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May 2017 - p.36
It is 1979. John Carter, from the Howard Carter/Tutankhamun side of the family rather than the
June Carter/Johnny Cash side, an antique dealer by profession, is writing songs in Worcestershire
when he has the good fortune to meet Clifford T. Ward who encourages him to “go for it!” John
records some of his songs with an acoustic guitar on a hired tape recorder at home and Clifford T.
Ward sends them to his manager, Justin de Villeneuve. “Keep trying, it’s worth it”, comes the
response. So he does.
Advised to get a band together and prepare to record a demo album, John proceeds
to poach Terry Fawkes (no relation), Dave Vale and Martin Calder from various
other local bands and Fair Warning is formed. More song writing, rehearsals
and local gigs follow in readiness for a week in Wopalong Studios, Luton.
To quote Peter Broks writing in the Kidderminster Shuttle in February 1980, “What that sound is,
is perhaps best, but still inaccurately described as melodic rock. This is probably because of the
strength of John’s lyrics and the seductive simplicity of Terry Fawkes’s lead guitar. If no one gives
them a single, which to my mind seems very unlikely, then they will put out their own record and
start their own label”.
Fair Warning arrives at the studio in Luton late Sunday afternoon. Engineer John Bachini sets up
the microphones and levels and it’s the first time the band has heard themselves playing their
songs mixed through headphones. It is amazing! They have to quell their enthusiasm until the
following morning. A week of nine to five full on music, this is all they want to do. An eventful week.
The finished album is sent to the sponsors who drop the bombshell; it is not what they want.
Hey, that’s the music business kids! The tape comes home and is consigned to a box where
it lies undisturbed and forgotten, in a drawer, through seven house moves and more than
thirty six years.
Lost and Found – the Fair Warning album, a lost gem for nearly four decades, is released
worldwide via iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify and many more on 3rd May 2017.
Expertly transferred to digital from the original analogue tape by Paul White, editor in
chief of Sound on Sound magazine and sensitively mastered by David Mitson, the multi-
platinum and gold disc award winning previously chief mastering engineer at Sony, Lost
and Found arrives thirty seven years to the day from completion of the recording.
Well, they never said how long it would take to put out their own record.
or Lost & Found...
