Mercury Tears formed in 1979 in Manchester, UK.  The first incarnation of the band consisted of Steele, Duv, Merlynn, and Lionel Harden.  At the time the band was known as “Tuxedo Sit Down” and their catalouge contained a plethora of Creedence Clearwater Revival covers.  “Tuxedo” played several shows in Manchester until one night in 1981 when the band was playing a gig at Iron Grey, they were 7 measures into Fortunate Son when the police broke up the show and took Lionel Harden away in a pair of steel bracelets.  The remaining three took this to be a wake up call and set to reform their direction as a band.  In September of 1981, the reformed as Mercury Tears and solidified the triumphant trio lineup with Steele on vocals and guitar, Duv on Synths and Bass, and Merlynn on the drums.  The Tears sought out a cutting edge sound and incorporated soaring synth melodies overtop of traditional pop hooks.  In 1982, with the help of some small label funding, they released their first LP - “Rockupuncture.”  The album captured small critical acclaim from UK college stations and contained the radio friendly “Twilight Tango.”  The Tears started gathering a loyal following and catching the eye of the UK during their summer tour in 1983.  1984 brought about an apparent hiatus from Mercury Tears, but while the UK thought that they were on holiday, or even properly disbanded, the boys were hard at work on their next album.  13 months of determination, focus, and locking themselves in the basement storage rooms of Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry yielded them with the now legendary album “SynthSational.”  The album contained the bands finest work and was destined for success.  In early 1985 the boys started playing the unmastered SynthSational mixes to various labels and critics around the area.  One rather unassuming critic took it upon himself to do a brief write up of the preview he had heard.  He called SynthSational, “a breathtaking escape that the ears of the world are not yet evolved enough to comprehend... a merciless masterpiece.... ahead of its time.”  Upon reading this review, the band was stunned.  They weighed several options and in the end made a decision that changed music history forever.  In an effort to protect the feeble minds of the world and to capitalize on monetary gains, Mercury Tears had themselves cryogenically frozen in July of 1985.  The plan was to stay in a suspended state for 20 years in hopes that the world would be ready to accept SynthSational not as an album “ahead of its time,” but as an album “of its time.”  Years passed and the airwaves soon forgot about the Tears, but in July 2005, the band entered a stage in their life now known as “The Thaw.”  They were reanimated and started intense daily rounds of physically therapy.  Not only were their bodies and muscles atrophied, but their minds had grown meek as well.  Along with walking lessons, the boys relearned how to read, toilet train, and most importantly, how to play their instruments again.

Currently the Steele, Duv and Merlynn are revisiting the SynthSational master tapes and plotting the next move in the bands historic career.  For now it is safe to say that we will see the rise of Mercury Tears again.  After all, the band was never dead, just frozen in time.