The Last Chant - Run Of The Dove [Alternate Mix 1981]

Joe Mckechnie Remaster 21/01/2026

The Last Chant came together at the Liverpool Blue Coat High School in 1980.
They signed to Mike Scott's Chicken Jazz label after their first three gigs and released the single 'Run Of The Dove' in 1981.

The record was Paul Du Noyer's Single of the Week in the NME. Du Noyer also, reviewing a gig supporting Wah! at the Liverpool Royal Court in 1982, described them as potentially bigger than U2 or The Bunnymen.

Paul du Noyer also made 'Run Of The Dove' number 40 in his listing of top 100 songs in his book Liverpool, Wondrous Place.
The magazine Record Collector described 'Run of the Dove' as 'like the Velvet Underground in a monastery garden.'

As well as frequent gigs at Liverpool Eric's and Bradys, they played at Heaven and ULU in London with Wah!

They also famously supported Nico at Le Son Divin/ The Warehouse in LIverpool - an epiphany for a young band for in thrall to the Velvets and Nico's solo work.

A demo album was recorded at Liverpool's Benson Street Studios for Eternal Records/WEA, but the tapes have been lost.
They included dub versions of songs, recordings in Arabic and experiments with percussion.
This reflected their influences, from Can and The Velvet Underground to Fela Kuti and Prince Far I.
They were all still teenagers when the band disintegrated in the summer of 1982.

Dave Dickie went on to join forces with Colin Vearncombe and enjoyed success with Black.
He later became a much sought after songwriter and producer.

Brian Ashcroft brought African influences into the band, having grown up in Nigeria.
He formed The Last Chant Mk 2 in 1983.

Andrew Hussey went on to study at Universities in Manchester and France.
He became Professor of French at the University of London and was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to Anglo-French relations. He lives in Paris where he writes books and journalism.

Tim Blanthorn went off to play violin with the Waterboys.
Richard Evans runs a successful restaurant in the West Country.

A key moment in our story was a first trip to Paris, where we had some fans who had heard us on the Peel Show. We went to Barbés, the immigrant quartier of north-eastern Paris and stocked up on Fela Kuti, Reggae, Afrobeat, 1950s French Jazz, stuff you couldn't find in even Probe Records. That changed our sound dramatically, opening more possibilities. I also read Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Voyage au bout de nuit (in English: Parisian working class slang was beyond me then). Paris inspired The Last Chant but also sent me into a life in writing.

Andrew Hussey, January 2026

RIP
Dave Dickie died in 2025
Brian Ashcroft died in 2010
Colin Billinge (drums) died in 2017
Simon Marcus Culling (ambient sounds) died in 2002

My two pence

When I left school I went to work in Progressive Books, a bookshop that used to be on Berry Street, Liverpool.
A group of after school book browsers became regular visitors.
They would often ask about the music we had playing in the back room of the shop, eventually this led to an arrangement where they could borrow an LP, and then borrow another one when they brought it back.
The debut LP's by The Doors and Love were favourites as I recall.
I don't think it was too much of a surprise when they came in one day to say they'd formed a group, you guessed it, The Last Chant.

Joe Mckechnie, January 2026



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