H2O
Band Members through the years
Vocals - Ian Donaldson.
Keyboards - Ross Alcock
Drums - Kenny Dorman, David Edgar.
Bass - lan McGee, Colin Ferguson and
George Sinclair.
Guitar - Andrew Innes, David Wells, John Harton,
Pete Kean and Ali McLeod.
Sax - Colin Gavigan.
an Donaldson formed H2O from the ashes of Glasgow punk band ‘Skroo’ in 1978. After a number of line up changes, including the addition of Ross Alcock, the band released a single in 1981 ‘Hollywood Dream’ on their own ‘Spock’ label. The single and subsequent radio play and coverage on showcase TV program ‘Street Buzz’ helped bring them to the attention of the music industry. In 1982 the band signed a deal with RCA who sent them off to the studio. The resulting single ‘Dream To Sleep’ was released in June 83 and spent ten weeks in the UK charts reaching number 17 in the singles chart and led to a couple of appearances on Top Of The Pops. In August of the same year they released the follow up single ‘Just Outside Of Heaven’ which was also a top 40 hit. After extensive touring and recording a third single ‘All That Glitters’ was released followed by the album ‘Faith’ in 1984. The momentum of H2O somehow got lost along the way. The reason the band did not carry on to be huge brings up the same old answers, the complex relationships within bands and their record companies, the fickle nature of the radio pluggers and the press and all the other tales you read about in all the biographies of every band who came close to breaking into the big time. In some cases material is just not strong enough, in the case of H2O this could not be further from the truth. All the singles on the album were strong and although very much of the time they show a breadth and musical ambition missing in the other bands around at that time. The band split with RCA and moved to Legend Records releasing another single that just failed to break into the UK top 40, further success was not to be and as a result the band broke up in 1985. Despite the break up Ian Donaldson and Ross Alcock continued to write and demo new material in an attempt to obtain a new record deal. In early 1986, with the help of John O'Reilly who managed indie rock band the Bluebells, they reformed once more, this time with guitarist Frank O'Hare, drummer David Edgar and bass player George Dunnachie. They signed to Legend Records, a fledgling record company which offered the best chance of keeping H2O a priority band. The band released the single ‘Blue Diamond’ which just failed to reach the top 40 in 1987, despite loads of airplay from major radio stations, a standout video and the band’s explosive live performance on the TV show Meltdown. Frank O'Hare left the band in late 1987 due to creative differences and family commitments and was replaced by guitarist Ali McLeod, but following the closure of Legend Records the band broke up again in 1988. Glancing at the list of ex members you see some names you might recognise. Alan McGee went on to set up ‘Creation Records’ who launched Oasis as well as many other big bands in the 80s and 90s. You will also find members of legendary Glasgow bands like Ali McLeod from Hipsway, George Dunnachie and Davie Edgar from The Dolphins. Andrew Innes went on to join Primal Scream, Frank O’Hare had played with Skroo, The One O'clock Gang and The Venigmas and Neil Clark joined LLoyd Cole and the Commotions. Ian Donaldson carried on with a solo career and fronted Scottish supergroup FOURGOODMEN alongside ex Big Country guitarist Bruce Watson and former Simple Minds members Derek Forbes and Mick MacNeil, they released an album in 2006 titled ‘Heart Of Winter’ and toured North America, Europe and the UK. Through the years H2O have occasionally reformed for a few local gigs, notably in 1993 for a charity gig in Boons Yard in Glasgow along with Glasgow band The Dolphins, in 1994 they played at the newly converted Renfrew Ferry, and in June 2003 they reformed to celebrate ‘20 Years of Dream to Sleep’ in King Tutts. In 2009 ‘Cherry Records’ re-released the ‘Faith’ album again on CD with an in depth insight into the band’s profile including words and thoughts from Ian Donaldson in the booklet giving new and older generations the chance to discover the band all over again. Here is quote taken from the re-issued CD from Ian - ”The early 80s was an incredibly exiting time. We were all the sons of 70s Glam Rock who attended and acted up at Punk Rock High, we then came of age as something completely different. New Romantics. A label that defined the times if not entirely our music. H2O had played almost 600 gigs by the time ‘Faith’ was released in 1984. ‘Dream To Sleep’ had been a hit around the world and the follow up single ‘Just Outside Of Heaven’ had done well too. MTV, still in it’s infancy then, had broadcast one of the band’s shows Live across Europe on Christmas Eve 1983. It was nothing more than a dream come true for us. Of course, there are also tough times, but I don’t see the point on dwelling on them The ‘nearlys’ ‘if onlys’ and ‘should have beens’ disappointed for a while. Hurt . What we achieved together far outweighed those feelings. H2O’s star shone brightly for a while, as brightly as any star, I think that’s worth celebrating”. - Ian Donaldson, 2008.
Kelvingrove Music Festival performances.
Rare photo of Skroo circa 1978.
In 2016 Ian Donaldson ventured into the world of writing with his first novel ‘A Rainbow In The Basement’. In 2018 Ian released the album ‘From Stars We Came’ and he has recorded a new version of ‘I Dream To Sleep’ released in May 2023.
In 2023 Ross Alcock released his first solo album ‘The Sound Of Water’ under the title ‘Dreamsongs’ ‘click on the album covers for details.
