#1415: Big Noise

80s Snapshot:

• Number of songs on Hot 100: 1
• Highest peak position: 97
• Cumulative weeks on Hot 100: 3

English singer Tony Fennell (occasionally seen spelled “Fenelle”) did not have the largest impact on 80s impact. But he has remained a consistent part of keeping that sound alive, featuring in the stories of several acts we will cover in the future of this project.

Originating out of Birmingham, Fennell began the 80s as a working songwriter and musician, touring with 60s/70s star Edwin Starr as his bass player. In this time he also formed a band Mr. President, which per a 1989 Billboard interview, had more of a hard-rock edge, similar to the sound of Iron Maiden. But after a few years of toiling without any success, the group changed their name to Big Noise in 1985 and adopted a more pop-friendly sound.

After moving to America and signing with Atco Records in 1988, the band recorded its debut album Bang! with producer Elliot Wolff, who was fresh of producing Paula Abdul’s breakthrough hits. Sonically, the album’s light and bouncy synthpop makes it an almost exact match with the sounds of Howard Jones, Wang Chung or Go West who were experiencing major success in this time frame.

The single “Name and Number” debuted at #98 on the 11/4/1989 and spent two weeks at #97 in a 3-week chart stay. But perhaps because of how interchangeable its sound was with the more established artists in the genre, that brief blip would be Big Noise’s only chart appearance and they would not release another album.

A few years later, Fennell would join the group Ultravox, after original member Billy Currie revived the group a decade after their heyday. Fennell would sing on a re-recording of the group’s signature song “Vienna” in 1992 and sang lead on their 1993 album Revelation. In the 2000s, he composed a number of songs for children’s television, including the shows Bear In The Big Blue House, Cyberchase, and Out Of The Box.

Returning to both his 80s and harder rock roots, Fennell joined the glam metal band Enuff Z’Nuff (who we’ll also cover later on), recording two albums with them in 2016 and 2018. He currently serves as the singer for When In Rome II, one of the splinter groups of yet another act we’ll cover in the future. So even though Big Noise only made a brief splash on the Hot 100, Tony Fennell’s name will pop up at least a few more times across this journey.

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