Endgames - First Last

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ENDGAMES - MIRCALE

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ENDGAMES - WAITING

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ENDGAMES -

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endgames -

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THE ENDGAMES STORY

The tangles web of Endgames history begins with THE BERLIN BLONDES sometime in 1978. Chasing the electro synth path, The Berlin Blondes were an early Glasgow electronic band influenced and inspired by both Germanic bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu. By sometime in 1980 they had changed their line-up and style time and time again - notoriously by ousting their founder member, David Rudden, just before the release of their first single "SCIENCE". [To add insult to injury the Picture sleeve revealed the Berlin Blondes in Technicolor glory and prominently featuring Rudden's replacement… especially as the said replacement hadn't contributed a single note to the music on the 1980 single].

Rudden then set about setting up a new combo - in tandem with suing THE BERLIN BLONDES. By the time legal agreement had been reached the BLONDES single and self-titled album were already in the bargain bin. The band put together during this period was ENDGAMES. Like the BLONDES, Rudden's new project was also electronically based - but with more of a heart than the soulless mimicry of sub-germanic monotones by the BERLIN crew. ENDGAMES early days was a victim of unstable line-ups initially and ironically Rudden was once again ousted by his "Et Tu Brute" colleagues resulting in a period where there were 2 Glasgow bands claiming to be ENDGAMES [One led by Rudden and the other fronted by David Allen]. This bizarre situation didn't last long, Rudden was the ENDGAMES mainman and inevitably won out.

By the end of 1981 ENDGAMES were supposedly signing to a major company so many times and for such outrageous sums of money that it was almost a local joke. The band had stabilised their line-up and written some good material but there was still something missing.It was during 1982 that all this changed and ENDGAMES became a real force to be reckoned with - they recruited Ex-ZONES frontman Willie Gardner to "help" them. Fresh from a post Zones solo career that never really took off, Gardner needed something to do and which would lend some credibility to his acknowledged potential. Initially just helping out, Gardner soon demonstrated his worth to ENDGAMES, tightening the band up and making some significant rearrangements to the material. None the less ENDGAMES were making some really great electro-dance tunes with some incredibly catchy hooks…and this time when they claimed that "THE DEAL" was in the offing, nobody laughed.

The first single was "FIRST, LAST, EVERYTHING" [1982] [PHONOGRAM RECORDS] - a sub IMAGINATION groove that was really catchy and earned a fair degree of airplay. ENDGAMES were finally on the map and all the stories might just come true. Following this single the band were still seeking a major recording contract, finding more than a little interest arising from various Record Companies who had heard, and liked, their single. In the meantime Gardner had become indispensable, carving himself a significant niche in the band. Within 9 months he had become an official member and changed the entire direction and flow of the band - they became really good… really good! Nobody could really explain why Gardner hadn't become the front man, his vocal talent was far beyond Rudden's range [much of whose vocal lines seemed uncannily Gardner-esque] but it never happened.

By the end of 1982 they had thoroughly established themselves and their musical direction - a slick mix of electro-dance-funk and soul. The next single was " WE FEEL GOOD OUT FUTURE'S LOOKING FINE / DARKNESS" [7" & 12"] - a great slice of funky-groove prominently featuring Willie Gardner and his highly individual guitar work. It looked good for the future and work soon began on the first album. During this time some interesting observations were made about the recreational habits of ENDGAMES - their self-titled "Enjoyment Club" really predicted their future. Following this release they parted company with Phonogram Records.

By 1983 they were signed to Virgin records. The band 's first release for the label was " LOVE CARES / READY OR NOT ", another excellent slice of electro-dance-funk that drew some good reviews and TV slots, heralding the first album "LOVE BUILDING BEAUTY". Despite the tales of "getting wasted" in the studio instead of making their mark on history, ENDGAMES turned out a pretty fine first album which was a helluva lot more sophisticated than most people expected. Filled with some great high-tech arrangements and memorable hooks, the album harvested another 3 Singles [MIRACLE IN MY HEART / ECSTACY, WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE / UNIVERSE, DESIRE / LOOK NOW] none of which disappointed. For a while it looked as if they could win everything they wanted - except the rot was already eating its way out before the end of 1984. Rumours of serious wastage and internal strife were legion…and the album just wasn't selling in the numbers it was expected to [although it did good business in Europe].

By the time the First single from the second album was released ENDGAMES had shrunk from a 6 piece down to 4. Theoretically they had become leaner and meaner. "SHOUTING OUT FOR LOVE / SOMEWHERE TO RUN" appeared during 1985 and was a shift in direction once again, emphasising more melody and probably more Gardner orientated then before. Once again it just didn't fly, despite receiving good reviews and airplay it just couldn't break through - and the Record Company just didn't seem as enthusiastic, as hard working, as interested as it once claimed. The single became ENDGAMES British swan-song, it was the last piece of product to be released in this country. The album, whose working title was "PYRAMIDS & TRAFFIC JAMS", was dropped from the release schedules although it did see release in Germany and other parts of Europe as "NATURAL".

The second album had some gems within its span - all the tracks becoming more American, soul-based somehow [the notable exception being "ALL MY LIFE" which sounded more like the first album]. With contributions from Anne [Art of Noise] Dudley, the second album was clever, tight, cool and just didn't sell - but the only way British fans could find that out for themselves was to buy the outrageously priced import copy of NATURAL.Once again without a recording contract the band buckled down to more recording and writing new material, demos of which revealed some substantial development oin their chosen path - but something was missing in everything they did now. It was all over bar the shouting.

Soon after this further internal wrangling put ENDGAMES out its misery once and for all. By 1986 it was all over, just another footnote in rock's bloated history…except for one final irony : During the 1990's when dance had really dominated the global consciousness D-Mob substantially sampled ENDGAMES' "Ecstasy" track to create a real punchy slice of dance, had a sizeable hit, made a lot of money and forced the ghost of ENDGAMES to seek legal recourse to score any royalties. There but for the Grace of God…or something!

"LOVE BUILDING BEAUTY" LINE-UP

DAVIE RUDDEN - VOCALS & BASS

WILLIE GARDNER - GUITAR, VOCALS & KBDS

BRIAN McGEE - DRUMS & PERCUSSION

DAVID MURDOCH - PIANO & KBDS

DOUGLAS MUIRDEN - SYNTH, KBDS & SAX

PAUL WISHART - SAX & KDBS

"NATURAL" LINE-UP

DAVIE RUDDEN - VOCALS & BASS

WILLIE GARDNER - GUITAR, VOCALS & KBDS

BRIAN McGEE - DRUMS & PERCUSSION

DAVID MURDOCH - PIANO & KBDS

ENDGAMES DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

[All Released in both 7" & 12" Format with Picture Covers]

FIRST,LAST,FOR EVERYTHING VOCAL / DUB - 1982

WE FEEL GOOD OUT FUTURE'S LOOKING FINE / DARKNESS - 1983

LOVE CARES / READY OR NOT - 1983

MIRACLE IN MY HEART / ECSTACY - 1983

WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE / UNIVERSE - 1983

DESIRE / LOOK NOW -1984

WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE / DESIRE [PROMO US] - 1983

SHOUTING OUT FOR LOVE / SOMEWHERE TO RUN - 1984

ALBUMS

LOVE BUILDING BEAUTY - 1983

LOVE CARES

UNIVERSE WON'T MIND

ECSTASY

MIRACLE IN MY HEART

LOVE BUILDING BEAUTY

DESIRE

WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE

SEARCHING FOR LOVE

BOTH OF US

NATURAL [ PYRAMIDS & TRAFFIC JAMS ] - 1985

SHOUTING OUT FOR LOVE

PRESSURE

NATURAL JOY

COME BACK BABY

KEEP ON BELIEVING

I CRIED

SOMEWHERE TO RUN

IF I FALL

ALL MY LIFE

COMPILATIONS

ENDGAMES - 12" ECSTASY

WE FEEL GOOD

FIRST LAST EVERYTHING

MIRACLE IN MY HEART

LOVE CARES

ECSTASY

READY OR NOT

WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE

UNIVERSE

DESIRE

LOOK NOW

SHOUTING OUT FOR LOVE

SOMEWHERE TO RUN

LOVE CARES 7"

WE FEEL GOOD 7

"UNIVERSE WON'T MIND

ECSTASY [ VOX ]

DARKNESS

ENDGAMES - PYRAMIDS & TRAFFIC JAMS

LOVE CARES

UNIVERSE WON'T MIND

ECSTASY

MIRACLE IN MY HEART

LOVE BUILDING BEAUTY

DESIRE

WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE

SEARCHING FOR LOVE

BOTH OF US

SHOUTING OUT FOR LOVE

PRESSURE

NATURAL JOY

COME BACK BABY

KEEP ON BELIEVING

I CRIED

SOMEWHERE TO RUN

IF I FALL

ALL MY LIFE

ENDGAMES - LIVE : THE LONG GOODBYE [1985 - GLASGOW]

REACH

WALK ON BY THE RIVER

LOVE BUILDING BEAUTY

SHOUTING OUT FOR LOVE

MORNING LIGHT

WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE

HEAVEN'S FAR AWAY

SOMEWHERE TO RUN

BOTH OF US

FIRST LAST FOR EVERYTHING

DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY