Lost And Found: Rockers set to make some noise at Cross Rhythms

Thursday 1st June 1995

New rock unit LOST AND FOUND are fronted by Jeff Pain who in the 70s led Mr Big, mainstream rock hitmakers. Jeff spoke to Tony Cummings

Lost And Found
Lost And Found

Jeff Pain, vocalist and guitarist with new rock gospel team Lost And Found, has seen the music biz highs and lows. But paradoxically when comparing the highs -touring Europe as support act with Queen when "Bohemian Rhapsody" was number one - and the lows - playing in a sleezy club as Hells Angels urinated against the bar -Jeff chooses to recall the lows. For when Jeff's old band Mr Big were enjoying the glittering prizes of EMI contracts, a top 10 record ("Romeo", number four in 1977) and Hollywood recording sessions, it was in an era when Jeff had turned his back on God. But when he had his encounter with those Hells Angels Jeff was the prodigal come home singing songs of faith in Christ. Jeff says, "Life is hard for me now, very hard. But when I think of those empty times, when I went for eight years and didn't even speak to God, I get things in perspective. You can be big time in showbiz and be utterly lost and an obscurity doing God's work and be blessed 'cause you've been found."

Jeff Pain grew up in Oxford and, with his brother, got the name 'Dicken'. So when he left school and joined his first band he adopted the stage name Jeff Dicken. Jeff formed a band, Burnt Oak, who became in due course Mr Big (not, as one rock encyclopaedia would have it, after picking up on the name from a Free record but from a newspaper headline about a pornographer). Mr Big - Jeff Dicken (vocals/guitar), Pete Crowther (bass) and John Burnip (drums) developed an exciting heavy rock sound. The same rock reference work that got the band's name origins wrong (and also incidentally credited manager Robert Hirschman as the band's bass player!) were more accurate in their description of Mr Big's appeal. "On stage, hirsute Dicken's tight-trousered gyrations ensured a healthy cluster of fans round the central microphone as the group garnered a grassroots following on the British and European club circuit, and an EMI contract in 1975." Tours with Queen and The Sweet, the hit "Romeo" ("EMI said they wanted a hit single so I sat down and wrote a song I thought would chart") and albums - one of which was recorded in Hollywood, took the band further and further away from their Christian origins. "We were all Christians originally but we began to backslide during the Queen tour," explains Jeff. "By the time we were out in Hollywood, God had been left way, way behind."

Having drunk from the poison chalice of fame, money, drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll Mr Big began to go into decline and by 1979 were floundering. Remembers Jeff, "The punk thing had come in and suddenly people were calling me an old dinosaur. I hated it. I was 27 and these people were calling me an old man."

Mr Big disbanded (ironically another completely different band, an American one, were to adopt the name in the 80s and chart with albums in the UK and US) and Jeff formed a new band, Broken Home (with original Mr Big members), who recorded two albums for Warner Bros. In 1982 Jeff came back to Christ. A friend, Rob Weston, was instrumental in the singer/guitarist's return to faith. Jeff went back to the local Anglican church he'd attended in his youth. It would be nice to say that from this point on Jeff's music career took an upturn, but the opposite was the case. As the years rolled on the gigging and recording opportunities began to dry up. Forced to support his family with any work he could get the one time hero of the rock circuit took jobs labouring, van driving, even one comical spell as a supposedly expert gardener (he isn't).

Jeff joined the newly planted church Shekinah in Oxford and for the last three years has led worship at the fellowship. But as Jeff says, "Leading worship isn't really my calling and though I can obviously play acoustic it's electric guitar rock which is really me. I'd begun writing songs about my faith and I got a chance to sing them at various gigs (including the notorious Hells Angel gig). I really have a heart to play rock in clubs, not acoustic music in church. I want to take the message out there."

A significant breakthrough occurred six months ago when Jeff formed Lost And Found, a name that extraordinarily enough came from his non-Christian manager. Explains Jeff, "I had called in Mike Higgins (a bass player with a welter of local band experience) and Simon Sanders (a drummer who'd previously worked with Fat And Frantic). Then my manager, who's also my brother in law, suggested the name Lost And Found for the new band. He said, 'You were lost, now you're found.' I was astonished that a man who isn't even a Christian could have that insight."

Lost And Found have been rehearsing steadily and now have a blistering set of melodic rock Dicken compositions. "Our set includes 'Children Of The Blessed', a song about the Lord's return; a song inspired by Zachariah 10 and a song called "Hollywood" which reflects some of the things I found when I was out there." A Lost And Found album is a distinct possibility in the near future as is a tour of the rock clubs. But Jeff has no illusions left about the glamour of the rock 'n' roll life. "I'm a 45 year old rock singer and I'll do whatever God wants me to do. Maybe there are still big gigs and big times ahead, maybe not. But all we can do in this life is follow Christ, follow Christ and wait for the anointing." CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Tony Cummings
Tony CummingsTony Cummings is the music editor for Cross Rhythms website and attends Grace Church in Stoke-on-Trent.


 

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