{"title":"Spider","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"between-the-lines-1","title":"Between The Lines","description":"\u003cp\u003eLooking back through the back pages of rock history we find a few bands with the name Spider\/the Spiders, but the Spider that was based in New York in the '80s was different to all of the others as they had a melodic pop rock sound that, despite their lack of commercial success as a band, led later on to a very fruitful songwriting career for band member and keyboard player Holly Knight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe roots of the band started growing in South Africa where guitarist Keith Lentin, drummer Anton Fig and vocalist Amanda Blue honed their chops and forged a musical bond that brought them back together again in Boston where Fig had gone to attend music college. Before this reunion Amanda and Keith had spent time in England because she had a contract as a solo artist with Warner Bros. To make financial ends meet Amanda even worked in a fish and chip shop in London! Once Fig moved to New York to join a band named Topaz, Amanda and Keith soon followed. At that point fate brought them together with Holly Knight and bassist Jimmy Lowell. And in '78 Fig was hired to play drums on the first Ace Frehley solo album, connecting him to KISS in a way that was to continue in the future.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce KISS manager Bill Aucoin became involved, and Holly managed to get the band's demo tape to famous songwriter Mike Chapman at an industry party, the pieces were all falling into place and they were signed to Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn's new record label Dreamland. But despite some great songs, that were covered by many artists later, the album failed sell in big numbers and the band focused on their follow-up. Both Spider albums are fine offerings of melodic pop rock that we highly recommend.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rock Candy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":57662534943051,"sku":"R6460-3638","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Spider-BetweenTheLines.jpg?v=1782229478"},{"product_id":"spider","title":"Spider","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOnce South African musician’s guitarist Keith Lentin, drummer Anton Fig and singer Amanda Blue ended up in New York they got together with bassist Jimmy Lowell and keyboardist Holly Knight. Initially called Siren, the change to Spider was made and, thanks to a lucky meeting between Holly Knight and famous songwriter Mike Chapman at an industry party, they ended up signed to Mike Chapman and his songwriting partner Nicky Chinn's record label Dreamland. Another stroke of luck occurred when drummer Anton Fig was asked to play on Ace Frehley's first solo album, a connection to KISS that continued for him, including the fact that their manager Bill Aucoin became Spider's manager.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTheir first album came out in 1980, and despite selling in numbers that today would be viewed as very healthy (150,000), the chart placing (#130) was a disappointment in those heady days of huge album sales, and they went back to the studio to create 'Between the Lines'. Clearly under pressure to produce a big hit single, Holly wrote 'Better Be Good to Me' with Mike Chapman, an obvious hit it seemed. In fact, it was later a huge hit for Tina Turner but sadly not for Spider. Amazingly, despite a promotional visit to Europe and some dates with Alice Cooper and The Joe Perry Project, this album didn't fare as well as the debut and eventually Holly left the band to focus on songwriting with Mike Chapman (writing 'Love Is A Battlefield' a hit for Pat Benatar, and the massive hit 'The Best' for Tina Turner). Spider without Holly continued as Shanghai but the two Spider albums can now be appreciated and seen in a positive way as glorious AOR\/pop rock offerings that really should have put the band in a much stronger position leading to greater recognition at the time.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rock Candy Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":57662547788107,"sku":"R2523-2357","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Spider-Spider.jpg?v=1782229681"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/spider.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}