The new progressive wave has resulted in clones. Why be imitative? We went through that stage but one must follow one’s own path. Many bands after lack of success with imitation then try for success by writing commercial pop songs. Neither will work. Only what comes from the heart should be written

Jim Johnston (interview for Acid Dragon, 1 June 1987)

The history of Scotland’s most revered progressive rock band, Comedy of Errors, begins in Glasgow in January 1984.

Joe Cairney’s first foray into vocals was in his brother Martin’s cover band, GTF Agency, formed with the latter’s classmates John McPhee and Mark Spalding. They played Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash and Scorpions tracks without keyboards. Having responded to an advert posted in a Glasgow music shop, John was contacted by Jim Johnston and Mike Barnard, who were looking for a drummer. John replied that he knew a bass player (his friend Steve Stewart) and a singer (Joe). Jim and Mike presented Joe with a cassette with two songs, Dreams That Count and Awaken. Joe learned them and joined the nascent band at Mike’s parents’ farmhouse in Strathaven where they rehearsed in the disused stables. Jim had already been composing new songs, including Ever Be The Prize, and Comedy of Errors was born. The original line-up comprised Joe on vocals, Steve on bass, John on drums, Jim on keys and Mike on guitars, with Mark as their sound engineer. After six gigs, Steve left and Mark took over on bass.

Comedy of Errors’ first live performance took place at Cartha Rugby Club on 27 May 1984 (with a poster on which Joe’s surname is misspelled), as they knew they would benefit from an in-built audience, in spite of being completely unknown. Thus began a gruelling gig schedule, relentless (and often demoralising) self-promotion representing a young band’s only route to building a solid fan base and vying to attract the attention of a major label in the pre-Internet era. In a single year, Comedy of Errors played 103 gigs (the precise details of which have been lost to time). Nobody could fault their commitment, but their best efforts were thwarted by their relative geographical isolation from the heartland of progressive music in the south of England, where resources (whether financial, opportunities for exposure or column inches) were concentrated. Glasgow was regarded as something of a backwater from a metropolitan perspective, if it were regarded at all.

An integral part of spreading the word was to produce promotional cassettes for sale at gigs. The first recording made by the band was the promo Ever Be The Prize recorded at studio in Blanefield in 1985. It comprised three tracks: Dreams That Count, Beat the Lights and Ever Be The Prize. The credits list Jim Johnston (keyboards), Mike Barnard (guitars), Joe Cairney (vocals), John McPhee (drums) and Mark Spalding (bass and backing vocals).

This was followed by the ‘lost demo’, recorded by Roger Patterson (of Twice Bitten) on his 8-track mobile studio in one of the outbuildings at the farm. As the designation suggests, the master tapes sadly went missing, necessitating a trip to Pallas’ Ice Station Studios in Echt to produce the self-titled mini album. The lost masters comprised three tracks, The King of Kings, Time There Was and The Student Prince, Parts I and II.

In the meantime, the band secured a slot at one of the main events in Glasgow’s musical calendar at the time, the Kelvingrove Festival, which guaranteed a large audience, as admission was free. Whereas the festival had been blessed with brilliant sunshine (for which Glasgow is not renowned) the previous year, Comedy of Errors had to contend with torrential rain as well as the competing draw of the Scotland v England match at Hampden Park.

The festival programme described them thus:

Comedy of Errors – ‘the thinking man’s rock band’ – contain a mixture of rich textures, sublime key changes allied to adventurous syncopation.

Thought provoking lyrics fused to a powerful rock presentation have led to an abundance of packed gigs. Their music was released to a wider audience with their demo ‘Ever be the Prize’ featured by Tom Russell on Radio Clyde’s Rock Show

The gig treadmill resumed, the band contacting Mike Bentley about recording at Echt. They already knew Graeme Murray from having supported Pallas on 16 February 1986 at The Mayfair in Glasgow. In August, Comedy of Errors headed north to complete the mini album, produced and engineered by Graeme Murray, Niall Matthewson and Mike Bentley. The final track list consisted of The King of Kings, Time There Was, Once In A While, Behold The Knight and The Student Prince Part I.

A vinyl pressing was a bold move for an aspiring band in the 1980s, entailing a financial risk, but proved prescient. With striking artwork by Margaret Morrison based on photographs taken at The Griffin Bar, and a lyric sheet in beautiful calligraphy, the mini album represented the physical manifestation of the band’s ambition and adherence to quality.

Marriage meant that Mike could no longer give priority to the demands of gigging, prompting him to leave the band at the beginning of June 1987. His final live performance with Comedy of Errors was on 27 May 1987 at the Bruce Hotel in East Kilbride. Mark Spalding took over as lead guitarist and the band placed an advert for a bass player. Barry Henderson became Mark’s successor on bass on 13 July.

Perhaps the greatest milestone in the band’s early career was their appearance at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on 12 September 1987. They were invited by Sym-Info on the strength of the mini album, which had been receiving airplay and had fared well commercially in Europe. In a newsletter (undated), Jim summed up the experience:

Well let’s start with Amsterdam – it was a nerve-racking experience considering it was our first gig with the new set and new line up, but we needn’t have worried. The atmosphere in the Club Paradiso and the reaction from the Dutch audience made it the most exciting gig we have ever played. The whole thing was organised by Sym-Info the Dutch magazine and they must take the credit for a memorable night. We must thank Dick Speelpenning in particular who made us feel at home and the Dutch people who were so friendly – (this is beginning to sound like the Academy Awards!)

It gave them their first taste of stardom and allowed them to forge friendships with many Dutch fans which continue to the present day:

Although COMEDY OF ERRORS first made an impact on a local level, it is on the continent that they are best known. Excellent reviews in many fanzines saw the band feature highly on playlists. Considerable airplay throughout Europe also contributed to their large ‘underground’ following. Amsterdam’s prestigious ‘Club Paradiso’ saw nearly a thousand fans flock to see the band headlining for the first time in the Netherlands

(Promo leaflet post-dating Joe’s departure)

The setlist aptly constituted a veritable showcase of their early work: Stage of Fools, The King of Kings, Tunes of Glory, Time There Was, Rule Britannia, Once in a While, Disobey, Seventeen, Emperor’s Clothes, Jekyll and Hyde, Pornography and Illusion, This is not Enough, Elephant Man, The Student Prince – Part 1, Behold the Knight, with a cover of Black Rose as an encore.

Fans are voracious and it was essential to strike while the proverbial iron remained hot, so it was back to the studio, Evenload in East Kilbride, on 18 November 1987, to record a new demo. Jim explained the origin of the title in a newsletter (undated):

We booked 24 hours studio time and recorded 5 songs – over 30 minutes of music mostly live. The whole thing was recorded and mixed from start to finish in less than a day hence the title (for want of a better one) ’24 Hours’

The tracks were: Emperors’ Clothes, Rule Britannia, Tunes of Glory, Seventeen and Stage of Fools.

The course of a band’s life never runs smooth, and Joe took the decision to join the Fire Service. In the throes of youth’s fervour and with the hunger to capitalise on their success more acutely felt than ever, the 16 weeks during which Joe was required to undergo his training seemed to stretch interminably, and his time with the band was cut short. Jim announced Joe’s departure in a fresh newsletter:

Contrary to rumours which swept the nation John [McPhee] has not left the band. We can all sleep soundly in our beds at hearing that news. Joe however has left the band for reasons best described in the time honoured phrase ‘musical differences’ and by mutual agreement. No sooner had this happened when a Welsh guy called Jones applied for the vocals job. He wrote ‘I’ll rock your balls off’. Well Aled, you may have the raunch but have you the paunch? He has since joined Anthrax – a folk band.

So we’re presently looking for a frontman. Is there anybody out there? Even with all these changes going on, the band have never felt stronger or as enthusiastic about the new material as we do now

(undated; copy kindly provided by Mark Robson)

Sym-Info likewise passed on the news in a Spot column by Dick Speelpenning published on 1 October 1988.

Joe was replaced by John Cowden, which coincided with a radical change in musical direction, Jim wielding his pen once more:

Vocalist Joe Cairney left Comedy of Errors Summer ’88 as the band pursued their new direction. Since then they have never worked so hard without gigging – writing, rehearsing, more writing, more rehearsing. All through this time the sheer enthusiasm for the new material has sustained them in their efforts to find a front man who could put across the message.

The search is over! His name is John Cowden – another Glasgow man. The band hope that their own brand of metal with John’s enthusiasm and power vocals will take them places they want to go

(Undated document; copy kindly provided by Mark Robson)

In an interview with Andy Shorrock for fanzine A Little Angry In A Very Nice Place, Jim set out their plans:

It’s all about capturing the power and excitement of Heavy Metal and combining the artistry and lyricism of more expressive subtle forms – at least that’s what we’re trying to do!

(Issue entitled Lonely Like Stoneage Dinosaurs; copy kindly provided by Robert McIlwraith)

The new line-up of Barry Henderson (bass), John McPhee (drums), Mark Spalding (guitar), Jim Johnston (keyboards) and John Cowden (vocals) recorded a new promo cassette, Hold On, in 1989. It comprised three tracks: Living Without Your Love, Hold On and Free Spirit.

The hard slog of gigging continued unabated and disillusionment gradually set in, as Jim’s interview with Robert McIlwraith in A Little Angry In A Very Nice Place from May 1991 reveals:

ROB: You have this new material, the material from the “Hold On” era plus the older progressive material – why are you doing more covers than before?

JIM: It’s quite simple, because all that Comedy Of Errors really do is play shithouses up and down Scotland and at gigs people are just coming maybe for a drink and a band happens to be on. We are just wasting out [sic] time playing these gigs.

ROB: Don’t you think it’s worth getting one or two dedicated fans at each gig than getting five or six who merely enjoy an anonymous band on stage?

JIM: It’s nice to be appreciated. We are just wasting our time if we want to get our music heard on a wider scale. No one is going to walk in with a fat cigar and say “Hey lads, sign here”. What we really need is a deal so then we can play the right places where people are more interested in seeing a band rather than dancing to the new Roxette single. We are playing these little dives and it’s hopeless, they’re just pubs. It’s a cycle which keeps going on and on and we don’t get anywhere. We are like Hamsters on a wheel

(issue entitled Fly; copy kindly provided by Robert McIlwraith)

The final bootleg featuring John Cowden dates from 30 November 1991, recorded at Studio 1, Glasgow with the following setlist: Somehow Somewhere, Goin’ Crazy, Hold On, Deadly Embrace, Ain’t That A Shame, Need You Now, Boston Tea Party, Say A Prayer, Dream On, Breathless, Blind and Bruised, Could Have Been Yesterday, Elected and American Rodeo.

Issue 3 of Blindsight fanzine hints at the levels of frustration becoming intolerable:

Scotland’s long time prog hope have changed their name to The Hangover Square. The reason for this change is that they are no longer a prog band. As over the years their members and influences have changed. It is hoped that the name change will enable them [to] re-launch themselves as Scotland’s top rock act. They want people to listen to their new hard rock style with a [sic] open mind, rather than to constantly prejudge them, for the type [of] music they used to play. And you sure can’t blame them for that!

(kindly provided by Robert McIlwraith)

The next issue of the fanzine laments the band’s demise, thereby dating it to 1992.