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AFTER five years in East 17, racking up hits like Steam, Deep and the Christmas number one Stay Another Day, Brian Harvey was sacked from the band in 1997 after being quoted as saying “Ecstasy was cool”, a year after 18-year-old Leah Betts died after taking the drug.
He’s since appeared on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2004, been cleared by court of possessing cocaine and, in May 2005, been admitted to hospital for taking an overdose of sleeping pills and running himself over with his Mercedes.
You’ve tried a comeback a couple of times so why try again after it started well in 1998, but you disbanded again in 1999?
The opportunity has come along while we’re still in the game. If it’s successful, great. Us playing with 911 has happened through our gigs agent. They wanted to pull in as many people as they can to do a ’90s show. I don’t care who I’m on the bill with – it’s paying the rent and at the end of the day, it’s an audience. You can’t pick and choose. Of course we would love to play Wembley, but I’ll play Butlin’s.
In England, there are plenty of bands around for five years and only one really makes a proper comeback. Take That have already done that and they’ve had lots of help and have got sponsorship so they’ve had the record deals.
Is there still any rivalry between East 17 and Take That?
There would be if it would get me a record deal – I would definitely go along with it for that!
Is money the reason for reforming?
The money’s OK – it’s not great. But it’s better than being a plumber and having your arm up someone else’s toilet.
Though you tried hard to make it a complete reunion, original member Tony Mortimer isn’t with you. So how much difference will it make?
It doesn’t make any difference at all at the moment. Within five minutes of planning a reunion before, it had fallen apart with him. I got punched in the face for being late, twice. And I wasn’t even late. At that point I thought, ‘I’m going.’ That was over a year ago. I was just out of hospital and didn’t need it. We don’t speak. He made it clear on TV that his East 17 days are over.
It’s not exactly like Take That without Robbie though, is it, because like Gary Barlow, Tony wrote most of the songs, didn’t he?
It was because he was writing all the songs that we split. We all wanted a go at writing, because, let’s be honest, all the money is in the writing. If you’re not writing, you’re a puppet. You’re doing all the work performing, and they’re raking all the money in. You’re breaking your back for someone else. It’s money that split the band up.
You’ve had a wild life but what fascinates people most?
How the hell did you run yourself over? I tell the story over and over – it was an accident. I was going to see a friend in the middle of the night, took a wrong turning and the Mercedes I was driving was automatic. I needed to reverse to turn back round. I was feeling really sick, because I had just stuffed my face, and could feel my mouth watering up to be sick, so opened the door. I’ve got the phone on my ear, speaking to the guy I’m going to see, and I fell out and got caught under the wheels. The car flew back and hit a load of other cars.
You’ve been described as one of the unluckiest men in pop. Does it feel that way?
It’s a fair assumption. I’m only unlucky in pop. I’m lucky in love and that’s enough for me and my girlfriend Claire.
You were sacked by the band in 1997 after making those Ecstasy comments. How do you look back on those words now?
I look back and think, ‘What the **** was going on? How can that have happened and how can I have caused so much trouble? I was scapegoated by the press to sell papers so my comment was edited out of context.
Stay Another Day – E17 Renunion at St David’s Hall on Sunday, November 4.
They will appear with fellow ’90s boy band 911.
Eastern Promise
Founded in: 1992. The band name came from the postcode for Walthamstow in London, between the old East End and the Essex commuter belt, where the band came from.
Hits: They charted 18 Top 20 singles and four Top 10 albums.Tony Mortimer was the main songwriter, and Brian Harvey was initially taken on as a back-up singer and dancer, but when he was heard singing along he was promoted to lead vocalist. Terence Coldwell and Jonathan Hendy also made up the band.
Their debut album, Walthamstow, shot to number one and featured Top 20 singles like House of Love and Deep. In 1994 they released their second album, Steam, and got their only UK number one single, Christmas number one Stay Another Day, which was at the top for five weeks. In 1996, they hit number two with Gabrielle with a hit called If You Ever. Tony left the band in 1997 and the others made a comeback as E-17 in 1998.
Their comeback single Each Time reached number two in the charts but after their album, Resurrection, they disbanded in 1999.
They reformed for a one-off gig at the London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2006.
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