This is great fun - okay finally decided on my question:

Are there any mountains left that you still want to climb?

Kxxx

hi mike,
apologies if this ends up somewhere it shouldnt,new to all this posting,melarky !!!

firstly,would like to say thanks for the venues and cities you have taken me too,the friends ive met along the way,its been and still is a great experience to be part of the mpo family on tour....

my question , starters for ten ,here we go
if you were to join a band past or present,who would you like to join and why..........

regards roy manchester

Hi Mike,

I first saw The Alarm in 1987 (on the 'eve of The Eye of the Hurricane' album). I was totally blown away by the group. I was gutted when you split up in 1991. However, I continued to buy your solo stuff and follow your fortunes. A couple of years ago my wife bought me a ticket to see you at the gathering, and again, I was blown away by the quality/power and meaning of your music. You are simply unmatched!! Since then I have seen you at the last gatehring, in Manchester & Leamington Spa and am really privielaged to have reconnected with the group. Please keep up the excellent work.

Questions:

i) Do you still stay in regular contact/see Dave, Eddie & Twist?

ii) I noted from one of your answers that you still seem to have some contact with Bono. When was the last time you saw him and do you stay in contact with any of the other members of U2?

Keep up the good fight and I look forward to seeing you in Dudley in December.

Hi Trevor, Everyone associated with the band thought '68' was a potential it record but needed editing down and going straight to the chorus after the first verse and therefore dropping the second (double) verse, unfortunately we dropped the best lyric of the whole song "If they take our chances, we'll create our own"... which is probably the one line that ultimately defines what The Alarm was all about!!!! Mike

Hi Doug, not sure about the Roger Daltrey move but yeah definitely one of the best front men ever.... I think that move is down to my own personal lack of co-ordination therefore I'm the world's worst dancer!!! Cheers, Mike

Hi Sylive, The Welsh 'Sold me' is on the b-side of the 7" I think and 'Raw' was released as 'Tan' on the Crai record label... Good luck in your hunt, Mike (They are all out there somewhere!!)

Hi Andi,

Mike Peters Ultimate Man U side

01: Peter Schmeical
02: Tony Dunne
03: Dennis Irwin
04: Steve Bruce
05: Bill Foulkes
06: Bryan Robson
07: Eric Cantona
08: Bobby Charlton
09: Wayne Rooney
10: George Best
11: Ryan Giggs

12: Denis Law
13: Mickey Thomas

Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
Director of Footbal: Sir Matt Busby

Sorry to all the players who i had to leave out!!!

Mike

Thanks SteveW look forward to hearing it!! Mike

HI NYC Gal... thanks for pointing Sylvie in the right direction, Mike

Hi maffa.... as you know that song followed me around Kilimanjaro courtesy of Robin Wilson.....after 3 UUUURRRGGGGGHHH!!!! Mike

Hi Ian, Think I've talked about this before somewhere but I can't actualy find the masters of the Brixton Show... Eddie macdonald was present for some of it I know but I haven;t been able to locate any of it and have tried very hard... One interesting thing to note is that it was probably made by a porno company beecause the music at the beginning and end of the video are pieces of music the makers slipped in so as to make a little of the publishing royalies that were generated... the publishing credits are traceable back to the 'adult' origins of the company!!! They don't know where the masters are either!!!! One day they wil turn up though I;m sure and then that would be a very worthy project to reissue!! Here's hoping! Mike

Hi Tim, The cards started during the taping of our third TOTP appearance for the performance of WWYHWTSB? in January 1984. I started throwing them on the Sound & Fury Tour and then it took off from there. We managed to steer clear of rock and roll excess because we had seen what had happened to other bands and had some rules and respect for our audience.

I do like baseball and have been to see Boston Red Sox, Oakland A's and the Yankees in my time... Think I'd have to side with the Yankees otherwise Slim Jim Phantom would never forgive me for supporting anyone else!!! Thanks, Mike

Hi Mick, funnily enough Steve G suggested a more 60's / Who / Small faces type of medley for last years gathering but we went for the Rise era encore instead... you never know what might get played at The year's Gathering. I've still got an Andy Cole Newcastle shirt from the third Gathering in Rhyl!!! (Thanks Mark Slater....), Glad Tevez has gone to a good home!!!! There's only one Michael Owen etc. etc.!!!! Cheers, Mike

Hi Gill, Without A Fight' already pencilled in for Glasgow!!! See you down the front for that one!! "Try to stop me" Good luck, Mike

Hi AndyH, Great gigs at the Barras!! Across the Border was lyrically writen by Dave Sharp who wrote the osng based on his experiences down the Falls Road in belfast when he was here in his pre-Alarm days as a merchant seaman...To me it was a call for untiy and peace and a cry for common sense and an end o violence. The Police support shows were interesting and we still have a lot of fans whose first experience seeing the Alarm live was from those two shows... I cn remember the after show party in Neasden, London mostly for meeting Pete Townshend of the Who... Sting was always good to me, the Nanny to his son was a massive Alarm fan and he always used to say the she was always playing Alarm records on his house... Andy and Stewart kept themselves to themselves pretty much. Good times, Mike

Hi Marko,

Have actually just sold the 70's Maple neck telecaster that I played on ITPF and Under Attack a lot and have started using Nash Guitars from the USA... they sound amazing. At this years Gathering we are planning an Alarm Guitar Show giving people the chance to see them up close and have pictures taken with them etc. etc. Good idea though.... will do a piece on all my guitars sometime soon, Thanks, Mike

Hi Kim, Thanks for all th ekind words... my favourite food can be anything... when i got back from Kili, I had a longing for beans on toast!!! LHS Mike

Hi Wayne, have always had an intention to do a 'Second Generation' Vol 2. so..... one day I'll hopefully get round to it!! See you in Hatfield, Mike

Hi James, Jules and I have been 'veggie' sinve 1987. Don't have aprticular favourite but you can't bwat a good quorn veggie sausage sandwich if youy ask me!! thanks, Mike

Hi Andy, The 'Quo were a good lot I have to say especially Rhino like you say, but I got on well with Rick and Francis too... very welcoming to me and always pleasant company and sooooo hard working!!!! Great band!!! Cheers, Mike

Hi Steve, Good questions... do you mind if I have a think about the answer to that one.. it could be quite a long answer!!!!!! Rock Opera MMMMM now there's a thought!!!! Thanks for building such a great new site!!! Mike

Hi Katrina, I would like to climb some of the European mountain ranges like the Dolomites or in the Alps... thanks for all you are doing for the foundation and see you next Tuesday in Westminster.... Cheers, Mike

Hi Roy, You are definitely in the right place...Always a pleasure to see you at the shows.. be it while I'm on stage or off.....I'd like to have been a member of the Spiders From Mars... then I would have got to play with David Bowie and Mick Ronson.... See you soon my friend, Mike

Hi Corny/Leamington Spa... Yeah still see the lads from the old days although Twist not as often as the other because he lives in San Francisco.. Eddie's been on a couple of Snowdon rocks treks and Sharpy will be at The gathering again this year.

Last time I saw Bono was on the last tour in Dublin (with Chris Martin from Coldplay... who thought I was from the Clash!!! Bono and I decided not to correct him!!!!). I've just had a bit of a telling off from Bono via Alex Coletti (who is producing the Elvis Costello show)telling me to get in touch with him and that I've not been to see them on the tour yet!!! I'll probably go next summer now...See you soon, Mike

Thanks for all the quesions everyone... been in the studio all day cutting some acoustic tracks for the In Session 2009 CD.... sounding good...more tomorrow... until then Good Night, Mike

Hi Mike

loving the q and a session here , just wondering what in the way of 'newer' artists have you been listening to and do you have any recomendations ? , I'm off to see All American Rejects ( first 2 albums are the best prior to their success in the Uk IMO ;-) ) on saturday which kind of inspirired this question .

on a lighter note ... will you take me to see U2 with you next summer ? ;-)

thanks again

Chris Selway

Hi Mike,
Who decides on the support act for the shows ?

James

Evening Mike ,
John from Barrow,In my teens as a huge Alarm and Big Country fan saw a group called White China back BC, they were world class and sadly for some reason fell off the radar, have you ever seen or heard of them? I feel that they just were not in the right place at the right time, do you have any bands that you feel did not get the sucess that they deserved?

Hi Mike,

Would you consider any older Gathering T-Shirts, or shirts in general? The G9 black shirt with LOVE|HOPE|STRENGTH across front was excellent.

What do you think of the Green Day hit 21 Guns? Did you influence it all, having mingled with Green Day?

Will there be a proper book of Alarm Recording sessions (and instruments used) ala The Beatles book ever published?

Epic thread here Mike....Thanks again for doing this.

Alot of my peers from the early 80's seem to associate Alarm/Big Country/U2 together....And back then I kind of did too.

However, that list ALWAYS included Midnight Oil for me as well.

Just curious what you thought about the lads from down under back in the day....Musically or personally.

Thanks!

OC Matt

Hi Mike,

Thought Police has always been one of my favourite tracks and I believe a hidden classic. Any plans to bring it to the forefront and make it more prominent? I'd love to hear it live..... and Helen would like another rendition of Strength to Strength if you don;t mind

All the best - Denis & Helen

Hi Mike,

Thanks for doing this, it's not many artists who would take the time to speak to their fans.

It's got me thinking though. Growing up with The Alarm in the 80's and be likened to U2, finance aside, would you prefer to be in U2's position or The Alarm's as it is now? I feel that the more successful a band becomes, the less personal they are.

Hats off to Slim Jim Phantom, Good to see that besides being from my hometown of Massapequa that he is also a Yankees fan and has had a good influence on you, Mike.

Couple more questions. More simple and brief this time.

What were a couple of the most memorable venues you've played, both good and bad? Not to influence your thinking, but when I see the Coming Home video from the show at San Siro, I can't help but feel how incredible that must have been to perform there. Hopefully, there's one that stands out even more for you. Is there one venue that stands out as being the worst?

Also, if you could give us a couple of your favorite stories from all your years on the road, that would be fantastic. Who did the driving back in the early days?

Also, one suggestion. Whenever it is that the 45 RPM movie is filmed, how about using real fans for whatever concert or studio scenes are shot? It would be a privilege to be listed in the credits as "Fan at concert" or "Extras." Hopefully, the lot of us aren't too old by Hollywood standards to play music fans.

Cheers,
Tim

Oh, and the new videos are outstanding.

Mike

What happened with the proposed Ben Nevis event that was pencilled in for Summer just gone?

I am originally from Fort William and it would have gone down well in the surroundng area, and you could have done a gig which would have been a sell out, and "spread the word"

Get it Sorted!!!!

quote:

Hi Doug, not sure about the Roger Daltrey move but yeah definitely one of the best front men ever.... I think that move is down to my own personal lack of co-ordination therefore I'm the world's worst dancer!!! Cheers, Mike

my two favourite bands of all time were the who and the alarm....and i noticed, seems i'm wrong, that around 85/86, there was similar 'moves' sometimes on stage that reminded me a lot of the who...and i presumed it was the alarm's 'nod' to the who..
for instance...compare the two bands in this short clip i put together...with your moves mike, and daves windmilling and jump, i think it's similar...but i'm irish don't forget :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HohQirVmXKc



.

Mike- It’s getting cool out I pulled out my Black Demin Alarm Jacket the one that was sold during the bands IRS days. It’s getting old and I was thinking maybe it’s time to release a new version of a fall weather Alarm jacket with the full red poppy on the back similar to that one. The LHS logo could also be added above the breast pocket . What do you think?