I wrote this a few months ago for my friends on Facebook (and longer versions elsewhere.) It seems odd now.
For tonight’s delve into ‘lost’ bands. I present 'The Outfield’. I have an undying love for power pop, and this one hit my sweet tooth nicely. A unique sound, a ‘high wire’ vocalist, and ear worm songs. This was the brainchild of guitarist John Spinks, and ably interpreted by vocalist Tony Lewis. The Englishman Spinks had a penchant for American baseball, and had fashioned a few bands around baseball themes. (An early band used the name ‘Furies’ from that 70’s classic ‘The Warriors’.) Thus, later, his band became The Outfield.
The Outfield was a band out of time, since they did not fit into any category. I followed them through the debut ‘Play Deep’, and 2nd effort ‘Bangin’…which both had a cool bouncy vibe that I loved. Spinks had a talent for catchy songs, Tony with impossible vocals, and the hidden asset was Alan Jackman’s huge and stolid drum beats that gave root and vibe to the candy. A fun sidetone is they employed a very talented blind keyboardist named Reg Webb who fronted many bands…including one with very young Nik Kershaw (‘Wouldn’t it be nice’..if you need a YouTube lookup.)
As these things do, they fell off the radar. Some stops and starts with various songs, but they could not recreate the magic of those earlier days. It did not escape my notice that they came out with an album in 2011. ‘Replay’ is an excellent offering. Another one that I consider overlooked in the genre.
John Spinks died of liver cancer in 2014, and Reg Webb went in 2018. This ended the reign of ‘The Outfield’. Tony Lewis continues on with his solo effort ‘Out of the Darkness.’ IMO it does not have the musical chops of the Spinks-led efforts, but it is a decent offering.
This is the first one that caught my ear, and remains inexplicably tied to Wine Coolers, cheap bourbon shots, and hop/kick dancing.