BRIAN JAMES and the story behind ‘New Rose,’ the song that started it all

“RAT took to the song straight away. I had had the riff in my head from my previous band, ‘Bastard,’ but when Rat started messing around with it, the riff came straight away and I knew it was something like I wanted it to sound like, I was really excited.

The riff was really brought alive by Rat, I knew I wanted a drum sound, something kind of ‘jungley’ and as soon as I heard what Rat did, I went home straight home to Kilburn, where I was living in a basement flat, and got everything finalised.

Nick Lowe recorded the song in an eight-track studio and was helped by Bazza, an engineer, and at that time you would record drums in one room guitar in another, and this studio was really small but Nick and Bazza knew every inch of it, and when they had finished recording and I heard the song they had really got it to sound just like I wanted it to and I couldn’t believe it. They put the guitar and drums down and the two of them really brought it to life.

I couldn’t believe that I had actually written a song and had a record out, I was knocked out, couldn’t believe it when I was holding it in my hand, in a picture sleeve even. I never thought I’d ever release a single and remember thinking if everything ends tomorrow at least I’ve managed to get a single out. We were busy and we were being chased by a few major labels, but even so, I couldn’t believe it when it came out.

I thought that way because although I had been in bands before and people were saying good things and being encouraging, you still never think it’ll actually happen, I was so surprised and excited when it did.

I’m very grateful for the song and I’m still amazed when I’m walking around a supermarket and people come up to me and say, “You wrote New Rose, that song actually changed my life, it meant so much to me,” I feel very lucky about that and the song, it always surprises me, I never expected anything like that at all really, I’m eternally grateful. It’s very emotional, I continue to be amazed when people tell me how much the song means to them, I’m very proud of it.

Some people have said they think it’s a love song, I know, the imagery has got some poetic things to it, but it’s not about a girl, it’s really more about lyrics as colours that go with the noise. I used to try and make sense of the story within lyrics, I’d listen to them and think I’d have an idea what was being sung about but when I read the lyrics they wouldn’t look right.

But as far as New Rose is concerned, on reflection, it’s not a love song. It was an exciting time, punk, and you would meet all sorts of people through it and play with all kinds of people too. I was living in Brussels because my band, Bastard, couldn’t get any gigs in London, nobody would let us play, but when we came back to London, you’d meet lots of people.

I thought finally in my life I was part of a scene with others who felt the same, it was all YES and ELP and that type of music, people going to university to study jazz, but now we were meeting like-minded people and I really felt part of something, finally.

We were once called ‘Punk Traitors,’ but so many years after the song was released, people are still talking about it and listening to it and all I’d really like is for it to be remembered as a really cool rock and roll song.

Some people say it’s a happy song – that’s exactly what it is.”

(Interview (c) MusicLoveMusic)