Sad Café

This article is about the English band. For other uses, see Sad Café (disambiguation).

Sad Café are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "Every Day Hurts", "Strange Little Girl", "My Oh My" and "I'm in Love Again",^[2] the first of which was their biggest hit, reaching number 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1979.^[3] The band also had two US Billboard Hot 100 hits with "Run Home Girl" and "La-Di-Da".^[2]

Sad Café
Origin	Manchester, England
Genres	Soft rock[1]
Years active	1976–1990, 1998, 2000, 2012–present
Labels	RCA A&M Swan Song Polydor Legacy Atlantic Edsel Ariola Express Camden Eagle Renaissance Castle Communications Armoury
Members	Des Tong Dave Day Neil Shaw-Hulme Matt Steele Steve Gibson
Past members	Paul Young Vic Emerson Ian Wilson John Stimpson Tony Cresswell Lenni Michael Byron-Hehir Jeff Seopardi Phil Lanzon Alistair Gordon Simon Waggott Steve Whalley Ashley Mulford Pete Hughes Dave Irving Sue Wilson-Quin Bryan Hargreaves Barry James Thomas Paul McCafferty
Website	www.sadcafe.co.uk

History

The group formed as a result of the unification of rock bands Mandalaband and Gyro.^[2] Its founder members were Paul Young (vocals), Ian Wilson (guitar), Vic Emerson (keyboards), Ashley Mulford (lead guitar), John Stimpson (bass) and Tony Cresswell (drums).^[2] The band took their name from the Carson McCullers novella Ballad of the Sad Café.^{[citation needed]} Harvey Lisberg, who also managed 10cc, arranged for Eric Stewart to produce their third album, Facades (an anagram of Sad Cafe), which included the top 3 single "Every Day Hurts".^[4]

Personnel

Members

Current Des Tong – bass, vocals (1981–1990, 1998, 2000, 2012–present) Steve Gibson - drums (1989–1990, 2023–present) Dave Day - guitars, vocals (2018–present) Neil Shaw-Hulme - saxophones, wx7, vocals (2018–present) Matt Steele - keyboards (2019–present)

Former Ian Wilson - rhythm guitar, vocals (1976–2022) Paul Young – lead vocals (1976–1990, 1998; died 2000) Vic Emerson – keyboards (1976–1984, 2000; died 2018)[5] John Stimpson – bass, backing vocals (1976–1980; died 2021) Tony Cresswell – drums (1976–1978) Ashley Mulford – lead guitars, vocals (1976–1981, 1986–1989, 2000, 2012–2014) Dave Irving - drums (1978–1984, 2000, 2012–2019) Lenni Zaksen – saxophone (1979–1984, 1998, 2000) Al Hodge - guitars (1981; died 2006) Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitars (1981–1984, 1989–1990, 1998; guest musician: 1986) Jeff Seopardi – drums (1984–1986) Danny Schogger – keyboards (1984) Phil Lanzon – keyboards (1986) Alistair Gordon – keyboards, vocals (1989–1990, 1998) Simon Waggott – keyboards, vocals (2012–2014) Steve Whalley – vocals, guitar (2012–2014) Sue Wilson-Quin - keyboards, vocals (2012–2022) Pete Hughes - keyboards (2018) Bryan Hargreaves – drums (2019–2022) Barry James Thomas - vocals, percussion (2018–2024; died 2024) Paul McCafferty - vocals (2025-2025) Guest musicians Roy Martin – drums (1998) Paul Burgess – drums (1986–1990) Steve Pigott – keyboards (1984–1986) Ali Roocroft - keyboards (2023-2024)

Lineups

1976–1978	1978–1979	1979–1980	1980–1981
Paul Young – lead vocals Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, backing vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Vic Emerson – keyboards John Stimpson – bass, backing vocals Tony Cresswell – drums	Paul Young – lead vocals Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, backing vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Vic Emerson – keyboards John Stimpson – bass, backing vocals Dave Irving – drums	Paul Young – lead vocals Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, backing vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Vic Emerson – keyboards John Stimpson – bass, backing vocals Dave Irving – drums Lenni – saxophone	Paul Young – lead vocals Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, backing vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Vic Emerson – keyboards Dave Irving – drums Lenni – saxophone Des Tong – bass, backing vocals
1981–1984	1986 Politics of Existing	1986	1986–1989
Paul Young – lead vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Vic Emerson – keyboards Dave Irving – drums Lenni – saxophone Des Tong – bass, backing vocals Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitar	Paul Young – lead vocals Ian Wilson – guitars, backing vocals Des Tong – bass Jeff Seopardi – drums Danny Schogger - Keyboards Nico Ramsden - Guitars Mike Rutherford - Guitar Mel Collins - Sax Martin Ditcham - Percussion Paul Carrack - Backing Vocals Andy Caine - Backing Vocals	Paul Young – lead vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Des Tong – bass, backing vocals Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, backing vocals Jeff Seopardi – drums Phil Lanzon – keyboards Guest musicians Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitar	Paul Young – lead vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Des Tong – bass, backing vocals Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, backing vocals Paul Burgess – drums
1994 Whatever It Takes	1994 BMI Event	2000 Forever Young	2012–2014
Paul Young – lead vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Des Tong – bass, backing vocals Paul Burgess – drums Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitar Alistair Gordon – keyboards, backing vocals Steve Pigott - Keyboards, programming	Paul Young – lead vocals Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Des Tong – bass, backing vocals Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitar Alistair Gordon – keyboards, backing vocals Lenni – saxophone Roy Martin – drums	Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, vocals Des Tong – bass, vocals Lenni – saxophone Vic Emerson – keyboards Dave Irving – drums Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitar Alistair Gordon- vocals Steve Butler - vocals John Hopcroft - vocals Sue Quin - vocals	Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, vocals Des Tong – bass, vocals Dave Irving – drums Ashley Mulford – lead guitar, vocals Sue Quin – vocals, keyboards Simon Waggott – keyboards, vocals Steve Whalley – guitar, vocals
2018	2019	2021–2022	2023–2024
Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, vocals Des Tong – bass, vocals Dave Irving – drums Sue Quin – vocals Barry James Thomas - vocals Dave Day - lead guitars, vocals Neil Shaw-Hulme - saxophone, wx7, vocals Pete Hughes - keyboards	Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, vocals Des Tong – bass, vocals Dave Irving – drums Sue Quin – vocals Barry James Thomas - vocals Dave Day - lead guitars, vocals Neil Shaw-Hulme - saxophone, wx7, vocals Matt Steele - keyboards	Ian Wilson – rhythm guitar, vocals Des Tong – bass, vocals Bryan Hargreaves - drums Sue Quin – vocals Barry James Thomas - vocals Dave Day - lead guitars, vocals Neil Shaw-Hulme - saxophone, wx7, vocals Matt Steele - keyboards	Des Tong - bass, vocals Dave Day - lead guitars, vocals Barry James Thomas - vocals Neil Shaw-Hulme - saxophone, wx7, vocals Matt Steele - keyboards Steve Gibson - drums SPECIAL GUESTS Ali Roocroft - keyboards James Russell - saxophone Glyn Davies - lead guitar

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		UK [6]	US [7]
Fanx Ta-Ra	Released: September 1977 Label: RCA	56	—
Misplaced Ideals	Released: April 1978 Label: RCA	50	—
Misplaced Ideals	Released: November 1978 Label: A&M US version of the two first LPs	—	94
Facades	Released: September 1979 Label: RCA, A&M	8	146
Sad Café	Released: October 1980 Label: RCA, Swan Song	46	160
Olé	Released: October 1981 Label: Polydor	72	—
Politics of Existing	Released 1985 Label: Legacy, Atlantic	—	—
Whatever It Takes	Released: 1989 Label: Legacy	—	—

Live albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		UK [6]
Live in Concert	Released: April 1981 Label: RCA	37
Access All Areas	Released: 23 March 2015 Label: Edsel Includes DVD of concert	—

Compilation albums

Title	Details
The Best of Sad Café	Released: 1984 Label: RCA
The Best of Sad Café	Released: 1994 Label: Ariola Express
Everyday Hurts: The Best of Sad Café	Released: June 1997 Label: Camden
The Masters	Released: September 1997 Label: Eagle
Facades / Misplaced Ideals	Released: November 1997 Label: Renaissance US-only release
Saving Grace	Released: September 2000 Label: Castle Repackaging of Politics of Existing and Whatever It Takes
The Best of Sad Café	Released: April 2001 Label: Camden Reissue of 1997 Everyday Hurts: The Best of Sad Café
Anthology	Released: July 2001 Label: Burning Airlines UK release
Every Day Hurts	Released: 2002 Label: Armoury
Anthology	Released: January 2005 Label: Renaissance US release of the 2001 album
Anthology	Released: September 2008 Label: The Store for Music European release of the 2001 album
Fanx Ta-Ra / Misplaced Ideals	Released: June 2009 Label: Edsel UK-only release
Facades / Sad Cafe	Released: June 2009 Label: Edsel UK-only release
Anthology	Released: January 2021 Label: Renaissance Vinyl reissue of the 2001 album

Singles

Title	Year	Chart positions
		UK [6]	AUS [8]	NLD [9]	US [10]
"Black Rose"	1977	—	—	—	—
"Love Will Survive" (UK-only release)		—	—	—	—
"Hungry Eyes" (UK-only release)	1978	—	—	—	—
"Run Home Girl" (US-only release)		—	—	—	71
"Every Day Hurts"	1979	3	78	48	—
"Emptiness" (US and Canada-only release)		—	—	—	108
"Strange Little Girl"		32	—	—	—
"My Oh My"	1980	14	—	42	—
"Nothing Left Toulouse" (UK only-release)		62	—	—	—
"La-Di-Da"		41	—	—	78
"I'm in Love Again"		40	—	—	—
"Black Rose" (Live)	1981	—	—	—	—
"Misunderstanding"		—	—	—	—
"La-Di-Da" (US release)		—	—	—	78
"No Favours – No Way" (US-only promo)		—	—	—	—
"Follow You Anywhere"		—	—	—	—
"Keep Us Together" (UK-only release)	1983	80	—	—	—
"Why Do You Love Me Like You Do"	1984	—	—	—	—
"Refugees" (UK-only release)	1985	—	—	—	—
"Only Love" (UK-only release)	1986	—	—	—	—
"Heart"		—	—	—	—
"Take Me (Heart and Soul)" (UK-only release)	1989	—	—	—	—
"Whatever It Takes"		—	—	—	—

See also

• List of bands from Manchester
• List of bands from England
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• Swan Song Records