Sudden Afternoon - Dancing Shadows

Virtually nothing is known about Sudden Afternoon; a band that has become a total mystery to just about everyone. What I have managed to cobble together consists of very few facts and heaps of conjecture. The band got started around 1985 with founding members R.S. Warner (aka: Bob Warner) and Matt Russell. They had one hell-of-an album and two 12” EP’s released by Midnight Music and a session for Andy Kershaw at BBC Radio 1. By the end of 1986 they had moved on to “The Beyond” releasing a debut ambient album Episcence, on Midnight Music before going their separate ways. What they left was some good music and a well-produced album.
It never ceases to amaze me; bands that have every possibility of success and great popularity, cutting it short in mid-career and disappearing without a trace. Some of the causes for breakups run the gamut; from personality clashes to lack of chart success, or as is often the case, disillusioned by bad reviews and one too many hostile crowds in the clubs. Whatever the circumstances were, they are too often the case and explain why bands that stick it out for the long haul (over 20 years) are more the exception than the rule. And you know, maybe Sudden Afternoon didn’t leave behind a loyal following or a slew of artists citing them as inspirations, which could explain why their debut album, Dancing Shadows is now going for ridiculously small amounts of money on Discogs. At most, the album/EPs go for like $10 US. All this is speculation and maybe none of it is what really happened; whatever the issue and the circumstances, here is a band that has been neglected for a few decades, badly underrated and completely overlooked in the ensuing years.
All I know for sure is; Sudden Afternoon had a lot going for them, and this album offers a glimpse and some proof that music, at least the business end of it, is capricious at best, deadly at worst; and art gets muddled in there somewhere. Hit the play button and see what you think; or better yet, this may trigger a few memories from you and perhaps they wound up being not as obscure to someone listening who knows the story.
In the meantime, crank it up and enjoy.