Tokyo Blade

Tokyo Blade are an English hard-rock/metal band behind the 1983/84 albums Tokyo Blade and Night of the Blade, plus the EPs Midnight Rendezvous and Madame Guillotine, all on Powerstation Records. After their self-released 1985 album Blackhearts & Jaded Spades, they reconfigured with the 1987 Scratch release Ain’t Misbehavin’ (as Andy Boulton’s Tokyo Blade) and the 1989 Hot Blood disc No Remorse.

Members: Andy Boulton (guitar), Alan Marsh (vocals, 1981-84, 1990-96), Ray Dismore (guitar, 1981-83), Andy Robbins (bass, 1981-84), Steve Pierce (drums, 1981-86, 2008-present), John Wiggins (guitar, 1983-85, 1994-96, 2008-present), Andy Wrighton (bass, 1984-85, 2008-present), Vick Wright (vocals, 1984-86), Peter Zito (vocals, 1987-88), Chris Stover (bass, 1987-88), Alex Lee (drums, 1987-88), Brian George (vocals, 1987-88), Michael Pozz (vocals, 1988-89), Dave Sale (bass, 1988-89), Hans Juergen Astor (drums, 1988-89), Martin Machwitz (keyboards, 1988-89), Colin Riggs (bass, 1990-96), Marc Angel (drums, 1990-96), Danny Gwilym (guitar, 1990), Ian “Attila” Marshall (keyboards, 1990)

Background

Tokyo Blade formed in 1979 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, when guitarist Andy Boulton teamed with bassist Andy Robbins and drummer Steve Pierce as White Diamond. Boulton knew both musicians from St. Martin’s School in Salisbury. The guitarist took up the instrument at fifteen after he heard Queen’s “Ogre Battle”; his mother, a pianist with perfect pitch, paid for his first guitar.

White Diamond added singer Alan Marsh and guitarist Ray Dismore. Marsh previously sang in a separate Salisbury band called Genghis Khan, which briefly included Dismore. The musicians played covers by Thin Lizzy and The Cars at youth clubs and local pubs. They also played country material at working men’s clubs to raise money for equipment and a demo. White Diamond adopted the name Killer as the group began to write original songs. Killer circulated a six-song demo in 1981 with “Hellbound” and “Urban Warrior.”

The band adopted Genghis Khan when the musicians discovered another group called Killer. They recorded an eleven-song demo under the revived name and briefly used Madame Guillotine for “Machine Run,” a contribution to the 1982 Ebony Records compilation Metal Maniaxe. Genghis Khan recorded the four-song double single Double Dealin’ at Cave Studios in Bristol. The owner of Rod Records, a Salisbury record shop, financed the release, which paired “If Heaven Is Hell” (b/w “Highway Passion”) with “Midnight Rendezvous” (b/w “Mean Streak”). Tommy Vance played the record on BBC Radio 1’s Friday Rock Show.

Marsh abandoned Genghis Khan when members of the earlier band objected to the reuse of their name. Boulton combined his proposed name Tokyo with Marsh’s choice, Blade Runner, to produce Tokyo Blade. Guitarist John Wiggins replaced Dismore in 1983 through a Melody Maker advertisement. Wiggins previously played in the London metal band Deep Machine and Lonewolf, a group led by former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno. Tokyo Blade repackaged the remaining Double Dealin’ records as two separate singles on Blade Records.

The musicians planned an album on their own label and contacted Stage One Distribution about the single. Their contact subsequently established Powerstation Records in York and offered the band a contract. Tokyo Blade signed at the Ruskin Arms, a London pub, for a debut album with producers Kevin Nixon and Andy Allen.

Discography:

• Tokyo Blade (1983)
• Night of the Blade (1984)
• Midnight Rendezvous (EP, 1984)
• Madame Guillotine (EP, 1985)
• Blackhearts & Jaded Spades (1985)
• The Cave Sessions (bootleg EP, 1985)
• Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1987 • Andy Boulton’s Tokyo Blade)
• No Remorse (1989)

Sources

• Andy Boulton — history interview, May 17, 2025. School connections, first guitar, White Diamond repertoire, Marsh’s recruitment, name changes, and Wiggins’s response to the advertisement. (Metallian)
• Andy Boulton — interview, April 15, 2024. Identifies the White Diamond trio and the subsequent addition of Marsh and Dismore. (Marcelo Vieira)
• “Under the Blade” — Andy Boulton interview, May 26, 2017. Youth clubs, pubs, country material, and club fees that financed equipment and a demo. (Alikivi)
• Killer — early discography. White Diamond’s 1979 origin, founding personnel, and the six-song 1981 demo. (NWOBHM Encyclopedia)
• “The Prams — A’s Okay.” Personnel chronology for the earlier Salisbury Genghis Khan, including Marsh and Dismore. (My Life’s a Jigsaw)
• Genghis Khan — demos and Double Dealin’. Eleven-song demo, double-single pairings, Cave Studios, and Rod Records financing. (NWOBHM Encyclopedia)
• “Genghis Khan Killers” — reissue account with Boulton interview excerpts. Explains both name disputes, Radio 1 airplay, and the reuse of remaining double-single pressings. (Hells Headbangers)
• Tokyo Blade — official history and Boulton biography. Wiggins’s earlier groups, Blade Records singles, debut producers, and the Ruskin Arms contract. (Tokyo Blade; Andy Boulton)
• “Blade Runner” — Dave Reynolds interview, Metal Forces, Issue 4, 1984. Contemporary account of the proposed independent album and the Stage One contact who established Powerstation. (Metal Forces)
• Metal Maniaxe — original record photographs. Confirms “Machine Run” under Madame Guillotine on Ebony Records. (Vinyl Records)