Back in August 2021 there was a superb release by a label called Smiling C from Santa Cruz, California. It was a 12″ by the obscure Manchester band The Bernhardts. These days these record, titled “Moonglow” is long sold out but I was lucky to find a copy myself. Did you got yours?
The Bernhardts was formed by Simon Milner on vocals and trumpet, Steve Hopkins on keyboards and Neil Fitzpatrick on percussion and guitar. Simon and Neil had been friends since grade school and they had been together previously on a band called The Smirks. Steve on the other hand had produced music for Dislocation Dance, Jilted John and Happy Mondays. He also worked with Morrissey. At some point in the early 80s they all decided to collaborate.
They used aliases when they played. Steve was called Rio Fortune, Neil was Claude Walloon and Simon was Oscar Bernhardt. They played as The Oscar Bernhardt Ensemble. They were more jazzy in this early incarnation but eventually their sound evolved and decided to go by the name The Bernhardts.
They recorded some songs for Parlophone with producer Mike Howlett. The “Moonglow” 12″ includes songs from that session. Some released, some unreleased. The four songs on the record were “Send Your Heart to Me” and “I Hear Your Calling” on the A side and “Crescent Moon (Instrumental)” and “Love Breaks In” on the B side.
The band managed to play a few gigs, got radio play and had the backing of a major. But they never got the chance to become bigger even though they did put out the single “I Hear You Calling”. This fine record came out in 1984 on both 7″ and 12″. The 7″ had “Send Your Heart to Me” on the B side while the 12″ had “I Hear You Calling (Extended Mix)” on the A side, and the 7″ of this song plus and extended mix of “Send Your Heart to Me” on the B side. The design and photography for the record was credited to Iain McKell.
One thing that caught my attention was that there were some acetate 7″s that the band put out in 1983. I don’t know much about these releases but I assume they are very limited and hard to come by. There’s one that had “Send Your Heart to Me” and “Now or Never (LA Test Master)” and another with “Crescent Moon” and “Love Breaks In (Version 3 Strawberry)”.
Eventually they would become Distant Cousins when Simon’s wife Doreen joined the band. That’s a band I also have planned to write about. Maybe I should do that soon.
These days Simon busks in Manchester with The Charleston Charlies, Neil plays indiepop with his daughter Hann and Steve plays in a Latin-soul-jazz quintet called Urban Rooftops after finishing a PHD in laser physics (WOW).
I couldn’t find much more info about the band. I am curious about their gigs. Did they play many? Did anyone caught them live? Are there more recordings by them? How come they reappeared in 2021 with “Moonglow”?
I’d love to know more about The Bernhardts!
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