"SO, WHAT'S in a name? Well, maybe that depends on what particular career you happen to be pursuing. What, I wonder, would have happened to Tina Turner had she pursued her professional career under her real name Annie Mae Bullock or Edwin Starr who entered this mortal coil in January 1942 under a Charles Hatcher monniker. Possibly the results would have remained the same, but you never do know. Is it First Circle or Full Circle?.



                       






























SO, WHAT'S in a name? Well, maybe that depends on what particular career you happen to be pursuing. What, I wonder, would have happened to Tina Turner had she pursued her professional career under her real name Annie Mae Bullock or Edwin Starr who entered this mortal coil in January 1942 under a Charles Hatcher monniker. Possibly the results would have remained the same, but you never do know.

First Circle have also encountered one or two name changes along the way but this, fortunately, has not prevented them from creating a monster dance hit and respectable pop crossover showing with "Workin' Up A Sweat" which, with a little luck, could have done a whole lot better in the latter stakes.

However, with the release this week of their debut album "Boys Night Out" and a second killer dance track "Miracle Worker" scheduled for single action, the group could very well be entering a particularly fruitful period.
Circle actually "got under way some ten years ago as Crossbow. Founder members Larry Marsden (guitar, vocals) and Glenn Everett (drums, vocals) recruited percussionist Richardson Clear and the nucleus was created. Subsequent additions in the form of bassist Anthony McEwan and lead vocalist Al Lee resulted in the formation of Full Circle who remained as such until the recent single success of "Workin' Up A Sweat" created yet another name change situation.

Producer, writer and mentor Randy Muller and group member Glenn Everett were holding court within the relative luxury (compared with Praed Towers, Stalag 14 could be said to be relatively luxurious) of EMI Records' middle management offices and explaied the situation.

"It was only when the single started to show in the American dance charts that we heard of another group called Full Circle. Apparently, a Boston jazz outfit who have been around for a long time had their lawyer complain and demand a name change. Under the circumstances, we figured that we could afford to be magnanimous so we opted for First Circle.

"If we're going to be successful as a circle, we're not too worried if it's as a "full" or a "first" circle!"

RANDY Muller's activiti ties are well chronicled in B&S over the years with Brass Construction, New York Skyy, Funk DeLuxe and the last time we had sat down with him he had mentioned a number of projects which were worth if keeping a close eye on. As usual, the perceptive Mr. Muller had been perfectly correct as (Full) First Circle had been one of the projects under discussion.

However, the initital Liason was formed back in 1979 after Larry Marsden had met up with writer/producer Keith Diamond who at that time was working with Muller on a Skyy project Diamond had heard Crossbow performing at a New York club and had been suitably impressed. He brought them to the attention of Muller who recruited them into his pool of session players whom he utilised on various recording projects.

An initial recording was abandoned due to contractual difficulties with their then management but this was rectified when the contractual period was up and thus permitting their liaison with" Muller to become more solid. Muller, with that unerring skill of recognising raw talent embarked upon a writing liaison with Glenn Everett which bore immediate fruit with "Workin' Up A Sweat".

"I know that Glenn and the guys had a natural flair for working, but they lacked any recognisable structure. They had talent, but no discipline." Randy advised with nodding agreement from Mr. Everett. "I figured the best thing to do was sit with Glenn and kick a few things around.

"From that emerged "Workin' Up A Sweat" which did contain structure, discipline and a solid dance groove and we knew pretty much from the start that the track was good. In fact, when Skyy heard the track they got pretty excited and wanted to record it themselves."

But as we all know, Randy Muller is not one for putting all his eggs into one basket and the thought of creating yet another facet to his musical out goings must have been appealing.

"Of course. That surely is what this business is all about, finding the talent in the first place and then nurturing it through to success. Personally, I would find it very restricting and frustrating to have just the one outlet and in this situation I'm very fortunate. Naturally, the secret is to match things up with the right song for the right band and if there also happens to be a writing talent to cultivate, well that's an added bonus."

Glenn, having finished running around with his camera, added "It's a very positive experience writing and working with Randy. He has that skill of being able to cut through all the unnecessary stuff and go straight to the heart of things. I enjoy writing with Randy and believe the album will demonstrate that to good effect. We've retained the dance groove as a priority with the album but have also incorporated some R&B and jazz lines to showcase the group's musical abilities.

"We're looking to maintain and increase our live work too which hopefully will include some performance in Britain."

AS TO Randy's other musical activities, the situation remains pretty much par for the course. "Well, I'm in the studio with Skyy at present and believe there's a lot of good prospects with their new project. I've deliberately tried to create more depth with them on this album and have done that by introducing deeper material. It's necessary for any group to progress at some stage in their development and we think that time is now.

"And before you ask, the situation with Brass Construction is this ... we deliberately took a year off to assess things. It has given me an opportunity to freshen up and likewise with the guys in the band. They'll be back at some time.

"Outside of that, I've found a female artist who I believe will make a major impact. My activities in the past have been distinctly lacking in the female area but I always go with my instincts and my instincts tell me that this particular lady is something special."

When Randy Muller considers someone to be "special", then there's every chance that the individual concerned is very special indeed. However, we must wait and see.
And on that old chestnut of a Randy Muller solo album?

"Yeah ... it's about time isn't it. Well, again, I'm unable to definitely confirm anything although I'm, shall we say, optimistic that some positive steps will be made in that direction before the end of the year." Roll on 1988! (BK B&S)