The Bible -

The Bible was an English sophisti-pop band that charted with “Graceland” and “Mahalia” from their 1986 indie album Walking the Ghost Back Home. Steve Earle produced their acclaimed 1988 Chrysalis release Eureka, including the UK hit “Crystal Palace.”

Members: Boo Hewerdine (vocals, guitar), Dave Larcombe (drums), Neill MacColl (guitar, mandolin), Tony Shepherd (keyboards, percussion), Leroy Lendor (bass)

Background

The Bible assembled in 1985 when Cambridge guitarist–singer Boo Hewerdine formed a songwriting partnership with keyboardist–percussionist Tony Shepherd.

Hewerdine (b. February 14, 1961) gained vast music knowledge as a warehouse employee of the UK music retailer Andy’s Records. He joined The Great Divide, which released the 1982 single “Who Broke the Love Bank” (b/w “Bless My Soul”) on local-press Wimp Records. The Great Divide signed with Ensign for the 1983 singles “Money and Time” and “Whispered In Heaven,” the latter a minor funk-pop hit. They disbanded after the 1984 Blue Murder 12″ “It’s Got to Be Love.”

Shepherd hailed from local jazz and post-punk bands, including Wimp recording artists The Wobbly Jellies, which issued the 1984 single “MAGIC” (b/w “CooL! BREEZE”).

On Hewerdine’s savings, the pair recorded the first Bible album with bassist Clive Lawson, Great Divide saxophonist Kevin Flanagan, and Roaring Boys drummer Dave Larcombe.

Walking the Ghost Back Home

The Bible released their debut album, Walking the Ghost Back Home, in March 1986 on Backs Records. Boo Hewerdine and Tony Shepherd co-authored the album’s eight tracks.

Walking the Ghost balances acoustic-centered arrangements against brighter, rhythm-driven settings, the ensemble moving between intimate small-group textures and fuller pop frames without settling on a single mode. Hewerdine’s guitar and voice supply the melodic spine throughout, with Shepherd’s keyboards and percussion filling the harmonic middle ground. Larcombe’s drumming gives the uptempo material its forward motion, while Lawson’s bass provides the rhythmic underpin. Flanagan’s saxophone appears on select tracks, lending a jazz-inflected color to the ensemble’s folk-pop orientation.

“Graceland” opens the record on a bright, propulsive frame with crisp guitar movement and a direct rhythmic pulse. “Mahalia” slows the pace and centers the ensemble around a sustained, melancholic arrangement with saxophone running a countermelody against the vocal line. The title track draws on a lounge-jazz sensibility, its unhurried tempo and soft harmonic palette distinct from the more energized tracks around it. “(Talk to Me Like) Jackie Kennedy” picks up the pace with a tighter, more percussive feel. “King Chicago” sustains a more austere, guitar-led atmosphere, its lyric content carrying a detached, observational quality. “She’s My Bible” extends to the album’s longest track length, its arrangement building space for the instruments to interact across a longer arc. “Red Flag” closes the record in a similarly measured, guitar-driven setting.

A1. “Graceland” (3:21)
A2. “Mahalia” (4:50)
A3. “Walking the Ghost Back Home” (3:57)
A4. “Kid Galahad and the Chrome Kinema” (4:09)

B1. “(Talk to Me Like) Jackie Kennedy” (3:18)
B2. “King Chicago” (3:54)
B3. “She’s My Bible” (5:34)
B4. “Red Flag” (4:12)

The Bible recorded Walking the Ghost Back Home in December 1985 at Red Shop Recorders with engineer Jim Preen and at Spaceward Studios with engineer Mark Graham. Hewerdine and Shepherd produced the album.

Backs issued “Graceland” as a 7” single in 1986; the release reached number 87 on the UK Singles Chart. Backs issued “Mahalia” as a 12” single in 1986, backed with “Spend, Spend, Spend” and “Sweetness,” with the extended remix produced by Greg Walsh; the release reached number 15 on the UK Independent Singles Chart.

Chrysalis reissued “Graceland” as a 12” single in 1986, backed with “Glorybound” and “High, Wide and Handsome,” with a Greg Walsh remix; the release reached number 86 on the UK Singles Chart. Chrysalis reissued “Graceland” again in 1987 as a 12” on label BIBX 1, pairing the studio tracks “Graceland” and “High, Wide and Handsome” with three live recordings—“The Slow Drag Down,” “Glorybound,” and “Walking the Ghost Back Home”—captured at Golders Green Hippodrome, London, on November 24, 1986, for Radio 1 In Concert, with Phil Ross producing and Mike Shilling engineering the live tracks.

Eureka

The Bible released their second album, Eureka, in May 1988 on Chrysalis.

Eureka present a fuller, more polished frame than the debut, the ensemble expanded to a five-piece lineup with MacColl’s guitar and mandolin adding a second melodic strand alongside Hewerdine. Shepherd’s keyboards and percussion sustain the harmonic texture across the record while Larcombe’s drumming paces the mid-tempo material with measured economy. The rhythm section underpins arrangements that shift between acoustic-oriented settings and more produced, piano-anchored pop frames. Flanagan returns on saxophone for two tracks, and Danny Thompson contributes double bass and John Huckridge trumpet to “Red Hollywood.” Martin Green plays soprano saxophone on “Blue Shoes Stepping.” Hewerdine’s vocals throughout occupy a clear, moderate tenor range, carrying the lyric content—centered on romantic circumstance, marriage, and displacement—without dramatic emphasis.

“Skywriting” opens the record on a bright, upward-moving frame with clean guitar lines and a buoyant rhythmic feel. “Honey Be Good” shifts to a more expansive production setting, its arrangement carrying a melancholic undercurrent beneath a full-bodied sound. “Skeleton Crew” runs a shorter, guitar-and-piano mid-tempo track with a friendly, unforced energy. “November Brides”—a song about a woman’s wish to marry—draws on a softer, saxophone-touched arrangement. “Cigarette Girls” moves into acoustic territory, the band’s backing vocals layering over Hewerdine’s lead while the drums carry an irregular, lightly syncopated pulse.

“Crystal Palace” sustains a crisp, uptempo feel that sits closer to the record’s more direct pop settings. “The Wishing Game” continues in a breezy, guitar-driven mode. “Red Hollywood”—written about the end of a romantic relationship—pulls the arrangement back into a quieter, jazz-inflected space with standup bass and trumpet threading through the texture. “Tiny Lights” builds from a similar atmospheric starting point into a slightly more rhythmically active frame. “Blue Shoes Stepping” closes the album at the longest track length, its piano and dual saxophone arrangement building through a mid-tempo stride into a final ensemble passage.

A1. “Skywriting” (4:31)
A2. “Honey Be Good” (3:46)
A3. “Skeleton Crew” (2:54)
A4. “November Brides” (3:58)
A5. “Cigarette Girls” (4:27)
06. “White Feathers” (3:32) – CD only

B1. “Crystal Palace” (4:08)
B2. “The Wishing Game” (3:41)
B3. “Red Hollywood” (4:17)
B4. “Tiny Lights” (3:41)
B5. “Blue Shoes Stepping” (5:06)
12. “Up In Smoke” (3:48) – CD only

The Bible recorded Eureka in early 1988 in London with producer Steve Earle and engineer Chris Birkett. Pete Smith produced “Red Hollywood,” “Tiny Lights,” and “Blue Shoes Stepping,” with Tom Leader engineering those sessions. Jon Kelly mixed “Skywriting” and “Crystal Palace.” Bruce Lampcov mixed “Honey Be Good,” “Skeleton Crew,” and “The Wishing Game.” “November Brides,” “Cigarette Girls,” “Red Hollywood,” “Tiny Lights,” and “Blue Shoes Stepping” were mixed by Birkett and the band. Earle also performed on “November Brides” and “Red Hollywood.” The album reached number 71 on the UK Albums Chart.

Chrysalis issued “Crystal Palace” as a single in 1988; the CD format included “The Golden Mile,” a Greg Walsh remix of “Graceland,” and a 12” version of “Mahalia.” The 12” format added “Bubblehead,” “The Golden Mile,” and “The Slow Drag Down” as additional tracks. The release reached number 82 on the UK Singles Chart. Chrysalis issued “Skywriting” as a single in 1988 in the United States on the Ensign imprint as a promo 12”, backed with live radio performances.

Chrysalis lifted “Honey Be Good” as a single backed with “White Feathers.” The 12″ single contains a remake of “Glorybound” and the otherwise unavailable “Coming of Age,” replaced on the CD single with a cover of the 1968 Dion hit “Abraham, Martin and John.” A further UK “Honey Be Good” CD single appeared in 1989, backed with a new version of “King Chicago,” an alternative version of “Crystal Palace,” and a cover of “On Broadway”; the release reached number 54 on the UK Singles Chart.

Chrysalis issued a new version of “Graceland” as a 12” single in Germany in 1989, backed with an acoustic version of “Cigarette Girls” recorded live at Radio 107, Hamburg, on October 18, 1988, and a live version of “King Chicago” recorded at WNUA; the release reached number 51 on the UK Singles Chart.

Discography: