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The Last Chant - a band formed in Liverpool 1981


Sparky Mark

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So I've just acquired a mid seventees left handed black tolex Fender Precision case that apparently at one point had been rescued from a skip in North Wales. 

Whilst giving it a clean the band name The Last Chant has been uncovered on both top and bottom faces. Googled the band and found a few details including their bassist was called Brian Ashcroft. There's also one track on YouTube called Run Of The Dove which is pretty good.

I was just wondering whether anyone remembers them or knows if Brian is still playing (and whether he was left handed)?

20191010_005552.thumb.jpg.22873ed3becf8b832385513eca6d1234.jpg

Edited by Sparky Mark
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5 hours ago, skidder652003 said:

I grew up in Liverpool from 77 to about 85, never heard of them Im afraid but I bet they bought records from Probe!

Thanks, there's some history on the internet saying they were a decent band that nearly succeeded but now I'd only expect friends and family would remember them. It was the Mike Scott and David Dickie connections that caught my interest further. In my book that puts them a level above the other hundreds possibly thousands of bands from that era that have no history recorded anywhere.

Edited by Sparky Mark
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11 hours ago, skidder652003 said:

I grew up in Liverpool from 77 to about 85, never heard of them Im afraid but I bet they bought records from Probe!

Likewise (but a bit later, from '83 to mid 90's), and I bought records from Probe! :D 

Don't recall them either.

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I was at Liverpool Uni in '81 and avidly going to all the gigs I could, big and small (I still have my Eric's membership card......9_9)- don't recall The Last Chant though.

Looking back; how lucky to be in that place at that time

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  • 1 month later...

I bought the Last Chant single when it came out because of the Mike Scott connection (I was a big fan of Another Pretty Face, his Edinburgh band). It was recorded at Cargo Studios in Rochdale, and Mike produced and did some backing vocals. They were a six piece, very young at the time (16-18), and included Andrew Hussey on lead guitar, now a historian and TV presenter (and OBE) and Tim Blanthorn on fiddle - he later played on some Waterboys stuff. Run of the Dove still sounds great to me!

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  • 10 months later...

Hello Mark

Brian Ashcroft was indeed in the Last Chant as the bassist. He was left handed. Sadly my brother Brian passed away in 2010 leaving me many good memories. I would be interested in buying the case off you if it is for sale. I bought the Precision Bass for Brian after working in the Middle East for a few years. Nearly died when he painted it matte black. Get in touch if you want to sell. All the best Neal Ashcroft.

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4 hours ago, Neal said:

Hello Mark

Brian Ashcroft was indeed in the Last Chant as the bassist. He was left handed. Sadly my brother Brian passed away in 2010 leaving me many good memories. I would be interested in buying the case off you if it is for sale. I bought the Precision Bass for Brian after working in the Middle East for a few years. Nearly died when he painted it matte black. Get in touch if you want to sell. All the best Neal Ashcroft.

Hi Neal,

thanks for opening up this interesting story.

I‘m sorry for your loss.

 

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On 11/10/2020 at 03:32, Neal said:

Hello Mark

Brian Ashcroft was indeed in the Last Chant as the bassist. He was left handed. Sadly my brother Brian passed away in 2010 leaving me many good memories. I would be interested in buying the case off you if it is for sale. I bought the Precision Bass for Brian after working in the Middle East for a few years. Nearly died when he painted it matte black. Get in touch if you want to sell. All the best Neal Ashcroft.

Hi Neal,

Thank you so much for this and I'm so  sorry for your loss. I'm afraid that I have restored the case to as good a condition as I could which involved removing Brian's artwork from both sides. I also made some enquiries about this type of case here : - 

 

Edited by Sparky Mark
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Hello everyone

No I am not a bassist but was a keen guitarist who occasionally played bass. Not as talented as my bro but deadly keen. Stopped playing in my 30s. Fantastic to see a picture of this bass case when I did a Google search for the Last Chant. Hope you get good use out of the case Sparky. Would have loved to have it back but I have many music souvenirs from him. In addition to music, he was a keen artist and did the cover art for the Run of the Dove. My son has been asking about him hence the Google search to see if we could trace his old band members (still ongoing). Yes he did buy loads of stuff from Probe - as did I. Write more soon.

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This was how I received the case; just in need of a good clean I thought.

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However, it soon became clear that large areas of both front and back had been painted over with black spray paint. Removing the black paint whilst being careful not to damage the tolex allowed the white/silver band name to come through prompting this thread to find out more about or maybe even hear from Brian.

It now looks like this:-

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Edited by Sparky Mark
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/10/2019 at 19:18, skidder652003 said:

I grew up in Liverpool from 77 to about 85, never heard of them Im afraid but I bet they bought records from Probe!

I was brought up in Liverpool between 1975 and 1990 and would've been a teen in the 80s. I was well into a lot of local indie bands old Peelie was fond of too e.g. Icicle Works, Pink Military, The Room, Cook Da Books, Personal Column, Its Immaterial but I don't recall The Last Chan 'fraid to say.  Ah, mention of Probe brings back memories like the first time I saw Pete Burns behind the counter there, me trying to figure out the whole he /she thing.

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5 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

I was brought up in Liverpool between 1975 and 1990 and would've been a teen in the 80s. I was well into a lot of local indie bands old Peelie was fond of too e.g. Icicle Works, Pink Military, The Room, Cook Da Books, Personal Column, Its Immaterial but I don't recall The Last Chan 'fraid to say.  Ah, mention of Probe brings back memories like the first time I saw Pete Burns behind the counter there, me trying to figure out the whole he /she thing.

yeah and he had coloured contact lenses, first time i'd seen them, he looked terrifying and bored at the same time..

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Hi Neal,

I'm so sorry to hear of Brian's passing . I was in The Last Chant and remember Brian fondly .A really talented mate .I was on Freshfields beach yesterday and it brought back loads of good times we all had there .

I'd love to catch up with you if possible please 

Richard Evans ( congos, percussion and backing vocals )

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