User:Jeffrey Robert Pain (aka Dicken)

Jeffrey Robert Pain also known as Dicken was born on April 10th 1950. Musician singer and song writer, he fronted the band called Mr Big, a British pop rock band, active in the 1970s and mid nineties when they released an album called Rainbow Bridge. The band was formed by Jeff Pain (aka Dicken) and best known for their 1977 Top 5 hit Romeo The band was originally active from 1972–1978.

The members of Mr Big had been playing together since the late 1960s, under the name 'Burnt Oak'. They first played under the name Mr Big in 1972, at the Marquee Club in Oxford Street, London, when the manager billed them as Mr Big instead of Burnt Oak. The manager refused to change it, so it stuck for the rest of the band's career. In 1974 the band signed to Epic Records, releasing three singles, none of which made a significant breakthrough, but which did lead to appearances on Lift Off a TV pop show presented by Ayesha Brough, and Softly, Softly: Taskforce, a police drama, in which actor/singer Paul Nicholas played the lead singer. In 1975 Bob Hirschman, then manager of Mott the Hoople, took over as the band's manager. Their first album, Sweet Silence, was released on EMI, to greater acclaim than their previous singles. Promotional TV appearances for this album included Supersonic with Mike Mansfield and Superpop. In November 1975, Mr Big supported Queen on their A Night at the Opera tour. In 1976 Mr Big embarked on their own UK headline tour and supported Sweet on their tour of Europe, performing on TV in Denmark, Holland and the UK. Mr Big were also the first British band to be signed to Clive Davis's Arista Records in America.[citation needed] They recorded their second album, Mr Big, in Los Angeles, California with Val Garay. In 1977 the band toured the United States in February, March and April with Tom Petty, Journey, Kansas and The Runaways. Meanwhile, the single "Romeo" reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart,[1] despite a temporary ban by the BBC. It also sold well in Japan, Australasia, the U.S. and parts of Europe, and has since been covered by a band in South Africa. The follow-up single "Feel Like Calling Home" failed to capitalise on the success of the previous one, and only reached No. 35 in UK.[1] The band embarked on a UK headline tour with more television appearances in the UK and Europe. In 1978 the third album Seppuku was recorded with Ian Hunter as producer and the band again toured the UK. They appeared on Top Of The Pops with "Senora", and split up soon afterwards. Dicken and bassist Pete Crowther went on to form another band named Broken Home, which released two albums and played the Reading Festival in 1980, also scoring a couple of minor hits in Norway and Germany. Dicken has since collaborated with a variety of different artists under various different names, as well as releasing solo material and performing Mr Big greatest hits tours. The current Mr Big consists of originals Dicken and Eddie Carter with new members on bass, keyboards and percussion. In 1996, 'Rainbow Bridge' by Broken Home was released, with a 4 track CD called 'Broadway'. February 2001 finally saw the release of a Mr Big LP called Seppuku which had been produced by Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople in 1978, it was released on Angel Air Records label.The album was digitally remastered, using the original master tapes, and comes with a 16 page booklet with sleeve notes by Dicken - including exclusive interviews with Dicken and John Burnip.

Broken Home- first time on CD! Angel Air Records re issued Broken Home's self-titled 1980 debut album on CD February 25, 2003. Life Broken Home, 07 March 2004 The Angel Air edition of Life was remastered with 8 bonus tracks! the Angel Air version has sleevenotes, plus Dicken's own comments to all the songs. Added information about Burnt Oak's appearances at London's legendary Marquee Club in 1971 - 1972. Angel Air release a 2CD compilation entitled Dicken - From Mr Big to Broken Home and Back on 06 August 2007 These 2 cds contain songs from 1977.... 2007...including the 70's hit single Romeo.

Dicken has been writing and recording with Paul Gibbons in their studio Soundfactor Music in Oxford

The 4th album by Mr Big called Bitter Streets., produced by Dicken/Jake Carter/Paul Gibbon

Mr Big Lineup Dicken - Vocals Eddie Carter - Vocals & guitar Pete Crowther - Bass Paul Gibbon - Keyboards Dan Kindness - Drums

2012 - Broken Home reform to record a new album with the original band members (below) and are booked to play festivals in Europe.

The line up of the current band Dicken                Vocals/guitar Paul Gibbon        Vocals/ keyboards/guitar Peter Crowther    Bass Guitar / bvs Pete Barnacle      Drums..bvs