Night Vision: Visions of the past

Although Derbyshire’s group Night Vision were formed in 1981, they failed to catch the last train of NWOBHM, and recorded their original songs only in 1985, so the band remained relatively unknown among the fans of NWOBHM. Even Malc Macmillan’s Encyclopedia had zero information about the band. (No disrespect to Mr. Mcmillan, he did fantastic job for the pre-Internet era!) The situation changed around 2013 when Night Vision’s demo resurfaced in the Web, and people started talking about the band. I was so impressed by their music and contacted Russ Sharpe (the guitarist) immediately for a possible interview. Unfortunately he was too busy, and that lasted for a few years, until Russ unexpectedly died in 2018. But the idea of paying homage to the band kept haunting my mind, until John Towle, Night Vision’s drummer, came to the rescue.    

When and how did you meet each other and decided to start a band? Who came up with the name Night Vision?

We formed in 1981. Mark (Lambourn, bass), Sage (Graham Evans, guitars) and Harry (Harrison, vocals) were starting a new band in a town called Ripley, about 8 miles north of Derby. I lived in a town called Long Eaton about 15 miles away. I had just split from a local band in Derby who were just going nowhere and a work mate put me in touch with Mark and Sage who he knew were looking for a drummer. I went to meet them for a trial and it went really well. Mark had enrolled in the marines after school but it never worked out. He did learn though that at night, in order to see better never look directly ahead but to one side. He told us this improved your night vision...and so this is how we came up with the name. We rented an old stable on a farm and practiced 3 times a week, Tuesday and Sunday most weeks for about 3 years to start with. Started with a few covers mixed with more and more of our own material.

John Towle

Derby is known for its horse runs and Derby County football team but what about rock/metal scene back then? Were there bands beside Night Vision and Omen Searcher?

There were loads of local bands. Dead Wolf were one and some more established bands like Hell and Pendragon (i think) memory. There were so many fab bands coming through: April Wine, Maiden, Wytchfynde, Saxon to name but a few. New bands were coming out the woodwork all the time playing all the local pubs and trying to build a following. There was so much really good music being made and competition between each band trying to be that little bit better musically and make a more professional looking stage show. I guess this competition helped us grow so much quicker than we might have otherwise done!

Could you tell me a bit about the early stages of the band: rehearsals, first shows etc. Were those early days eventful?

Our first ever gig was in Russ's garage in front of our girlfriends and a few mates. A few local back street pubs followed. There was a new club opening in Derby named the Rockhouse. Russ sort of knew the owner and managed to persuade him to let us play. We were the first ever band to play there!! For us this was a huge gig... probably 200 people. A local biker group called The Outlaws came. I remember thinking if we don’t go down ok here we could be on trouble!!! Turned out to be a good gig and really good experience for us. We probably gigged a couple of time per month and slowly got a small following.

What shows were the most memorable for you? What were some of your favorite places to play live?

We played at a local bikers gathering one weekend at a town called Hardstoft near Chesterfield. We had indoor fireworks and it all got a bit out of hand with fireworks going off in all directions! Luckily most people were either too drunk or stoned to care and they just cheered more and more. Another time we played at a battle of the bands gig against 5 other bands of a similar standing. We didn’t win but that was exciting day out for us. Another time we supported Wytchfynde at the George hotel in Alfreton. At this point we were playing really well and writing some really great songs.

Graham "Sage" Evans

Could you tell me, please, about the writing process in the band? Did you write together or was there someone who dominated in that field so to say?

Sage and Harry wrote a lot of our music early on. Sage wrote “Promises” when he was 15. Mark tended to write lyrics. I added ideas but that’s all. Latterly Russ, who joined in 1982, started to write more and more and Sage and Russ wrote a lot of twin lead stuff together.

The demo “Your Time Will Come” was recorded only in 1985 which is quite late for NWOBHM. Why didn’t you record it earlier?

This was one of our later songs written around 1982 or 1983. None of us had much money and we had recently recorded a compilation album with 9 other bands at a cost of £500 per band. We recorded “Breaking the Chains” as our most stand out song. Each band got 50 copies to use and either sell or use to promote themselves. What we needed at that point was an experienced manager to push us onto the next level but we were all working full time and had mortgages and rent etc. So we had to wait and bide our time before saving enough to record other tracks.

The demo was recorded with John Crossley who is known for his work with Wolfsbane. So how was it to work with him? Where was the demo recorded and did it take long to lay down everything?

I had forgotten it was John Crossley. Yeah... He was OK to work with and it was great to really get our music recorded professionally. I remember Sage finishing one part of the solo for 'Your Time Will Come” as we weren’t happy with it. I think we spent a long weekend recording 4 tracks. One other was “Promises”. Can’t remember the other 2… The studio was named Square Dance Recording studios in Abbey Street, Derby. This is where “Concepts of Success” compilation was recorded also.

Mark Lambourn

The demo sounds close to Samson and Savage. But at the time thrash metal bands like Metallica had started to get attention. Were you aware of them and didn’t you want to improve your music a bit and go in a heavier direction?

None of us were big thrash metal fans (especially me). Sage loved Thin Lizzy, Russ loved Y&T and Thunder plus Magnum, Mark was big Queen fan, Harry liked all sorts of stuff and I loved Maiden, Scorpions, Dio etc., so we always wanted a British hard rock sound with twin lead overtones.

What kind of reaction the demo got from fans, press and labels? Was it popular among tape traders?

We tried to sell the demo at gigs and probably only sold 30 or 40. Sage and Mark did a session on BBC radio Derby but nothing really happened from the demo. The band were all very serious and had someone come along and offered a record deal then I am sure we would have taken it. But after 6 years of local gigging and supporting Hell and Wytchfynde Harry got poached from us by a band called Savage. We were all gutted but Harry was our signature as he had such a distinctive voice and hard to replace. We tried to carry on for a few weeks but it wasn't the same anymore. Mark left soon after for a band called China White and we just went our separate ways. I refused to play for anyone else. We kept in touch but never played together again. Around 10 years later Sage very sadly and quickly passed away. He went to the doctors with a really bad headache and feeling awful and got sent home with paracetamol and told to drink fluids. That night he got rushed into hospital and died in the early hours from meningitis. We all went to his funeral and were all shocked that this talented guitarist and all round great friend had passed away. It wasn’t until Russ started putting our music on MySpace social media we started to get some interest in our music. We had a roadie called Paul (Hairy) on account of his affro hair style. He had been with the band since the start and was there at the end... and still he keeps in touch. He was a great friend of Sage and particularly affected and upset as he was a lifelong friend. They often went fishing together since school. Very sad as he left 2 young children behind — Reece and Freya.

There are a bunch of the songs which wasn’t released properly: “Mad Man’s Dream”, “Reality” and “The Prophet”. Can you recall when and where they were recorded? Why didn’t they make it to any official demos?

“Mad Man’s Dream” remains my favourite and I only just wish we had recorded that more professionally as i think the guitar riff especially at the start is awesome. We never recorded “Reality” or “The Prophet”, only when we practiced or when we played live.

Harry Harrison

And what about the songs “Memories” and “Stealing The Night”. Do they exist only in live versions?

Yes i think so. We never did these in the studio as they weren’t our strongest songs. These were recorded at one of our gigs. It’s only thanks to Russ as he had the foresight to upload them all. Still hard to believe he's not with us anymore/

In 2014 you released a single “Breaking the Chains” to celebrate your reunion. Were you contacted by any label about possible reissue of your full catalogue? Can we expect this in the future?

We only got asked to release “Your Time Will Come” via a contact Russ had made and this spurred us on to reform. We had managed to recruit a local guitarists who amazingly had actually bought Sages old Les Paul guitar a few years earlier and Harry (who had toured and written 3 albums with Wytchfynde) had now retired due to ill health but agreed to sing again (Harry was still signed to Cherry Red records at this time) and we managed to get a few practice sessions in. Sadly Harry's voice wasn’t so good and we struggled to get back to where we wanted to be. Felt good to see our songs on YouTube hit 10's of thousands and having the record after 30 years felt amazing. An achievement i guess. Shortly after Russ told us the sad news he had cancer. He asked me to be his best man in 2018 which was an honour but tragically lost his battle just 3 weeks later. Such a sad and devastating loss. But Russ made sure our music lived on and both Russ and Sage will be remembered not only by all the band, but help Night Vision's small token to music live on in the future.

Russ Sharpe

Yes, Russ’ death was such a tragic loss! So what is the status of the band at the moment? Do you want to continue without Russ?

I can’t see Night Vision ever reforming now. Maybe we might try and remix our recordings at some point?

How do you view your time with the band? Do you think you made your mark on the world?

The NWOBHM was a fab time for rock fans. A powerhouse of really great live music raw energy and some really talented musicians. It’s lived on for 40 years and I can only see it living on for at least another 40!! Long live rock and roll!