The Combine

The Combine were formed in late 1984 by Chris Philpott and John Wratten following the split of Small World, and their first recruit was Rob Harrington on bass guitar, Rob (aka Spike) was the singer / guitarist with the punk band The Partisans. One of The Partisan’s best tracks "Anger & Fear" would go on to become a favourite in The Combine live set, also to complete the line-up Tim Sharpe was recruited on drums. Tim had been a follower of Small World and The Combine was Tim’s first band, and now with the line up complete, the band went on to have a short but glorious life which lasted about 18 months. The first song recorded was “Dreams Come True” and this was the track chosen to appear on the famous Countdown compilation in 1985. The track wasn’t too much of a departure from the Small World sound and style, and they went on to write an album’s worth of songs including “Seventeen”/ “Astral Flight” (both demoed for Countdown), and “Fight to Survive” / “Hooked” (recorded at Village Studios in Dagenham) but unfortunately many of the songs that were written and gigged during this period were never recorded. The band gigged extensively throughout 1985 and early 1986 (debuting at The Westcliffe Hotel in Clacton in March 1985) before disbanding in the middle of 1986, with John, Chris and Tim continuing to collaborate for a short while after that, recording two more tracks at Rick Buckler’s Arkentide Studios in London.