Without You

Music : Darren Spark/Peter Nuttall

Lyrics : Douglas Hunter

Date Written : 13th September 1992

Album : Fear (Released September 1994)

The first time we got together as a four was at Douglas' house in late 1992.  Our intentions weren't clear but I knew I wanted to write songs.  I'd been writing with Chris Barber (previous and future guitarist) and come up with what would become 'Urban Fox'. I'd written a 'Eurovision' inspired backing track for 'Neon City' after acquiring the lyric from Doug and wanted to bring these ideas into the real world. That was all before the original four that existed under the name 'Urban Fox' got together for the first time.

The first meeting however didn't go to plan; I didn't turn up! I don't remember the reason why I didn't materialise at that first session but Doug and Darren embarked on a songwriting session regardless. Doug takes up the story:

"I loved Without You.  We actually hit the Minneapolis sound with that little riff before the chorus.  The song is from the initial jam that me and Darren had when there was just 2 of us.  He played 2/3 riffs that I told him to play in an order for the song. It was a bit of a folk sound like Extreme's More than words but the electronica that Peter brought gave it the Minneapolis sound; the best we could do as 18 year olds. Darren brought some rewritten lyrics to the 2nd session but I said no."

I remember learning the song in that second session and adding a running keyboard part rather than straight chords which is what I might have done if I'd used a piano sound. It worked. It got me excited. There were possibilities. With Doug on vocals, Darren on guitar and me on synth, we had the seeds of a band. We seemed to be on the same page musically and the dynamic was quite fluid.

At that second session we also jammed 'Jerk Out' and 'Blondie' (both by Morris Day and the Time), 'Bedrock' (another Doug penned lyric), 'The Stevie T. Rap' (a comedy song based on one of our teachers at school) and 'Urban Fox' - the tune for which had existed for a few years but we finally had some lyrics to fit.