"When we played Donington and you hear 90,000 people go 'woohooo!' it's a great feeling": How The Quireboys turned a song with no chorus into a classic singalong

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As the 80s drew to a close, the cool, forward momentum of grunge lurking just around the corner, a couple of London builders started a band that was all about looking back. The Quireboys’ music was the stuff of lock-ins and last orders, merrily nostalgic and in thrall to the blues-born rock’n’roll of the Rolling Stones. Second single Hey You was their biggest hit (UK No.14), but it was 7 O’Clock – an irresistible houseparty of honkytonk keys, Brit invasion guitars, harmonica and all the alcohol in Soho – that made them. 

“When we started we wanted to sound like an English rock’n’roll band,” vocalist/ co-founder Spike reasons. “Because at the time it was all glam rock and everything like that. We weren’t heavy metal – we loved the blues, and my love was the Rolling Stones, Mott The Hoople…”