The story starts in 1979, in Manchester, England. Clive Gregson and Neil Cossar met through a mutual friend, John Martin, the bassist in The Cheaters, Neil was the band’s guitarist. Clive was the leader of Any Trouble.
Any Trouble signed to Stiff Records, The Cheaters signed to EMI. Both bands released several albums and played thousands of shows. Clive then went on to a successful partnership with singer Christine Collister, released over 20 solo albums, and spent 15 years in Nashville working as a session musician and producer. Neil became a radio DJ and launched the online brand This Day in Music.
Cut to 202, Clive and Neil are catching up over lunch and thought it might be fun to try and write some songs together and form a band. Clive recruited keyboardist Jez Smith and bassist Craig Fletcher from Barclay James Harvest and legendary drummer, Paul Burgess, who has played with 10cc since 1973. They named the band The Guilty Men and headed into the recording studio.