnymen, The Icicle Works, The Woodentops, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Lightning Seeds.

The Wild Swans formed in 1980 when Paul Simpson, who had left The Teardrop Explodes after the recording of their first single, teamed up (on vocals) with Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Ged Quinn (keyboards), James Weston (bass) and Justin Stavely (drums). An opportunity arose when Pete de Freitas of Echo & the Bunnymen (an old friend and flatmate of Simpson's) agreed to fund their first single "The Revolutionary Spirit" (1982, Zoo Records). he was credited under his middle names, Louis Vincent. The single spent 9 weeks on the UK Independent Chart, peaking at no. 13. Despite turning out to be Zoo's last ever release, the single received a measure of critical acclaim and in time, developed cult status. Subsequent to the release of "The Revolutionary Spirit", weekly rehearsals were given a degree of urgency when the band was offered a BBC Radio 1 John Peel session. Songs on this session, all written by the team of Simpson, Quinn and Kelly, include "No Bleeding", "Enchanted" and "Thirst". By this point, the band was rounded out by two new members: Baz Hughes (bass) and Joe McKechnie (drums). The Wild Swans were sporadically active in the early 1980s; touring with Echo and The Bunnymen in 1981 following a residency with The Teardrop Explodes. A David Jensen session came in spring 1982, with the band penning and performing "The Iron Bed", "Flowers of England" and "Now You're Perfect". The group split very soon after this BBC Radio 1 session was broadcast.

Once the band split, Kelly and Quinn started up The Lotus Eaters with co founder Peter Coyle. Strangely, Arista Records, who had refused to sign The Wild Swans, then snapped up both of the offshoots. Both groups issued several singles. The Lotus Eaters scoring a chart hit, and releasing an album in 1984. Care, meanwhile, reached number 48 in the UK charts with the single "Flaming Sword". Both bands had broken up by 1985, with Care having recorded an unreleased album.

In 1986, the session recorded for the Radio 1 John Peel Show, was finally released on Strange Fruit Records, containing the tracks "No Bleeding", "Enchanted", and "Thirst". It repeated the single's success, peaking at no. 13 on the independent chart. Titled Bringing Home The Ashes (1988, Sire/Reprise Records), and featuring uncredited session players on keyboards and drums, it was produced by Paul Hardiman and yielded two singles, "Young Manhood" (which first appears on the 1987 Sire Records promotional sampler Just Say Yes) and "Bible Dreams". Simpson is nowadays disparaging of the sound developed on the album and feels that some of the aura and magic surrounding the (Mark I) Wild Swans had been lost. "Major label thinking is like a virus, you forget why you started the band and fall into the 'hit' record mind set". He went on to offer even more stark words of wisdom for those thinking of setting up a band: "Major labels suck the poetry from your bones and fill the gaps with a cement made from cocaine and crushed teenagers." It was produced by Ian Broudie, and featured a line up of Paul Simpson (vocals, mellotron, effects), Joe Fearon (bass), Ian Broudie (guitars, keyboards), Chris Sharrock (drums) and Ian McNabb (additional guitars, vocals). Sharrock and McNabb were both of the Liverpool three piece The Icicle Works. A year and a half later, the band had indeed reformed, albeit with a very revised line up: founder and original member Paul Simpson was now joined by original member Ged Quinn, Ricky Rene Maymi (Brian Jonestown Massacre), Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen), Mike Mooney (Julian Cope/Spiritualized), and Steve Beswick (The Heart Throbs/Slipstream). In February 2010, Paul Simpson said "For the first time ever I am happy with the results, the unmixed tracks are sounding so good its scary. It may be 20 odd years late but I think we have finally made the definitive Wild Swans masterpiece." The 13 track album featured 11 new songs alongside the A sides of both 2009 singles ("Liquid Mercury" appearing in a noticeably different form from the original single mix.) The B sides, which included the track after which the album is named, did not appear on the album. Joining the sextet as guest performers on a handful of the album's newer tracks were Will Sergeant and Candie Payne; Ged Quinn painted the album cover. Later that year, the band issued a 3 song EP of outtakes from the Coldest Winter sessions entitled Tracks in Snow. In June 2011, The Wild Swans embarked on a five date UK tour. Producer Rich Turvey played keyboards and Stuart Mann joined the band on drums. Later that year, the band performed two successful shows in the Philippines, one concert in Cebu City on 30 September and the other at the SM Mall of Asia, Manila on 1 October.

The Wild Swans have neither played live nor released any new material since 2011. In 2019, a posting on Paul Simpson's website announced that the Wild Swans were recording material (in November 2019) intended for release in 2020/21. The band line up was indicated as being Simpson, Marty Willson Piper, Ricky Maymi, Edgar Jones, Stuart Mann and Richard Turvey. Since that time, there have been no further specific updates about the recordings, or the band's personnel. However, the front page of Simpson's website has noted since 2021 that "Paul is working on his long awaited book and also a new ‘Wild Swans’ album." Most recently, the site notes that "the new ‘Wild Swans’ album will be released hopefully in early 2025".