Spike and The Quireboys

Spike Not Singing With The Quire?

With the dust still settling on Spike’s split from the remaining Quireboys, it seems battle lines have been drawn on the future of both camps with the release of statements from both sides of the acrimonious division.

Spike’s erstwhile band mates made it clear that future work with Spike is untenable, it has been stated that Spike was fired by phone call followed up by an official letter. They stated that his solo shows during the pandemic and lockdown periods, which Spike has said were in small venues and designed to encourage people to go out again, were booked without the band’s knowledge. Spike retorts that Quireboys shows were booked without his knowledge. Both statements will be shown in full in the accompanying page.

The issues that I can see moving forward are these:

- Both parties have claimed ownership of The Quireboys name with Companies House. Spike says he holds the trademark to the name and has the Quireboys name lodged with Companies House while his former band mates claim they have been working as a business under the name The Quireboys which Spike was invited to join but declined.

- If the remaining members, recently pictured now as a five-piece under the Quireboys name, honour any existing dates using the name, could they, given Spike’s absence, be sued for breach of contract?

However this split gets resolved, it seems clear that there is a great deal more water to pass under this particular bridge before there is any clarity as to how things will play out.

In a puzzling move, the remaining Quireboys,in recent dates honouring commitments made, seem to have targeted known fans of Spike and ejected them from shows for allegedly “staging a protest” which is apparently not true at all. I suspect any further ruffling of feathers of the existing fanbase could only have a detrimental effect.

As far as the immediate future goes, it’ll be a matter of “watch this space” and we’ll bring you updates as and when they are announced.