POP music in the eighties took over the charts as the disco era quickly went out of fashion.
One genre to cause a stir was ‘new wave’ – branded by New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock as being “virtually meaningless”.
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But despite this scathing description, the style of music paved the way for some of the era’s biggest stars, including David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
New wave also launched the careers of two Brit musicians, who had a massive hit in 1983.
The Catch were a duo and their single 25 Years spent a staggering 40 weeks in the charts.
The song also sold thousands of copies in mainland Europe, hitting No3 in Germany, No 6 in Austria and No 8 in Switzerland.
Four decades on and The Catch’s members, Chris Whitten and Don Snow, unsurprisingly look completely different and one has even changed his name.
These days, 64-year-old Chris is still working as a session drummer and he boasts a seriously impressive CV.
Over the years, he has worked with artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Jones, Johnny Cash and the rock band Dire Straits.
In an interview last year with the Produce Like A Pro podcast, Chris spoke about the moment he was approached by Sir Paul’s “office” for a “jam session”.
He said: “The way my career was progressing, I was doing the alternative rock and indie style bands full time and pop sessions on off days.
“I was on tour in America with Julian Cope and had a message saying, ‘Can you call Paul McCartney’s office’. And that totally freaked me out.
“I spoke to someone in his office and he said, ‘Paul’s decided it would be fun to do some jam sessions in London over the summer. Would you be interested?’
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“I said, ‘I would love to do that – God, amazing!'”
When he returned to the UK, Chris was invited to a warehouse for a session with Sir Paul and some other musicians.
He recalled: “Suddenly the door bursts open and in walks Paul and Linda [McCartney] with a couple of entourage people. I couldn’t tell you anything that happened between then and when they walked out of the door.
“It was a blur. We were there for three hours playing but when he left, I couldn’t remember anything about it.”
It turned out that the “jam sessions” were actually auditions for Sir Paul’s next album – and Chris was the only musician there who was hired for it.
The Catch bandmate Don Snow, meanwhile, is now 66, although he changed his name to John Savannah in 1992.
John is still working as a singer and multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitars, drums and the saxophone.
Following his chart success with The Catch and 25 Years, John was hired by the now-late megastar Tina Turner for her Break Every Rule World Tour.
He played keyboard, sax and performed vocals on the road for the 80s legend.
In 1990, he was also selected to be a member of the house band at the John Lennon Memorial Concert, which marked the 10-year anniversary of The Beatles star’s murder.
John has been a regular member of the rock band Squeeze over the years and has recorded songs with Kylie Minogue, Melanie C, Joe Cocker, Mark Owen and Michael Ball to name a few.
Now living in New Jersey, John has also enjoyed success with his own solo albums.
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