Between The Lines

Looking 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.

The 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.

Once 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.