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Paul: Yes but not as much as I'd have liked. The last time I saw him he was walking down Liverpool's Bold Street towards me with the sun behind him. He had this corona of light radiating out from his head like some kind of deity stepping down to earth. We had a brief talk and as he walked away down the hill the strangest feeling came over me, like time had stopped. I remember telling my girlfriend about it later that night, then a week later he was dead.
W&H:"The Revolutionary Spirit" is still one of my favourite singles of all time, but the day you recorded it in Liverpool sounds almost farcical according to Incandescent's sleeve notes, what with painters working in the studio while you were singing and so on.. Then Pete mixed the A-side in mono by mistake. Chaotic stuff. Are you surprised the end result has stood the test of time so brilliantly?
Paul: Our recording sessions were always farcical because we just refused to accept authority from anyone, producers, engineers, girlfriends, policemen, each other. The Revolutionary Spirit is such a unique record and so different from what other bands were doing in 1981. I remember a review of the time which said “sounds like a cross between The Bunnymen and Joy Division”. Talk about lazy journalism, I mean I loved The Bunnymen but they were never as subtle or beautiful as us and although we shared some grandeur with Joy Division The Wild Swans were scaling heaven not plumbing hell. I suppose the closest to it would be "Little Johnny Jewel" by Television or "Love Goes To A Building On Fire" by The Talking Heads. Not musically but just in a “Where the hell did that come from?” kind of way. It's one of those records that don’t appear to have any reference points or recognisable influences, it just stands alone.
