Spike reunites with The Quireboys co-founder Guy Bailey and they start new album

Their first record together in three decades

Spike and Guy Bailey at Piccadilly Circus in 2022
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 11th May 2022

Spike has reunited with The Quireboys’ co-founder Guy Bailey and the pair are writing a new album together which they say they will release under The Quireboys name.

Guitarist Guy Bailey formed The Quireboys alongside singer Spike in 1984 and they co-wrote many of the band’s signature tunes including ‘Hey You’, ‘7 o’clock’, ‘I Don't Love You Anymore’ and ‘There She Goes Again’ from their hit debut album ‘A Bit of What You Fancy.’

After The Quireboys split in 1993, Bailey was part of the band’s brief reunion in 1995 but didn’t rejoin their ranks when they reformed permanently in 2001.

In a post on social media last night (10th May), Spike announced that the “original Quireboys are back” and he and Bailey are “writing their first new Quireboys album together for the first time in over 30 years.”

The reunion comes a month-and-a-half after The Quireboys announced they had parted ways with Spike, prompting the singer to claim in response that he was fired via a letter signed by three band members.

Spike

The Quireboys issued a sizable statement on 5th April insisting the decision to axe Spike was "the culmination of not just months but years of persistent problems.”

Amongst other things, they also claimed he sang on a freelance basis after declining to sign up for their registered business, and they also cited issues caused by Spike’s solo show booking clashes and several no-shows at live gigs.

Hitting back, Spike said in his own statement a few hours later that many of the points made were “untrue, misleading and somewhat dismissive”, he accused his former band mates of trying to “re-cast events” and he vowed to continue The Quireboys name.

Last night’s statement reiterated Spike’s ambition to press ahead with performing as The Quireboys, and reads: “Spike has always maintained he has never, and would never, leave the band he founded, a band he fronts and has created the intellectual property for.

“The Quireboys is a band that has gone through various line-up changes over the years, with Spike being the only consistent, original member.”

Spike and Guy Bailey also issued their own statements, with Spike’s saying: "This week I met up with life-long friend and band co-founder Guy Bailey. We've started writing new Quireboys songs together - and the magic is still there. We've always written so well as a double-act, we write quickly and there's natural chemistry."

"There's also a collection of unfinished and unreleased early Quireboys songs that I wrote many years ago, many with Guy Bailey, around the time of recording 'A Bit of What You Fancy.' These songs have never seen the light of day but we're going to finish those as well."

"Looking back, the benchmark Quireboys songs were written by Guy Bailey and myself. Our session this week took me back to our early days sharing a flat together in London in the 80's, where we'd spend the evenings playing acoustic guitars together in the front room. Hey You, 7 O'clock, I Don't Love You Anymore - that's where all those key Quireboys songs came from; Guy Bailey and I bouncing ideas off each other, writing chords and lyrics together as we played the acoustics. It's really been great to go full circle, back to the beginnings of what has defined the Quireboys story."

Guy Bailey added: “Events of recent weeks have shocked me. For members of Spike’s band to think they can sack him in a two-line statement and then elect themselves to use his band’s name as their own beggars belief. Spike and I wrote all the original Quireboys songs - and when I decided I didn’t want to tread the boards anymore, I gave Spike my blessing to take the band forward as his own. The thing with the original band is it never really broke up. Whilst we have gone off and done different things, we have always stayed in touch as great friends - and it may now be time to get the gang back together again. These new songs mark the return of the original and only Quireboys.”

Spike finished: "The three former band members that split with me were each written to three weeks ago, setting out that they did not create the intellectual property in the Quireboys name, their Limited Company is not called The Quireboys, they should not present themselves as the Quireboys. I have received no reply but have clearly laid out the position. As such, I will continue with the Quireboys. I've never had any intention of doing otherwise. I never left the band."

"I have been moved by the enormous show of support from fans, venues, media, promoters and fellow musicians in the last month. To all those fans that have requested ticket refunds in recent weeks, rest assured - new Quireboys music is coming everybody and I'll be back with my band, The Quireboys. New music, a new album and new shows from a new Quireboys line-up - and you'll probably recognise a few of the faces."

"Together, let's keep it positive as we keep rock n roll alive."

"See you at the bar, God bless, Spike"

The real names of famous rock stars, including Spike:

Cozy Powell’s real name: Colin Trevor Flooks


Alex Lifeson’s real name: Alexandar Živojinović

'Lifeson' is a semi-literal English translation of the Yugoslavian surname Živojinović, which means 'son of life'

Ginger Baker's real name: Peter Edward Baker


John 5’s real name: John William Lowery


Yngwie Malmsteen’s real name: Lars Johann Yngwie Lannerback


Rudy Sarzo’s real name: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont


Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello


Vinnie Vincent’s real name: Vincent John Cusano


Tina Turner’s real name: Anna Mae Bullock


King Diamond’s real name: Kim Bendix Petersen


Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson


Michael Monroe’s real name: Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm


Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou


Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga


Nikki Sixx's real name: Frank Ferrano


Steven Adler’s real name: Michael Coletti


Axl Rose's real name: William Bruce Rose


Bon Scott's real name: Ronald Belford Scott


Fish’s real name: Derek William Dick


Eddie Vedder's real name: Edward Louis Severson III


Peter Criss’ real name: George Peter John Criscuola


Freddie Mercury's real name: Farrokh Bulsara


Flea's real name: Michael Peter Balzary


Perry Farrell's real name: Perry Bernstein


Geddy Lee’s real name: Gary Lee Weinrib


Mick Mars' real name: Robert Deal


Tré Cool's real name: Frank Edwin Wright III


Courtney Love's real name: Courtney Michelle Harrison


Pat Smear's real name: Georg Albert Ruthenberg


Gene Simmons' real name: Chaim Klein Witz


Spike’s real name: Jonathan Gray


Iggy Pop's real name: James Newell Osterberg, JR.


Alice Cooper's real name: Vincent Damon Furnier


Slash's real name: Saul Hudson


Mike Dirnt's real name: Michael Ryan Pritchard


Ronnie James Dio's real name: Ronald James Padavona


Brody Dalle's real name: Bree Joanna Alice Robinson


Skin's real name: Deborah Anne Dyer


Nicky Wire's real name: Nicholas Jones


Amy Lee's real name: Amy Lynn Hartzler


Bill Wyman's real name: William Perks


Izzy Stradlin's real name: Jeffrey Isbell


Paul Stanley's real name: Stanley Eisen


Vince Neil's real name: Vincent Neil Wharton


Duff McKagan's real name: Michael McKagan


Jack Black’s real name: Thomas Jacob Black


Lemmy's real name: Ian Fraser Kilmister


John Paul Jones' real name: John Baldwin


Joan Jett's real name: Joan Larkin


Eric Clapton's real name: Eric Patrick Clapp


Siouxsie Sioux's real name: Susan Janet Ballion


Rachel Bolan’s real name: James Richard Southworth


David Bowie's real name: David Robert Hayward Stenton Jones


Little Richard's real name: Richard Wayne Penniman


Sid Vicious' real name: John Simon Ritchie


Ace Frehley's real name: Paul Daniel Frehley


Lou Reed's real name: Louis Firbank


Joe Strummer's real name: John Graham Mellor


Marc Bolan's real name: Mark Feld


The Edge's real name: David Howell Evans


Meat Loaf's real name: Marvin Lee Aday


Steven Tyler's real name: Steven Victor Tallarico


Ozzy Osbourne's real name: John Michael Osbourne


Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Francis Bongiovi


Joey Belladonna’s real name: Joseph Bellardini


Jack White's real name: John Anthony Gillis


Bono's real name: Paul David Hewson


Sting's real name: Gordon Sumner


Billy Idol’s real name: William Michael Albert Broad


Geezer Butler’s real name: Terence Butler


Pat Benatar’s real name: Patricia Mae Giraldo


Bo Diddley’s real name: Ellas McDaniel


Muddy Waters’ real name: McKinley Morganfield


Stevie Nicks’ real name: Stephanie Lynn Nicks


Doro’s real name: Dorothee Pesch


Sebastian Bach’s real name: Sebastian Philip Bierk


Joe Perry’s real name: Joseph Pereira


Jimi Hendrix’s real name: James Marshall Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix)


Zakk Wylde’s real name: Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt


Maynard James Keenan’s real name: James Herbert Keenan


Blaze Bayley’s real name: Bayley Alexander Cooke


Biff Byford's real name: Peter Rodney Byford


M. Shadows' real name: Matthew Charles Sanders


Syd Barrett's real name: Roger Keith Barrett


Chris Jericho's real name: Christopher Keith Irvine


Ginger Wildheart's real name: David Leslie Walls


Paul Di'Anno's real name: Paul Andrews


Phil X’s real name: Theofilos Xenidis


Peter Green’s real name: Peter Allen Greenbaum


Nicko McBrain’s real name: Michael Henry McBrain


Noddy Holder’s real name: Neville John Holder


Steel Panther’s real names

Michael Starr: Ralph Michael Saenz, Satchel: Russell John Parrish, Stix Zadinia: Darren Leader, Spyder: Joe Lester.

Lexxi Foxx’s real name: Travis Haley


Jet Black’s real name: Brian John Duffy


Buddy Holly’s real name: Charles Hardin Holley


Elvis Costello’s real name: Declan Patrick McManus


Rikki Rockett’s real name: Richard Allan Ream


Blackie Lawless' real name: Steven Edward Duren


Maxim's real name: Keith Andrew Palmer


Rat Scabies' real name: Christopher John Millar


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