Peter Cox met Richard Drummie in 1974, when he played him a demo tape. Richard liked what he heard and this was the start of a long (and still running) friendship and collaboration. In 1982 they signed a publishing deal for their work as ‘Cox and Drummie’. They approached several record companies for a recording deal with little success, but managed to secure some studio time to record their first versions of ‘We Close Our Eyes’ and ‘Call Me’, changing their name to GO WEST. Within a matter of days of completion of these tracks, their manager was negotiating with Chrysalis Records and GO WEST obtained their first record deal!
Their debut single ‘We Close Our Eyes’ was released in 1985, it reached number 4 in the UK charts and became a top 10 hit in the USA. The success of ‘We Close Our Eyes’ was followed by three other top 10 hits – ‘Call Me’, ‘Goodbye Girl’ and ‘Don’t Look Down’.
Their self titled album GO WEST sold 1.5 million copies worldwide and established the pair as a chart force and as one of the greatest singer-songwriter duos to emerge in the 80’s. They became the focus of media attention, gracing covers and making numerous TV appearances. In 1986 they won a BRIT Award for ‘Best British Newcomer’.
Their second album ‘Dancing On The Couch’ was released in 1987. The singles ‘True Colours’, ‘I Wanna Hear It From You’ and ‘The King Is Dead’ were all top 30 hits and although it did not match the success of their debut LP in sales, it once again established them as extraordinary songwriters and the album has become something of a cult collectors item.
In 1992 their third album ‘Indian Summer’ was released. This was a more mellow album, justifying more than ever their early description by legendary producer Arif Mardin as ‘Modern Motown’. This album contained their single ‘The King Of Wishful Thinking’, the opening song in the hugely successful film ‘Pretty Woman’. The soundtrack album from this film has sold over 10 million copies world-wide. ‘The King Of Wishful Thinking’ received an ASCAP Award in 1991 and 1992 for one of the most played songs on American radio and ‘Faithful’ the second single from this album, received similar BMI Awards in 1992 and 1993.
‘Aces and Kings’, the album released in 1993, was a collection of their Greatest Hits and the single ‘Tracks Of My Tears’ a re-working of Smokey Robsinson’s classic, was released from this album and entered the Top 20 singles chart.
In 1993 Peter decided to move to Los Angeles to concentrate on his career as a solo artist. In 1997 his self titled solo album was released. Richard meanwhile, concentrated on his songwriting and record production and worked with, amongst others - Ritchie Neville, Robbie Craig, Next Of Kin, 21st Century Girls and Debbie Gibson.
In 2000 Peter moved back to the UK and he once again began working with Richard. They recorded two new tracks together which were their first studio recordings together for seven years.
In April 2001 GO WEST released an album ‘The Best Of Go West – Live At The NEC’, a concert recorded during their live tour in 1993. This contained all their greatest hits performed live in front of a sell-out crowd in Birmingham, together with the two brand new tracks.
In 2001/2 they performed on two ‘Here & Now’ Arena tours of the UK and one of Australia, together with other eighties acts – Paul Young, Kim Wilde, Belinda Carlisle & Human League.
Following Peter’s huge success on the TV series ‘Reborn In The USA’ – Peter, Go West and Tony Hadley performed together on a sell-out 60 date UK tour in 2004.
In 2005, Go West celebrated their 20th Anniversary together and performed another sell-out UK tour. They then commenced work on a new Go West album which is still in production and will be released next year.
As well as continuing to perform many shows together as GO WEST, last year, Peter recorded a Motown album, which was released earlier this year and Richard took part in a major Trek to The Lost World in Venezuala, together with Tony Hadley and Martin Fry of ABC, in aid of Action Medical Research. A film of the Trek has just been released on DVD.
Peter & Richard have also just released a new DVD entitled ‘Go West 21’. This was filmed at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester last year, when Go West performed their debut album, live and in it’s entirety, for the first time – it also includes a number of new songs from their forthcoming album.
With courtesy of www.gowestforum.co.uk
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