In stepped one of the road crew, Colin Howitt with his Casio keyboard and so the most stable period of the band ensued for around 2 years before original member Andy decided to quit and pursue a career cleaning camel dung in Hamburg Docks. However not leaving before the third set of recordings where the second singleAtom. C/w Diminished were laid down. In addition there was a promo video shot for the songs, which for 1985 on a limited budget was very innovative. The Tube still never aired it on Channel 4 though!!! As a small aside an additional track on the b side was “A Starving Nation” from Andy’s last gig with the band. This was the gig when he uttered the immortal parting words “this is for all you Glasgow trendies” before the band blasted into “Waiting for the Man.”
Subsequently Graham McKinley joined the band having previously been in other Glasgow luminaries such as The Primevals. His tenure was short lived, around 4 months, before citing an “inability to buy a decent guitar which would stay in tune on stage” as the reason for his sacking.
Over the next couple of months there were other guitarists whom time has forgotten there names (if you are reading this please get in touch so we can update) played with the Command before Alan decided to leave citing “we are becoming real shite and have no real commitment to a rock n roll lifestyle” as his reason for leaving. And this was just before the third single was to be recorded- Nothing Lasts Forever. C/w Lady
Silent Command continued for a time after this playing gigs and recording some new songs but never reached the heights of 1984/85 when the were a vibrant energetic live band supporting such acts as Lords of the New Church and Hanoi Rocks as well as The Marine Girls, Kissing Bandits. However even though there was a lot of record company interest a combination of bad management and band lethargy meant the UK and world never had the chance to witness the experience that was Silent Command.
A five piece formed from the Ashes of the bubble gum pop that was Perfect End. They were together for around three years 1983-1985 entertaining with their unique sound. Categorising that sound is difficult but suffice to say they were loud, visual, & exciting. Their songs spoke about social justice, drugs, and sometimes incomprehensible subjects, “Looking for a yellow Sahara in the snow,” which allowed them to become a popular addition to the Glasgow music scene. However after a mini album & just before the release of their third single they split. As the title of their retrospective album says “Nothing Lasts Forever.” Although not a founding member the only constant was the vocalist Mark Sloss. Initially began by guitarist Andy Frew & drummer Alan Fleming from Perfect End Mark was the first to be recruited followed by various bass players & keyboards. In fact their first gig was played at Strathclyde University with just the three members as the bass player quit the week before and the keyboard player kecked it. So Jack White eat your heart out the Command played with only guitar & drums!!! Martin Young joined on keyboards and the first studio recordings were laid down at Berkeley Glasgow where the first single Perfect Lies. C/w Plastercast appeared. However in a long history of sackings Martin left, as he was just too loud!!! No matter how many times he was asked if he would let the band hear the drum kit he never listened. Subsequently the Command opted for a more traditional 2-guitars, drums & bass when Billy ? on guitar & Robert Quigley on bass joined the party. Not for long though as after a few promising gigs and just before a support slot at Night Moves in Glasgow Billy decided to quit for personal reasons.
