Tunnelvision

Emerging Indie Rock Group

Formed in Blackpool late 1979 by guitarist Chris Anderton, drummer Phil Barnard , bassist Paul Swindles from the remnants of punk band ‘The Pose ‘ Chris Anderton later took over on vocals and second guitarist Andy Leeming , a teenage protege of sage Section 25 guitarist Paul,Wiggin joined the band. As a result the Sections decided to mentor Tunnelvision, much as they had earlier been mentored by Joy Division. The band performed their first gig at Jenk's Disco in Blackpool on 11 February 1980. Shortly after that gig, Barnard also left and was replaced by Tony Ashworth After plenty of home town and local gigs in the North West including one at Stanley Park with Section 25 and Eric Random which was attended by members of the yet to be named New Order and Tony Wilson they were asked to play with New Order on only their 3rd gig at Scamps in Blackpool Their raw yet powerful set impressed both Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson, with the result that Tunnelvision were invited to record a single for Factory. But shortly after the first session bassist Paul Swindles departed, and was replaced by Ian Butterworth Fac 39 Watching The Hydroplanes was finally released in June 1981 and despite some negative press the single managed a strong showing in the independent chart over a period of about 7/8 weeks. Tunnelvision played a further 20 plus gigs with New Order , Stockholm Monsters and Section 25 with gigs in Bristol, Sheffield and the Scamps gig all being recorded. A second demo was requested by Factory with 4 tracks being recorded with a view to releasing ‘The Man Who Would Be King ‘ as a single No further demos or desk-recorded live tapes were made and Tunnelvision's last live stand was a short set at London venue Heaven in January 1982. Eventually, in February 1982, the band fell apart. Anderton and Butterworth went on to form Vee VV, together with Mark Ormrod, Martin Reynolds and Dave Milner. LTM Records released two retrospective albums by the band on CD , ‘Watching the Hydroplanes’ which included all 8 demo recordings plus the Factory Release and ‘Guessing the Way ‘ a collection of live tracks In 2003 Tunnelvision reformed around a nucleus of Anderton, Ashworth and Butterworth, and played their first gig at Ashton Gardens in Blackpool on 15 August. In March 2005 a limited edition CD single was released featuring three new songs , AnyDay , Stones and Where Was I The group also performed at the Beat Club in Blackpool supporting Section 25, However, this project went no further and Anderton and Ashworth continued to record as 4m The Factory single was included on the Factory Records Boxset ‘ Communications ‘ released by Warner Records and more recently on the Cherry Red boxset ‘ To the Outside of Everything ‘