The band seemed to disintegrate and go their separate ways quite early on (I think your Wikipedia entry has 1983 listed). What were the reasons behind this? It’s difficult really to remember – it was 30 years ago! We had been gigging hard, writing good music, spending all our money on more gear and recording demos, etc, for over three years by then. We were really pleased with our third demo from September Sound in Huddersfield – so we sent it off to all the right record companies, and the local newspaper and all the right music papers and magazines – remember this was years before we had email and the internet, and so magazines and newspapers (as well as gigging of course) were the key to spreading the word. However, we got no response from the music papers and mags – and even the local paper (who you would have thought would have been supportive) was pretty negative. And whilst we did get to meet up with a number of record companies – we kept getting the same line, “it’s really good, but not what we’re looking for at the moment”; some said we were too heavy – and others picked up on things like the cool chords in “The Other Side of Hell” and dismissed us as too jazzy! I think we felt like we had been banging our heads against the wall for too long, and basically felt that Salem had run its course. So we decided to split and do other things – and played our last gig almost 30 years ago on 31 May 1983.
Simon went on to record with guys like Martin Smith from ELO and Rick Dufay of Aerosmith. He’s got a photo somewhere of him with these guys and Brian Johnson (ACDC) in a pub in London – just hanging out and having a good time. Since then he’s played in several other bands including a Led Zep tribute band, and still plays in a band called Masam – as well as Salem of course! – and he teaches guitar too. Paul too has always continued to play in bands – he’s supported the likes of WASP and Michael Schenker – and played at Download as well. He has played in Innersylum for several years – a great band. Ade moved towards recording and now has his own studio – where Salem has been recording all our new music. Mark moved away from music for a while. He actually got seriously into fitness, martial arts and into bodybuilding where he won several national competitions. I have also continued to play the guitar, write and record new music. I have played in various bands – from jazz-rock to function bands. I’m currently in a local rock covers trio called GPS (great fun) – and I also teach guitar. About 2009 High Roller Records/Pure Steel released the ‘In the Beginning’ compilation album. How did the release come about? To cut a long story short, at my brother’s suggestion, I uploaded some 1980s Salem music to MySpace and people started listening! We were then approached by the German company High Roller Records - and as they only did vinyl records, they helped us get Pure Steel involved for the CDs. The result was the “In The Beginning...” double album – a compilation of all our 1980s recordings.
Were you surprised by the reception that it received? We were very pleased by the reception! We were obviously really pleased to have an album of our music – especially after all these years. The album and CD soon sold out – and it has opened up many new avenues to us! High Roller made a great improvement to the sound too – you have to remember that the album is a compilation of demos that were recorded and mastered in very limited studio-time - and what you hear has only been taken from a TDK SA C90 copy of the masters, not the original ¼" reel-to-reel During the bands hiatus, you were all involved in master tapes (these are long lost). Also, most tracks different projects. What would you say that your were recorded on first take, with vocals and guitar highlights of that period in your history would be? solos added, so these tracks are much more After Salem, Ade, Simon and Paul (Mendham) went representative of a live performance than any on to play in various bands together including attempt at a highly-polished studio album. Mayfair who recorded an album for a French record Incidentally, we made our first two recordings company although it never got released. at the Fairview Studios in Willerby, Hull - the first
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