East 17

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Albums / Singles

East 17 put Walthamstow firmly on the pop map and were proof positive that looking like four plumbers need not stand in the way of stardom (at least, not if they are managed by pop guru Tom 'Bros' Watkins). Tony Mortimer was the songsmith, Brian Harvey provided muscles, and John Hendy and Terry Coldwell completed the quota of edginess. Where Take That were clean cut, East 17 were all mean stares, backwards baseball caps and threatening hand gestures, which of course was lapped up by their fans: East 17 had bad boy appeal. Mortimer even proved he could knock out a tune, from House Of Love to huge Christmas hit Stay Another Day, the video for which saw the boys dressed in virginal white round the piano, Christmas bells a-ringing. It was all going so well until Harvey decided to disclose to the fans that the drugs do work, Mortimer quit and the other two went back to unblocking toilets (presumably). A Harvey-inspired comeback in the late 1990s as E-17 was shortlived.