About:The Project Power

Peter Scirocco (formerly Peter Hilman) and Colin Storm (middle name Barbara, after his great grandfather) met at Macclesfield Boys Grammar School on a cold November morning in 1978 at the bike shed behind the Meteorlogical Hut. Scirocco failed to extort the younger boy Storm's lunch money with threats of violence, but noticing Storm's copy of 'Bat Out of Hell' protruding from his haversack, decided instead to make conversation. Bat Out Of Hell would prove to be a touchstone and the boys would meet here over the months to discuss their mutual appreciation of Rainbow, Deep Purple, Scorpions and Genesis. And Pat Benatar's tits. With their fellow long haired classmate Ian Curtis (later of Joy Division) on drums, they decided to form a group.They called themselves "Iron Finger" and were a great success at the school end of year concert, where they caught the eye of entrepreneur Jonathan King who was in the area scouting for talented schoolboys. He signed the boys up to appear in 'Battle of the Bands' for Look North (regional news programme). They were a raging success playing covers of songs by Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Meatloaf and Peter Skellern. A series of increasingly important gigs followed and the line up was expanded to incorporate Dave "Numpty" Cargill on bass and Joe "Kegs" McQuilly on keyboards. There was a triumphant gig at Macclesfield Town Hll in December of 1981 which saw the band being signed to Virgin subsidiary label "Black Pants Records". In the summer of that year the band secured a slot supporting Saxon at Macclesfield Steal Workers and Dinner Ladies Union Hall which was shown on BBC2's Rock goes to College. Favourable coverage in Sounds and Melody Maker led to a whirlwind tour of Scandinavia, but all was not well in the camp. Curtis had left to start a group with local schoolboy darts champion Peter Hook after rows with Scirocco over loose tobacco and cider. Finding themselves cold and drummerless in Sweden they quickly recruited Sven Maelstrom to fill in. They went from strenth to strength and scored their first hit, "You Blow Me Gently" in October 1982. A succession of radio friendly Power Balads followed including; "Wings of Steel", "Steel Butterfly" and "You Are My Steel Angel". Dave Lee Travis described the group as " the best thing I've heard down on the farm since 'Mull of Kintyre'." He proved to be a major champion of the band and invited them to take part in his legendary 'snooker on the radio' competition for seven consecutive weeks. It was then, in late 1983 that they changed their name to Project Power...