New Hearts were a British new wave band from London, England, active in 1977-78.
New Hearts evolved out of the college band Splitz Kidz, who met in Loughton and consisted of Ian Page (vocals), David Cairns (guitar), John Harty (bass guitar) and drummer Rob Milne (who later drummed with the Clash on the Anarchy in The UK tour). Renaming themselves New Hearts, they were signed by CBS Records at the height of punk rock just two months after their debut gig and with an average age of just 17, directly by CBS' managing director, Maurice Oberstein, who had taken a personal interest in the band and attended eight gigs in a row. They appeared on the opening day of the 1978 Reading Rock Festival alongside the Jam, Ultravox and Sham 69.
New Hearts recorded two singles for CBS, "(Just Another) Teenage Anthem" and the Martin Gordon-produced "Plain Jane", inspired by acts like Dr. Feelgood and Eddie & the Hot Rods. They also supported the Jam during their lengthy UK Modern World tour, and accompanied them at the 1978 Reading Festival, where they were joined on stage by Hawkwind's guitarist, Huw Lloyd Langton. Disillusioned, Page and Cairns ended New Hearts and set about creating a new band inspired by the dress code and musical stylings of the 1960s mod movement, changing their name to Secret Affair and leading the whole mod revival movement.
In October 2009, a new CD containing 23 songs (20 for CBS and three pre-CBS demos) was issued by Cherry Red Records.
Links to Peel[]
Peel mentioned on his article in Sounds, published on 3rd September 1977 that he was particularly keen on their track, 'Here Come The Ordinaries'. He also saw the band perform at Speakeasy in London and invited the group to do a session for his show, where they performed four tracks a month later.
Sessions[]
New Hearts - Peel Session 1977
1. Recorded: 1977-10-03. First Broadcast: 14 October 1977. Repeated: 16 November 1977
- Revolution-What Revolution? / Love's Just A Word / Here Come The Ordinaries / Just Another Teenage Anthem
Other Shows Played[]
- 1977
- 11 November 1977: Just Another Teenage Anthem (7") CBS
- 1978
- 24 August 1978: 'Plain Jane (7")' (CBS)