*before gene, martin played keyboards in a HI-NRG cabaret act

*martin grew up in wales, moved to watford, england at age nine

*discovered the sex pistols at age seven while watching top of the pops

*martin had a "band" at the age of eleven with two friends from school...no
instruments, but had designed a few sleeves and made up song titles 

*CAN'T DECIDE IF SHE LOVES ME was first song gene ever wrote together

*SLEEP WELL TONIGHT is based on the violence martin saw in his adolescent
hometown of watford.  he says, "there was always great fear involved in
simple things like walking down the street at seven o'clock"

*video for SLEEP...was shot in steve mason's hometown of kingston

*as a teen, martin actually listened to rap, remembers buying his first
public enemy album...also listened to ABC, bow wow wow, smiths from 1983
on, the redskins, beatles, and small faces


*martin studied politics after leaving school (sister actually writes
speeches for several british cabinet ministers)

*steve and mat used to be in a post-baggy (you know what that is, right?)
band called SPIN - band was terminated after steve's bassist brother was
severly brain-damaged after a motorway crash on the way home from a gig


*steve and mat recruited kevin miles who was a friend of the drummer's in
grimsby, england

*steve met martin at a gig at the underworld club in london.  steve
approached him and simply said "can you sing?".  
steve liked the trousers martin was wearing and that was why he
approached him to begin with *s*

*child's body is about eating disorders - written from a female
perspective...proof of martin's ability to transcend gender

*steve lived in hong kong from 1981 to 1988, which is why the gig done the
night of the handover was so emotional for him

*footage shot for the making of the SLEEP...vid was actually confiscated by
local police because they had accidently caught a violent street fight on
film...cops wanted it for evidence, so it had to be cut from the video that
was almost banned on british tv anyway