DAVID LONGDON
Wild River ENGLISH ELECTRIC RECORDINGS
Late BBT frontman’s 2004 debut solo release gets some deserved Rob Aubrey love.
When Phil Collins left Genesis in 1996, David Longdon ended up as one of a select few auditionees who had a genuine chance of joining as frontperson. Sadly, it wasn’t to be – Ray Wilson was signed up. Longdon’s confidence was dented, but he chose not to live in the shadow of disappointment. His personal life had been in turmoil and his folk/art-rock band The Gifthorse had dissolved. Longdon described the period as “transitional”, and, in sleeve notes, collaborator Dave Gregory talks about his next steps: “He was saying, ‘Look what I can do.’ He felt rejected and it made him work harder.”