Zerra One - Zerra 1

The Irish quartet Zerra One had enough soaring harmonies and ringing guitars to follow in the footsteps of compatriots U2. And while commercial success never happened, Zerra One possessed too much talent to be written off as failed U2 impersonators. Formed in 1982 by Paul Bell (vocals, keyboards), Andreas Grimminger (guitar), Adrian Wyatt (bass), and Korda Marshall (drums), Zerra One had the spiky haircuts and dour vocals common to British new wave artists from that period. The band supported The Cure on their 1982 UK and European tour in April-June (which means I actually saw them live, but didn’t know it at the time) and later in December, the band supported U2 for five dates. In February-March 1984, the band toured as a support act of The Boomtown Rats and later that same year saw the band signing to Mercury. Their first single for the label was "Ten Thousand Voices, Message from the Peoples" with their self-titled debut album also released that year. The album was produced by Todd Rundgren, but failed to give the band their commercial breakthrough, owing much to U2 and Simple Minds, Zerra 1 featured dark, epic rock that may have been too moody or weird for commercial radio. Zerra One went for a big, bombastic sound, with lyrics full of grandiose imagery. On “Tumbling Down,” singer Paul Bell majestically proclaims, “We see it, we hear it, we know, we say.” The problem was: they didn’t.

Zerra One

Today’s post follows the Irish theme of yesterday’s Blue In Heaven post. Zerra One were another short-lived band that just never found their audience. Just like Blue In Heaven they seemed to be perfectly positioned alongside other bands like the Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, early U2, etc, but failure to chart and they eventually imploded. The band formed in 1982 and two singles were released in the UK during 1983 on the Second Vision label. Although "The West's Awake" and "The Banner of Love (How I Run to You)" did not generate any major commercial success, the latter single reached No. 33 on the UK Independent Singles Chart.