The Open – The Silent Hours, Statues

Last year I posted about the Liverpool band, The Open, several times. I thought their two albums were fantastic. The first, full of catchy pop songs – and the second reaching out into diverse influences like free jazz, reminded me of Talk Talk (another big favourite).

I’ve just been listening to the two albums again, and decided to do a bit of net searching to see what’s going on. I drew a blank everywhere I looked. The band’s own site now re-routes to Polydor records, and the fan site has been taken over by a golf site! (Yes, I understand the link!)

I’ve tried searching for Steven Bayley (singer, writer, guitarist, pianist etc) but can’t find anything. Does anyone know what has happened to him and the others in the band. Are they making music? I have this romantic notion that Bayley will reappear to make a solo album. Now, when Mark Hollis made his solo album some years after Talk Talk split up, it was a work of remarkable genius. So, I remain optimistic. If you have any information, please leave a comment.