Country of origin: UK
Year of creation: 1985
Official site: http://www.themissionuk.com
Members: Wayne Hussey, Simon Hinkler, Craig Adams
Official press mail: william.luff@emimusic.com
Official Biography
In late 1985 Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams left The Sisters Of Mercy and formed The Mission - also known as 'The Mission UK' in USA, as an obscure 70's US funk band still owned the rights to the name - with Yorkshiremen Mick Brown (ex Red Lorry Yellow Lorry) and Simon Hinkler (ex Artery / Pulp); in early 1986 they embarked on their first European tour, supporting The Cult. They released 2 singles independently, both reaching No.1 in the UK alternative charts, before signing a worldwide record deal with Phonogram (now Universal).
Their first single for the new label, "Stay With Me", went straight into the UK chart at No. 30 followed by their debut album "God's Own Medicine" at No. 14. Over the next eight years the band released six more albums and had a further 12 hit singles including the anthemic classics such as "Wasteland", "Tower Of Strength", "Beyond The Pale", "Deliverance" and "Butterfly On A Wheel". Total worldwide record sales to date have now well exceeded 4 million.
During this period, The Mission enhanced their reputation as one of the best and most exciting live bands in the world winning countless accolades, and inspiring both lurid media stories and a fanatical following as they toured constantly including highlights like seven sold out consecutive shows at the Astoria Theatre in London (they still hold the house record to this day), headlining the famous Reading Festival twice, and also playing with U2, The Cure and Robert Plant, amongst others.
Following the departure of Simon Hinkler, The Mission was joined by guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite in 1992, as work commenced on 'Neverland', the long awaited follow-up to Masque. In 1994 the band released the singles collection 'Sum & Substance' then parted company with Phonogram after a number of contractual disputes and signed their label "Neverland" to Sony Dragnet in Europe, subsequently releasing the 'Neverland' album in 1995 and 'Blue' in 1996, before Wayne and the band decided to call a halt to the general craziness of their existence to seek respite and well earned solace.
In 1999, fully reinvigorated following a three year haitus, The Mission reunited with a line up of Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams, Mark Gemini Thwaite and newboy Scott Garrett (ex The Cult) on drums, and after a few spectacularly successful early shows, embarked on a year long tour that saw the band visit places as far flung as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, USA, South Africa, Greece (Recon 2000), including memorable appearances at the Eurorock and M'era Luna Festivals and which culminated in a successful full 8 week European tour in November/December 2000.
In late 2001 The Mission released "AurA", an album many considered to be a stunning return to form. It marked the beginning of a contemporary and exciting new era for the band and the welcome return of all of the band's old swagger, relevance and confidence. The album reached No. 1 in the German alternative chart and stayed there for eight weeks. The band also embarked on a German tour as special guests of their friends H.I.M with Rob Holliday (ex Curve and Sulpher front man) on guitar to replace the committed elsewhere Mark Gemini Thwaite to coincide with the release of the album, quickly followed by their own very successful six week tour of Europe in 2002.
In April 2002 The Mission returned to South America for proposed shows in Brazil, Argentina, Chile & Peru. Unfortunately, during the course of their time in Brazil, original founder member Craig Adams had to leave the band and return to the UK for personal reasons. But Wayne Hussey continued on and played the remaining shows on his own with just an acoustic guitar. As soon as the South American tour was finished, the band repaired to the UK and found a replacement bass player in Richie Vernon (ex Peter Perrett and Eddie & The Hot Rods) and seamlessly carried on throughout the summer to play further successful shows in Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Ireland, Germany, USA, and the UK.
In 2003, The Mission continued to play shows around the globe and it was during this time that new & current drummer Steve Spring (ex Curve) first played with the band; in April 2004 The Mission filmed and recorded their show in Cologne, Germany for a DVD ’Lighting The Candles’ released in late 2005.
In August 2005 the Mission embarked on their longest European tour in quite some time, commencing with shows in South Africa, followed by an extensive two month European tour, with long time Mission guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite now back in the fold.
Spring 2006 saw the release of ’Anthology - The Phonogram Years’, a 2CD set including all 11 of The Mission’s Top 40 hits, with classics such as ’Wasteland’, ’Deliverance’ and ’Butterfly On A Wheel’ alongside rare mixes, long lost b-sides, BBC sessions and previously unreleased material.
In September 2006 The Mission - featuring Hussey, Thwaite, Vernon and Spring - entered the studio to record a brand new album.. the first studio album in 5 years. ’God is a Bullet’, released in April 2007 on SPV in Europe and Cooking Vinyl in UK, with North American release on CV in July 2007, featured 15 new songs - plus 3 bonus tracks on the US edition - also new single ‘Keep It In The Family’ released in March ’07. It would have been easy for the band to revisit past glories but they resisted.. it’s a ‘guitar’ album full of swagger, confidence, good tunes, and, in Wayne Hussey, a songwriter that is at the top of his game.
The Mission’s first three studio albums - ’Gods Own Medicine’, ’The First Chapter’ and ’Children’ - were also remastered and re-released with bonus tracks by Universal records in 2007. Remastered versions of ’Carved in Sand’, ’Grains of Sand’ and ’Masque’ with bonus tracks were to follow in early 2008, 'Masque' and 'Blue' re issued in 2010.
In 2008 The Mission performed an exclusive once in a lifetime four-show event at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London UK between 27th February and 1st March 2008. Each show saw the band dedicate an entire album (covering the band’s first four albums ’First Chapter’, God’s Own Medicine’, ’Children’ and ’Carved in Sand’) plus favourite tracks from that era for that show.
In February 2009 the Mission released a 2x 'Live & last' CD set plus the 3xDVD 'Final Chapter' live recording of the final show which included additional footage from the tour, the DVD debuted in the official UK BBC charts at 6 - the highest UK chart position in many years for the band.
In Spring 2010 the band's label SPV schedule the release of "Dum-Dum Bullet' - following on from the release of The Mission's last studio opus 'God Is A Bullet" in 2007.. the new collection is seen as a companion piece to G.I.A.B - collection of b-sides, outtakes from the 'God Is A Bullet' sessions plus some recent demos by Wayne Hussey and a couple of remixes by members of the band.. Thus completing the ’Final Chapter’... or was it?
2011 saw the reforming of the band. Hussey, Hinkler and Adams took to the stage around Europe and sold out Brixton Academy in London, and will go on to perform more shows throughout 2012 - 2013 - The Final Chapter?
