Brothers in Arms

This programme contains some strong language

# Me and baby brother Used to run together... #

Brothers, eh?

Good for fighting with, good for arguing with and even good for setting up a band with.

Which is pretty much the same thing, really.

When you're 12, 13 or 14 and something in your heart says

you've gotta play music, how do you find somebody else to form a group?

If you've got a brother, a younger brother particularly, you drag him along into playing the guitar too.

# I wish they all could be California girls

# I wish they all could be California... #

Forming a band of brothers

has been a tried and tested way of forming a band.

From the innocent days of West Coast surf

to the modern craziness of East Anglian rock.

And all points and pantaloons in between!

It's a dangerous game for two brothers to go into the same band.

I'd describe me and Rob like, um, chalk and cheese.

At the end of the day, blood's thicker than water and always will be.

Yes, it's not so much Brothers at Arms, as brothers at arm's length.

Here's our survivors guide - Seven Rules for Seven Brothers.

Let's go and kick some arse.

Country music's always been very family-orientated.

So no surprise that the first famous brothers in pop sprung from hillbilly heritage.

My grandfather, Ike, and my grandmother, Margaret,

had their own radio show and they would tell stories and sing songs,

mostly very spiritual things, very wholesome stuff, and they had two little boys, Don and Phil.

This is Dad Everly, and we got the whole gang on deck.

Mom, Don and baby boy, Phil.

The brothers part was easy to do.

# Oh, what can I do to make you believe? #

A duet was an unknown commodity in pop music but in country music it's very traditional.

Don and Phil were the Everly Brothers.

# Bye, bye, love, bye... #

And by 1957 the whole world would know them and their harmonies.

It's almost miraculous the way that the two voices matched and produced

those harmonies and the layered texture.

# Wake up, little Susie, wake up... #

Which became the sort of signpost in terms of matching voices.

# We've both been sound asleep Wake up, little Susie and weep... #

There's nothing sweeter than brothers singing together or families singing together.

I don't think two people that aren't related can sound the same.

# Drea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream Drea-ea-ea-eam... #

There's a tremendous sweetness and gentleness, at their best,

which nobody else matches -

not even Lennon and McCartney.

I don't think they go even anywhere near the sweetness of the Everlys.

#...and all your charms Whenever I want you all I have to do

# Is drea-ea-ea-eam Dream, dream, dream... #

The vocal harmony was on contrast to the relationship the brothers enjoyed,

especially when they were forced to tour relentlessly to fend off the British sound they inspired.

They were pushed very, very hard by management.

They toured all the time,

under a lot of pressure.

You've got to do a lot of gigs and everybody wants a piece of you,

and, hey - surprisingly it doesn't always go smoothly.

The pair tried to disguise their growing antipathy by making light of it on stage.

You know, people have said that I pick on Phil, and recently I've been receiving notes and messages

wherever we appear that say, "Don't pick on Phil."

They're signed anonymous and they're written in crayon - that's what Phil uses in his correspondence.

All the buttons can be pushed by your brother faster than anybody cos they've known you longer.

I put two and two together and figured it out - he's learning to write.

If they were

unhappy about the fact they were forced into it, they were brothers

and I think Don wanted to be a solo artist right from the beginning.

# Talking to myself again

# Wondering if this travelling is good... #

You made a solo LP a few months ago.

Was that an attempt to break out of the strictness of the old songs?

I think so.

It's an attempt to attain and identity

so that you can realise that there's two individuals onstage singing.

# Is there somethin' else we're doing, we'd be doing if we could. #

The cracks were starting to show.

There was a lot of tension and more energy going into conflict

than there was going into putting what they're doing out to the rest of the world.

It all came to a head in 1973,

ironically, at a gig the brothers were playing in an amusement park.

I was hanging out in the dressing room with Don.

Everything seemed like it would go all right.

I guess the stuff was hitting him a little bit harder

than what I thought, so we had a couple of drinks and went on.

When he had a bit too much to drink, he'd sing a quarter note flat.

Of course, with that tight harmony Phil was trying to do what he can,

and how do you sing harmony with somebody who's singing out of tune?

People had paid their money, they've hired their babysitter,

they've driven to this place - they've got a vested interest in you doing your job right.

# Woe is me I should have stayed in bed... #

Ten minutes into the show people started walking out.

I think it was probably about halfway through the third song that

Phil just got up on his tip-toes and brought the J200 down.

He took it and he threw it on the stage.

His 1,200 Everly Brother, Gibson guitar, and he came by me and said,

"I'm really sorry Bill, I have to go,

"I can't go back onstage with that man again."

# It breaks my heart to see us part... #

My dad's always been chagrined about it being in a public place.

Brothers can disagree. I can disagree with my brother, you with yours,

maybe we really yell at each other and have a good row,

but publicly it becomes embarrassing.

#...the love go back... #

The brothers didn't play together for ten years, with Don returning to his country roots.

I knew Don was going to be there, as a solo artist, and he said,

"Would you play some songs with me?" I said, "Sure, I've love to."

So we had a run through and after about 10 minutes he said,

"We're going to do 'Bye Bye Love' and maybe 'All I Have To Do Is Dream'."

He said, "Would you sing with me?" I said, "You're kidding!" He said, "Would you like to sing the harmony?"

There I was, thrown in totally at the deep end.

# Bye bye, love

# Bye bye, sweet caress... #

I think he really appreciated. I know he really appreciated it

because he was on his own but he did miss having a companionship.

# There goes my baby

# With someone new... #

In 1983, the brothers decided to reunite for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

It had been so long, they needed signs to remind each other of their names.

It could be I'm tired of everyone saying, "Why don't you do it?

"Why don't you?" every day.

When we finally decided to do it, people stopped asking that question

and...I don't know...times change.

Even though you want to go solo and try your things and see, "Who am I?"

and so on. You've grown up as this, you've evolved as this

and at some point you go, "I am first and foremost an Everly Brother."

I think enough time had passed and it was time to get on with being family.

Don and Phil walked down from opposite sides of the stage and met

in the centre and it all added to the drama.

Everybody stood up. It was a fantastic response from the audience.

People had flown in from all over the world.

# I want you to tell me why you walked out on me... #

I know we're infamous for having fought but that's funny

because it's really not true.

We've had more time when we've worked together than we worked apart.

Don and I were lucky that we worked together.

Together we had real power.

# I'm so lonesome every day... #

Aw, I can't do it!

Family fun in Muswell Hill, North London, in the early '60s.

But this is no ordinary family. These boys would become the beacon-carriers for British pop -

Older brother Ray Davies and his more out-going sibling, Dave.

Dave was not somebody who'd you'd easily squash. He's very feisty

and the pattern of sibling rivalry was established very early on.

It was music that really brought us together.

We didn't have to really talk to much about, "How does that go?"

It just seemed to happen.

The Brothers Davies beamed up schoolmate Pete Quaife on guitar

to form the basis of the band that would become The Kinks.

Pete, really, became like a family member...because our interests in music were very similar.

It was great fun. We just used to sit up there and jam.

It was like, "Wow! all this world is unfolding in front of us!"

You could feel that there was this animosity going on -

Ray going, "I'm going to be better than you,"

and Dave going, "I'm going to be better than you" -

and they'd come up with something.

Ray started playing these two notes on the piano.

# Da dada dada, Da dada dada. #

Like a little jazz riff.

INTRO TO: "You Really Got Me"

I thought, "I can try that."

I can remember us both looking at each other.

# Girl, you really got me going

# You got me so I don't know what I'm doing

# Yeah, you really got me now... #

Driven by Dave, the Kinks provided the perfect soundtrack to swinging '60s London.

# You really got me now

# You got me so I don't know what I'm doing... #

The whole thing with Dave's life is he attacks!

He doesn't sit back and think about anything, he just, "YAH!" goes into it.

That's the way he played guitar.

By Christ, he could make a bloody guitar sing! Just by FORCING it.

Ray and I expressed ourselves so differently, and Pete was right stuck in the middle.

Poor sod, I can't imagine at times what used to go through his head.

You had like Jimi Hendrix at that end, Noel Coward at the other end!

There was always me in the middle, rocking it backwards and forwards.

# All day and all of the night... #

Ray and Dave certainly didn't want to be together all day and all of the night.

Their creative friction occasionally exploded into very uncreative fist-action.

I caught Ray with a lucky punch

and he went down but, also, he hit his head on the side of the piano

and he was lying flat on his back

and I thought, "Oh, shit! I've killed him!"

I went up to him, close up to his face to see if he was breathing.

He opens his eyes and...

Smashed me in the face.

-The Kinks were one of the few bands

-I

-thought was kind of similar to Steve and I.

We used to do gigs with them and we could hear them arguing

in the dressing room, just the same as they could hear us.

Sibling rivalry - it happens!

Ray wasn't just winning the physical fights,

he was also starting to assert his more mellow style on the band.

-BOB HARRIS:

-His music, lyrically, became gradually more and more observational

and wistful, as time went by... And quintessentially English.

THEY PLAY: "Waterloo Sunset"

It's almost Lowry-like, isn't it,

Waterloo Sunset, in its observational qualities?

# Dirty old river Must you keep rolling

# Flowing into the night?

# People so busy Make me feel dizzy

# Taxi-lights shine so bright

# But I don't... #

Ray might say the opposite

but I think all the really great songs were a collaboration.

# ..As long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset

# I am in paradise... #

Ray was getting all of the notice.

Dave was being left behind.

Of course, being his brother, that's really irksome.

Ray had become the pampered star.

Never one to take things lying down Dave tried for a solo hit.

# My make up is dry and it cracks round my chin... #

With "Death of a Clown", I did feel like I was getting a bit fed up.

And it was just about the way I was feeling.

# ..Let's all drink to the death of a clown... #

The solo sideline fizzled out but it did provide another stick

for Ray to beat his younger brother with.

Audiences would often ask for "Death of a Clown"

which we hadn't done live that many times.

So, eventually, it looked like we were going to do it.

Dave would step out and begin to play it,

and Ray would often walk straight in front of him

and begin to sing "Sunday Afternoon" or some such song.

On the guitar, yes - Mr "Death of a Clown" Dave Davis!

'It used to really get on my tits.

'There was a period when he disappeared up his own arse.'

I probably began to not like him as a person

although I loved him, and I still do.

But Ray had his reasons.

His struggles to come to terms with the music industry

were taking their toll on his health, physical and mental.

# ..Success walks hand in hand with failure... #

All Ray's inner turmoil came to a head at a gig at White City in 1973.

There was obviously something quite wrong with Ray onstage.

He interrupted the set and announced he was leaving the band.

None of us took it seriously, we thought, "He'll be back

"in a few days when he's calmed down."

I didn't know that he was completely stoned out of his mind.

He tried to commit suicide.

I get a phone call saying, "Could you come and get your brother? He's in a bad way."

I went into the hospital.

And he just looked like this sad, lost, little boy.

Family was always very important to the Davies,

so when Ray did have his breakdown

it was Dave who got him back on his feet.

It IS love and hate, it's not just hate.

It's the ultimate love and misunderstanding relationship.

On his recovery, Ray returned to lead the group

but in a direction that increasingly sidelined Dave.

His resentment came to a head when Ray opted for fancy dress

to promote a Christmas single.

# When I was five I believed in Santa Claus

# Though I knew it was my dad... #

We were supposed to attack Father Christmas - Ray -

and steal his bag of toys.

And Dave got a bit further into the action than he should've done,

and we had to pull Dave away from Ray, who was on the floor by now

with his Father Christmas beard round to the side

and Dave's attacking him like this. "No, Dave!"

# Thank you for the day... #

Amazingly, the two brothers coexisted in the band for 33 years.

But in 1996, they decided to go their own way, and both now perform separately.

If we hadn't have been in this business,

I think that we would've become much better friends.

That gap between Ray and Dave has got broader over the time.

You put those two together, they will be...nice...

for about 2 or 3 minutes

and then all of a sudden it's you know, ring 911, "Hello? Ambulance?"

You know! Geez!

MUSIC: "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits

Brothers In Arms was a gigantic album for Dire Straits,

topping the charts in 22 countries.

But it's hardly an apt description

of the story behind the Knopfler brothers who started the band.

We used to walk past a window, Mark and I, where we lived in Gosforth.

It had guitars in the window. Whenever we were together,

we would always visit the guitar shops, always look in the windows.

Mark eventually got an imitation Fender

in the form of a Hofner Super Solid, which I still have somewhere.

I shouldn't say that - he'll want it back.

Mark learnt to play on that, primarily, but without an amp.

Whenever he went out to do his thing,

I'd pull it out from under his bed and learn to play it myself.

But Mark and I didn't really get into seriously playing together

until I'd finished college. Then I moved to Essex where he was a lecturer

and I was starting my first job as a social worker, can you believe?

A social worker and a lecturer - it didn't sound the most promising of beginnings.

We did most of the writing for the first album in that burst of togetherness.

# Red sun going down

# Way over dirty town... #

Dire Straits' debut album was recorded for £12,500.

It went on to sell millions.

Very early on it was clear to me

that David would generally be overruled.

Usually by the words "shut up".

So, he would say something and Mark would go, "Shut up, just shut UP!"

I tried to sign them for Island but we got beaten by Phonogram,

but they asked me if I would produce their first album.

It was clear to me that Mark's facility for playing the guitar

was unusual and very good.

That's what was going to give us our extra turbo-charge.

Mark was very dominant in Dire Straits.

However, I'd noticed that his brother

also wrote some very good songs

and why not cut eight songs of Mark's and a couple of songs of Dave's?

I suddenly found a great deal of resistance to this from Mark.

Dire Straits was a vehicle for Mark Knopfler's songs.

That's what the band was.

There wasn't room for anybody else's stuff.

I thought it was a democracy but I was probably deluded.

It wasn't really - it was Mark's band.

"Sultans of Swing" was the stand-out track,

totally against the grain of New Wave,

but in 1979, it went Top Ten in the UK and USA.

# Check out Guitar George He knows all the chords... #

I was five yards away when they performed that song

and I vividly remember being absolutely knocked out.

David Knopfler was totally capable, extremely good guitar player

and as good or as bad as any other top quality, rock-band musician.

Mark Knopfler was one above that

and there are very few that are one above that.

I was a good musician,

I wasn't a great musician but I was still quite a newbie.

Mark could get me out of difficulties.

If I was struggling a bit,

only he would notice. Because being brothers, you do.

We could each communicate to each other with such a subtle gesture

no-one else would know what it meant, but it communicated exactly

what we wanted to say to each other.

It also proved to be the downfall because if things are tense, you read the body language well, too.

# We're the Sultans of Swing... #

"Sultans of Swing" hit really quickly and, all of a sudden, everything changes.

..We'd like to take the first...

They want to take the first, yeah.

'From December '77 to January of 1980...'

we didn't stop.

We really didn't stop.

Tim, we've had this discussion innumerable times. There are no extra dates possible.

Be thankful for what we have.

The pressures are unbelievable and you're travelling 200-300 miles every day as well.

That kind of success is going to put pressure on a relationship.

No relationship is going to stand that scrutiny.

It's murder being up here.

I had a fear quite early on that the whole thing might collapse because of their relationship.

I was the only person who could disagree with him

and that was an enormous inconvenience to Mark.

If you're with people saying, "What colour ashtray do you want?"

you don't really need your kid brother around kind of reminding that you're still just Mark.

Super!

Super for Mark, but as the band recorded their third album, David was super-frustrated.

David was increasingly uncomfortable with the prominence that his brother was getting.

Most of the media attention - and he was being hailed as a genius and all the rest of it.

He needed me to get the first album away and to get the first band together and to be successful.

It wouldn't have happened without me.

By the time he was at "Making Movies" I was just in the way of what he wanted to do.

'We were in New York recording it and things were very rocky.

'Mark was being particularly...Mark,

'and he was taking no prisoners.'

Yeah, you can get used to just coming in on that, "# Whoa, yeah #"

at the end of that, after your E and your F...

Don't want to worry. Can we go right back to the start?

-Oh, yes, OK.

-I haven't got a clue.

Starts with the chorus, does it?

Mark said, "I don't care what you play.

"You can play whatever the fuck you want. It makes no difference."

And we were heading towards rock bottom at that point.

I'd suggested Mark take a break and have a beer, which apparently you don't do

to major rock stars playing in American recording studios.

It wasn't just the musical relationship that was breaking down,

the personal relationship was too.

Case of the right place, wrong time.

It was just getting too difficult to work together.

David walked out on the band never to return.

Mark went onto establish Dire Straits as one of the biggest stadium rock acts of all time.

David has had more modest success.

# Soul kissing in the early hours

# Soul kissing... #

Since I left the band I've made nine albums I can call mine,

which I've enjoyed increasingly because each one's become closer to the heart

of where I originally thought we were going with the Straits.

# I cannot hold you if you won't hold me too... #

If brothers form a band, you take the risk

that the relationship may be permanently damaged. And it's a tragedy if that happens.

In the case of the Knopflers it has been.

# ..All this love I feel... #

I had no vision about what the consequences and the price might be.

You don't when you're a young kid with a guitar.

# I take you any place Risk anything for you... #

These two Parka-wearing brothers would one day become The Krays.

-And a fantastic save from Bob Wilson, it really was.

-So watch the other match.

But before that, they'd establish another terrifying gang

with its own dress code - Spandau Ballet.

# Gold, always believe in your soul

# You've got the power to know

# You're indestructible... #

We used to share a bedroom when we were younger.

On my side of the wall it used to be Bruce Lee and all-action heroes,

and on Gary's side it would be all guitars.

Posters of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

The Kemps, Gary and Martin, started out in a London drama school

determined to make it one way or another.

I was drawn towards fame,

whether it be as a footballer, in a rock band - whatever.

I was drawn to the idea of being famous.

It was always a big choice in my head.

Do I go down the acting road or do I become a musician?

Gary formed a band with his mates.

I learnt two chords and wrote a song.

I was never interested in playing anyone else's songs.

But Martin had his uses - he lugged the gear.

It was my way of staying in touch and being part of it

because if Gary went on with this band and became successful, I would be left behind.

And then, without me knowing,

Steve Dagger, the manager, was talking to Gary about putting me in the band.

Steve came to me and he said, "Your brother should be in the band because he looks great."

I said, "He can hardly play!"

It was my mum that swayed it in the end because I think she had a word with Gary

and put him in his place, and said, "If you're going, Martin's coming."

And I sat up all night one night teaching him all the bass lines for the set that we played.

And then he went and played a gig with us and that was it.

# Soldier is turning

# See him through white light

# Running from strangers

# See you in the valley

Spandau Ballet were born.

Gary's group playing Gary's songs with a carefully choreographed New Romantic look.

And Gary's little brother plodding on bass.

I think at first Gary wasn't aware

of the sort of power

that his brother had - because he was his little brother!

You only had to walk into a nightclub with Martin

and you saw girls AND boys go "Ooh!" He was a good looking kid.

Martin impressed you for everything about him visually

in the same way Gary immediately impressed you for everything about him intellectually and verbally.

They seemed to be two halves from the very beginning.

Gary wanted to be a musician, I wanted to be a rock star.

Five guys from Islington are causing a buzz in the music industry.

As a 21-year-old, my brother was a 19-year-old, we were very arrogant. There was no humility.

We all believed it was our destiny, that we were going to play on Top Of The Pops and be in a big band.

There was always a pull cos Tony was the front man, he was the voice of Spandau.

# This might not last too long... #

And yet, somehow he wasn't the front man. There were two other front men, who were the brothers.

I think everybody knew that it was Gary and Martin were the axis

on which it revolved.

Gary wrote the songs which propelled the group

to consistent chart success in the early 80's, but his brother was the creative crutch.

It was like a confidence-building thing.

Rather than walking into a rehearsal room and saying to all of us together, "This is the new song",

Gary would show it to me - and we'd always done that ever since we were much younger.

I wrote most of the True album at my mum and dad's house, in my bedroom.

And my brother would be watching TV or something,

and I'd call him in and say, "What do you think of this?" Play him a song.

"Good, good, yeah - keep working."

Gary said, "I've written this ballad. What do you think of this?"

He played it to me...and I KNEW. You know, when you hear a song like that,

how good it is - straight away.

I said to Gary, "I can see the dollar signs already."

# Ah ha ha ha ah ah, I know... #

One thing was true - despite the dodgy haircuts and jackets,

Spandau were now international megastars,

a new level of pressure for the brothers to contend with.

I'm sure, Gary in particular, who's a real student of pop mythology,

would have been very aware of the history of brothers in bands.

He would have known about The Kinks, because they were one of his favourite bands.

But I think he also knew that his relationship with his brother

was not that Ray Davies/Dave Davies "at each other's throats" thing.

I've never seen Gary and Martin argue.

# I don't need this pressure on I don't need this pressure on

# I don't need this pressure on. #

They did, but only behind closed doors.

My brother and I were always the pressure valve.

When pressure built up, we would have an enormous fist fight.

Then you forget about it a second after,

because you're brothers. It doesn't stay with you.

When the movie of The Krays was first mooted,

it almost seemed inevitable

that the Kemp brothers would portray those roles.

Steve Dagger had said to me YEARS before, "This is so right for Gary and Martin."

I want these fucking Maltese brothers off the map once and for all.

It was kind of unsaid who'd play Ronnie and who Reggie. I think Ronnie was leader of THEIR relationship.

I never asked to be Ronnie and Gary never asked to be Reggie.

Some of the band members were really unhappy.

They saw it as being a bit disloyal.

I guess they were scared, really, that it may be the end of the group.

I wanted the band to carry on another album

but Gary was definite about it - he didn't.

They were the archetypal '80s band, so when the '90s hit, Spandau split.

But they reunited nine years later in the High Court.

The non-Kemp members unsuccessfully sued Gary for non-payment of royalties,

leaving Martin a very uncomfortable piggy in the middle.

It was horrible because... I was stuck in the middle.

My best friends were taking my brother to court.

Although the split between the rest of the band and Gary was very messy,

I don't think that was ever going to split the two brothers.

Because I think they're indivisible.

# I know this much is true... #

At the end of the day, blood's thicker than water and it always will be.

# When will I Will I be famous...? #

Twins are a whole different ballgame.

That's a natural selling point if ever there was one.

People almost looked at the whole things as, "Oh, is it contrived?"

You can't help being identical twins.

It just worked, and the name was very apt.

# Be at one With your body in the sun

# Yes, you are... #

You can see why, if you're a manager, you're gonna say,

"Wow! Good looking brothers. Girls will love 'em. We'll dress them up."

They had... an alien quality about them.

They looked rather perfect,

and they very much worked hard to portray

that the relationship between them was also one of perfection.

# When will I... #

We didn't audition for Bros.

We started playing in bands together when we were 12 years old. We had our first band. We were called Caviar.

We didn't have a fucking clue what caviar was,

just knew it was expensive. We found out it was fish eggs, we were like, "OK, drop the name!"

Their songs were interesting, they had a fantastic image

and good, strong management who had a vision of where they should go.

# I watch you crumble Like a very old wall

# Ooh...! #

They were told what to wear, they were helped in how to find the right clothing. They LOOKED manufactured.

#...for a fool Ooh, I've have my revenge... #

If you're the brother and you're the twin, it's purely just DNA, it's just coincidence.

There's nothing set-up about it.

# I owe you nothing... #

Tell that to a no-nonsense John Stapleton!

But in fairness, you are quite carefully marketed, aren't you?

To be honest about it, it's skilful and I'm sure many people admire it, but it's also a little bit callous.

'You tell 'em Johnny!'

# I came down to dry my hair With a little touch of gel... #

They stood there and told you, "We are big stars.

"There is absolutely no other way you can conceive of this band.

"We're massively famous." And immediately they fell into the lifestyle.

I think it was only after their first single, a few days later,

they turned up in this beautiful 911 Porsche. It was brand new.

Straight away I was, "Where's the money coming from?"

I'd been doing it for three years, then, and I never had any money.

Well, it helps when your first five singles all go Top Five in one year.

-# Drop the boy, drop the boy...

-Woo-oh...! #

Everybody knew who we were. That was the epitome of rock'n'roll.

We landed by helicopter. 10,000 people waiting for us... That was...what we did.

It was always larger than life, always mad.

Press the button!

I did a radio programme with them. I really liked them. They were great!

We couldn't have come from further ends of the musical spectrum.

They couldn't believe that all this had arrived. They were saying that they couldn't sleep at night

because there were so many girls outside their flat, 24 hours a day!

The enthusiasm of the crowds outside has been enormous.

How are you going to get through life being screamed at like this?

-Oh, it's terrible.

-It's really hard!

There were so many girls, the boys didn't know what to do with them...

until they hit upon a plan.

They had a dream to fill Wembley Stadium.

And that, I think, was the ultimate symbol of their tenacity as brothers.

They dug their heels in. It was what they wanted to do.

-B-R-O-S!

-CROWD: B-R-O-S!

I remember me and Luke sitting at the back of Wembley Stadium looking at the stage

and thinking how small it looked. And that was a monstrous stage!

Luke was the drummer, so not only was he officially the backbone of the band,

but there's a real ease onstage when your brother's literally watching your back.

'I'm at the front of the stage. You literally see the whites of their eyes, you feel their sweaty hands...

'It's just so much more tactile.'

And I think that, being a drummer, his experience of the whole thing after a while was,

"Nah, nah, I need more than this."

Say B-R-O-S!

In terms of marketing, the twin thing worked very well.

In reality, in terms of achieving some sort of balance within the band, I think it was a cause of struggle.

The twins then did what so many boy-bands have done before.

They rebelled against their management and decided to do their own thing.

Their own serious thing. Oh, dear.

# Three o'clock in the morning... #

Possibly, they did write some very good, valid music for that third album

but that's not really what Bros was ever about.

# Darkness, a no-man's land

# Is close at hand... #

When they really wanted to stretch their wings as musicians and creators,

couldn't break through that barrier of the hype.

The new mature style flopped and, for the first time in their lives,

the brothers started to go their separate ways.

You're born on the same day, you grow up together, you go to school together,

you usually have the same friends. And then you had the same career.

I think that there is an overload factor

that contributed to end of our band.

In some ways, I wish I'd hung in there. But Luke called me up and said, "That's it, I'm done."

If somebody wants to leave the band, What can you do? You can't force 'em.

I knew in my heart that I would probably never be on the stage with my brother again.

It's a very painful moment.

# Why, oh why Are we not famous

# Any more? #

Luke remains disillusioned about his music career and refuses to revisit the Bros era to this day.

He's now trying to establish a movie career in Hollywood.

Back at the station without you... All asking me how you are.

Matt went from the frying pan into the...

frying pan in Hell's Kitchen...

..and is now carving out a solo career.

# My heart skips a beat, oh!

# Just the thought of you ever leaving... #

I have to constantly remind myself that it's OK and we don't have to be connected at the hip.

I guess I'm the twin that wants to hang out with him. He's more independent.

To jump on stage for a couple of hours with Luke again, I think would be an amazing, amazing experience.

This may look like an austere, disapproving dad with his long-haired, layabout son,

but these two are also band-sharing brothers. They just don't care to advertise it.

We just think the whole thing with "being brothers" is just corny.

It's not appealing when it's flaunted in a certain way.

And these two seem to know all about flaunting.

They may look somewhat androgynous, but they are MAELS -

Ron and Russell Mael.

They were wacky and weird and reminded their first record boss of the Marx Brothers.

So he suggested they become known as the Sparks Brothers. Genius(!)

We just hated the idea of having "brothers" attached to the name of the band, so we met him halfway

and said, "We'll take the Sparks bit and you can keep the Brothers bit."

To put the innocent record-buying public off the scent even more,

older brother Ron decided to go for an image change.

When we moved to England, Russell and I probably looked more alike

And then I decided to get my hair cut.

Our manager at the time thought he'd just made the biggest mistake ever.

Because we had a new record deal with Island Records, everything was going positively.

I just kinda did it on a whim. And in the end, it worked out better

than what it might've worked out looking like a member of Grateful Dead.

..I thought it was your typical LA hype - that they weren't brothers at all!

One was a really handsome-looking guy and the other

was this very strange, angular face with this weird Hitler moustache.

# Zoo time Is she and you time

# The mammals are your favourite type And you want her tonight... #

Ron being kinda severe onstage

apparently had an effect on a lot of people.

# ..This town ain't big enough for the both of us! #

It's really odd, cos I don't consider...

Ron's not frightening to ME.

We were in Woolworth's - I think in Birmingham - during the first tour.

The girl at the checkout ran away screaming, "I can't serve him!"

We all looked at each other and went "Wow! This is having an impact."

-RON:

-He is the singer and the focal point

and - he might hate me for saying so but - the sex symbol of the band.

And I do the keyboards. And the people that I attract are a little more unusual, shall we say.

The irony is that while these brothers couldn't look more different,

spiritually and creatively they are identical twins.

-# When I was born a little premature

-You gotta beat the clock... #

I haven't really found another band

with brothers that are as close as they are.

# You gotta beat the clock We gotta beat the clock We gotta beat the clock... #

Part of the reason that we've been able to exist

both professionally and as brothers for so long is that we have this common vision.

I think perhaps they're more symbiotic than other siblings I know,

in that I can't imagine either of them individually being transported into another band scenario.

That's maybe because, as far as anyone can tell, other partners are not as important to them.

That's fine...and turn up the click.

They have created an insular world that's very unique

and that no one else can penetrate.

No, turn ME up. Turn me up, I can't hear a thing.

The people that have problems with their brothers in bands,

they must have some sort of back-up position, friends, those sorts of things.

But in my case, I don't have a back-up position so I have to make this work.

Go ahead... OK, hang on...

'It's all about the music. If that were to go away because of some disruption in their relationship,'

then I'm afraid their entire lives would crumble, because that's what their lives are about.

It's an insular world without commercial compromise.

The battiness must be in the genes!

-# How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

-Practise, man, practise! #

Maybe we play it less safe, being brothers.

We both want to push things as far as we can.

# Carnegie Hall? Carnegie Hall? #

I think the secret of working with your sibling

is just to have something that you are equally as passionate about.

I don't know if I could ever find another person that would be as...

singlemindedly focused on achieving that goal.

One approach is to make the band so big that if you are brothers you get lost in the crowd.

That's what the Campbell brothers of reggae superstars UB40 did.

I'd describe me and Rob like chalk...and cheese.

I'm the grown-up, he's the child.

It was that way when we were little, it'll be that way when we're 80.

But none of this comes to the fore in the band because UB40 aren't a small intense group,

they're a collective...man.

There's loads of 'em and they've all got different bits and roles

and therefore, I think the intensity of that brother relationship is slightly more diffuse.

With The Kinks you've got that front person - Ray, right up front, he's in the spotlight.

With UB40 the workload and responsibility was spread more evenly across the group.

The band's members grew up in the Sparkbrook and Mosely, inner city suburbs of Birmingham.

Two of them are brothers, the others connected by school and neighbourhood friendships.

It's a democratic process, y'know, there's eight of us and we ALL have the same say, really.

We were a gang before we were a band.

# Oh, I'm the man To try me hand... #

Robin and Ali's dad Ian was a professional singer, a folk singer.

When he had four lads growing up, I'm sure he had some kind of fantasy of having his own group.

Like anything else, if you get it rammed down your throat, you start looking for the opposite.

We were invited to sing at one of our family get-togethers, which was all folk.

And we had rehearsed "Village Ghettoland", a Stevie Wonder song, and we did it.

# Village Ghettoland... #

And there was a silence when we stopped. They were all...

And me granddad said,

"What a pity, such beautiful voices singing such crap."

Two of the brothers, Ali and Robin decided they preferred the folk music of their new neighbourhood...

# I'm a British subject And I'm proud of it

# But I carry the burden of shame... #

..and UB40 began,

..named after the form used to register for unemployment benefit...

A friend of ours said, "Call yourself UB40. You're all on the dole,"

We did. And there you go, we had three million instant, card-carrying fans.

-# I am the one in ten

-A number on a list

-#I am the one in ten

-Even though I don't exist

-# Nobody knows me

-# But I'm always there

# A statistic, a reminder of a world that doesn't care... #

It was Rob that moulded my love of reggae music,

cos he's five years older than me.

We didn't ever discuss "What kind of music are we going to play."

It never even occurred to us. It was always gonna be a reggae band.

# Red, red wine

# Goes to my head... #

..and, as it turned out, the biggest reggae band of all time

and the fourth most successful group in the history of the British charts.

Put that in your folky pipe and smoke it, Dad!

The band are currently working on their 23rd album.

-They are real bowed strings...

-No, they're...

-That've been sampled.

-And PLAYED - on a keyboard.

-Yeah, but they're still real strings.

-Oh, dear! You're really making yourself look silly here.

..I don't think I treat Rob any differently to any other band member and vice versa.

Me and Ali are a bit bemused by it all, when people keep talking about the "brothers" thing.

I think the only "brotherly" thing is our vocal blend.

# Homely girl, You used to be so lonely

# You're a beautiful woman, oh... #

I mean, we ARE the Everly Brothers of reggae. We're KNOWN as that...

Joke!

I don't think that the brother thing is as important as you may think it is y'know.

I think if you're going to be in a band you've all got to be brothers, otherwise you ain't gonna make it.

# Cos we need each other We believe in one another... #

As fighting with your brother seems to be inevitable, some people will always make the most of it.

-It's not about YOU, though, is it?

-Well, let's go back to that.

-You or me, you or me?!

-Music, music, music!

I think it got to 52 in the charts.

Two brothers just talking crap. Genius!

Liam does everybody else's share of reckless behaviour. "It's an Oasis thing." It's not, it's just Liam,

he's out of control, a madman.

Bollocks!

One's young, one's a bit older. One's wiser, one's not.

It's...like Cheech and Chong, tit for tat.

Having a good run at the moment. We haven't argued for about a day.

I don't understand it all, meself.

-Do you respect Noel?

-Mmm.

-Do you always listen to him?

-Mmm.

-Is he always right?

-Nope.

Thank God I'm not in a band with either of 'em! I get on with them just fine.

It's gonna cause an argument now.

The foremost band with brothers for the last decade has been Oasis.

#..Along with me... #

When songwriter Noel joined kid brother Liam's band it all kicked of for the boys from Burnage.

# Shake along with me... #

I went to see them in '94, the time of Shakermaker,

and I was talking to the manager, Marcus Russell.

And I said, "Oh, I get it. It's the brothers.

And he said, "Oh, no, no, no, They're a band."

I thought, "Yeah, right(!)" It was obviously a Ray and Dave situation.

But having said that, it was more complicated than The Kinks, because they really do need each other.

Without Liam, Noel Gallagher can't carry the whole thing.

And Liam Gallagher can't write the tunes.

# Shake along with me... #

Noel had plenty of experience of carrying - as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets.

Basically, when he came back from America with the Inspirals, that's when Liam and Bonehead and the rest

asked Noel to manage them.

He said, "I'm not gonna manage your band but I'll join it, write the songs and do it that way."

We used to rehearse Saturday nights. Imagine, 17- 18-year-old Liam wanted to go out, get drunk with his mates.

"You can't. Gotta rehearse. Go out later." "What? I'm not rehearsing." "You are." "No, I'm not." "Yeah..."

And that's it. Noel put the discipline in.

# Today is gonna be the day

# That they're gonna throw it back to you... #

Noel's the leader and Liam is an absolute, total star, ain't he?

Looks like a Hollywood actor.

It's not that I fancy him, but he is a good looking lad in a way that Noel isn't.

Noel's...a bit more awkward looking, isn't he? ..Sorry Noel!

# There are many things That I would like to say to you

# But I don't know how... #

The love-hate relationship between the brothers was manna from heaven for the tabloid press.

They couldn't be interviewed together because they'd just rip each other apart.

Why do you and Noel never do interviews together, Liam?

We just don't do interviews together cos, y'know, he's got summat else, he's got different things to say.

I never know whether to believe all of it

when they talk about the fights.

But there are obviously similarities between Oasis and The Kinks, where there's a real tension in there.

We got it wrong because we nearly killed each other onstage

a couple of times, but they've got a balance with the media just right.

The fights between the two have become the stuff of pop legend.

I've seen them knock each other out over a bottle of beer once. That was in Central Park,

shooting the video for "Live Forever".

# We see things they'll never see

# You and I we're gonna live forever... #

I walked back to the hotel through Central Park in the middle of the night with Liam. And it was like,

"What was all that about?" "Nothing."

By the time we got back to the hotel, I think they were having a drink again.

Is it the end for Oasis? >

-NEWSREADER:

-Oasis have rarely been out of the headlines. Rumours of a band break-up prompted

this scrummage at Heathrow Airport.

Both brothers have walked out, having had enough of the other.

Hello, Liam. It's Jeremy Vine from Newsnight here. How are you doing?

-I'm

-BLEEP

-sound, how are you?

-Not bad. Are you coming out?

-Am I

-BLEEP!

-It's raining, mate.

-Why aren't you going to Chicago?

The two are absolutely bound together whether they like it or not.

And at various points, they haven't liked it at all. But there's nothing they can do about it.

# You've gotta roll with it You've gotta take your time

# You've gotta say what you say

# Don't let anybody get in your way... #

A lot of the problems have been with Noel's wanting everything to be orderly and efficient

and Liam being the total rock'n'roll animal.

# I know the roads On which your life will drive... #

Oasis are a brand, a worldwide brand. They ain't gonna split up. Too much money to be made.

Sorry to be shallow about it, but that's the way it is.

There's still this ironic humour between them, which I see, anyway.

I dunno if I'm right, but I would hope to think so,

because they're lucky. They're very, very lucky guys to still be in a band together.

# You've gotta say what you say Don't let anybody get... #

They love each other really. Just looking for their feminine sides to come out more.

"I love ya, our kid."

"Now, get back on stage and sing them songs!"

Noel loves to wind Liam up, Liam loves to wind Noel up.

Me mam loves them to sort it all out and be one happy family.

I'm like, "Whatever." Brothers will be brothers, it'll always be the same.

# Who put salt in the sugar bowl? Who put fireworks in the coal?

# Who put a real live toad in the hole?

# My brother!

# Who put jam in mother's shoe? Who made me a caterpillar stew?

# Who locked Granddad in the loo? My brother! #