Child (band)

Child was a British pop group that released a number of records, including a top-10 single in 1978. The band was a four-piece, consisting of Dave Cooper (guitar), Graham Bilbrough (vocals) and twins Keith (bass guitar) and Tim Atack (drums). Following the release of the first four singles Dave Cooper left to form rock band Crash Alley and Mike Mckenzie joined on bass guitar with Keith Atack switching to guitar. Their biggest hit was a cover of the Conway Twitty song "It's Only Make Believe", which was a top ten hit in 1978.

History[]

Child were formed in the early-1970s consisting of Graham Bilbrough (born May 1958),^[1] Dave Cooper (born June 1957)^[2] and twin brothers Keith and Tim Atack (born April 1959).^[3][4] The members were in their early teens at the time, performing under the name 'Reincarnation.' They were discovered practising in a local village hall by Mike Devere, who remained their manager for eight years. At first, Reincarnation nearly became Fairburn's Children (an homage to the village in which the village hall was situated) but then, very quickly, to Child. Their first single was released in 1976 but failed to chart.

After touring and many television appearances, the group secured a record deal with Ariola Hansa. With this label the group achieved their first chart hit after appearing on Top of the Pops. The song was a cover of The Searchers' hit "When You Walk in the Room", and reached No.38 in the UK.^[5] Following this up with another cover, the formula worked even better and the group scored a top 10 hit with "It's Only Make Believe", which earned them a silver disc from the BPI for sales in excess of 250,000. Their sell-out UK tour, hosted by BBC DJ Rob Jones, witnessed scenes of fan mania reminiscent of that experienced by the Rollers earlier. In 1979, they scored their third chart hit with (yet another cover) "Only You (And You Alone)", which reached No.33. Their first album for Ariola Hansa (entitled 'The First Album') again earned them a BPI silver disc. Their second album, 'Total Recall' was less successful and the group disbanded soon afterwards in 1980.^[6] Despite being a pop band in the punk age, Child were voted the second most popular UK band amongst teenage girls in a 1978 poll conducted by the magazine Fab 208.^{[citation needed]}

Keith and Tim Atack went on to become session musicians, backing the likes of David Cassidy, Rick Astley and Bonnie Tyler in the 1980s.^[7] They also formed a singing duo under two different names; Atack (early 1980s) and The Duel (late 1980s), but neither found success.^[8][9] Keith went on to form the Eagles tribute band the Illegal Eagles in the 1990s and still plays with them today.^[10] Tim became musical director to Des'ree before making his name as a film and television score composer, writing for films such as The Invention of Lying and Cemetery Junction as well as the love theme from Romeo + Juliet, which went on to be covered by Beyoncé.^[6]

Dave Cooper went on to form the band CoAst in 2008. The band won the Mercury Club Band of the year for four consecutive years before retiring from the club circuit in December 2015.

Graham Bilbrough also went on to further success, taking control of one of the North of England's major booking agencies.

Discography[]

Singles:^[11]

Albums:^[13]

References[]