The Kane Gang are an English pop trio formed in Seaham in 1982.[3] The group comprised Martin Brammer, Paul Woods and Dave Brewis.[4] They scored several UK and US hits in the 1980s.[5] Named alluding to the movie Citizen Kane, the trio recorded for the record label Kitchenware, which was also home to Prefab Sprout. The group announced a comeback on 14 August 2024.[6]
History
Vocalists Martin Brammer[7] (born 13 May 1957,[8]Seaham, County Durham) and Paul Woods, with multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis, formed the trio in 1982, after meeting while in small local bands, and signed to a small record label, which led to a deal with London Records in 1984.[3]
The band's next album, Miracle, was released in 1987 and spawned two US hit singles: "Motortown" (No. 36 US / No. 45 UK) and another cover – this time of Dennis Edwards' "Don't Look Any Further"[9] (No. 64 US / No. 52 UK). The latter hit No. 1 on the US Dance Charts.[11]
Woods left the band in 1991 to attempt a solo career.[3] Woods and Brewis also worked on an album which was never released.
It was announced that the Kane Gang would reunite for a gig at Sunderland's The Fire Station music venue on 2 November 2024.[12]
Other works
The Kane Gang performed the music for the "Ooh Gary Davies... On Your Radio" jingle for BBC Radio 1.[13] As was the fashion around that time, bands would adapt songs to provide the radio station with a jingle, and embed the hook of the track in the public's consciousness. The Gary Davies jingle was based on their track "Smalltown Creed"[13] (from the LP The Bad and Lowdown World of the Kane Gang). The same track was used as the basis for the theme tune of long-running Children's BBC television programme Byker Grove, which launched the careers of Ant & Dec (as PJ & Duncan) and Donna Air.[14]
