Clay
CLAY 4
1980
Red vinyl

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Chris Ellis (B)
Les Hunt (G)

1. Liar
2. Wild Woman

Carrere
1981

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Chris Ellis (B)
Les Hunt (G)

1. Ride The Wind
2. On The Road

DEMON: 'One Helluva Night' (Carrere Records CAR 226)
One helluva case of over-exposure. It might just be my imagination, but it appears to me that Demon's debut album has been pretty much milked dry of saleable singles tracks. This, plus the fact that this very same song appeared on the Beeb's recent 'Friday Rock Show' comp., makes 'Night's release pretty redundant, suppurating boil laden pic disc notwithstanding.

Good, basic, slightly gonzoid Britrock this may be, but how about something new next time, chaps? Please.
(Geoff Barton, Sounds, 13/03/82)

Carrere
CAR 226
1981
Picture disc

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Chris Ellis (B)
Les Hunt (G)

1. One Helluva Night
2. Into The Nightmare

Carrere
CAL 126
1981

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Les Hunt (G,B)

1. Full Moon
2. Night Of The Demon
3. Into The Nightmare
4. Father Of Time
5. Decisions
6. Liar
7. Big Love
8. Ride The Wind
9. Fool To Play The Hard Way
10. One Helluva Night

Carrere
CAL 139
1982

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Chris Ellis (B)
Les Hunt (G)

1. Intro: An Observation
2. Don't Break The Circle
3. The Spell
4. Total Possession
5. Sign Of A Madman
6. Victim Of Fortune
7. Have We Been Here Before
8. Strange Institution
9. The Grand Illusion
10. Beyond The Gates
11. Deliver Us From Evil

+ Insert

Demon have just discovered that orders for their merchandise have not been fulfilled by their merchandising company and are taking immediate steps to rectify the matter.

Anyone who's written away for merchandise should contact Demon at Clay Records, ....., Stoke On Trent giving details of what was ordered together with the number of the cheque or postal order. The band undertake to complete the order or refund the money.

They apologise to their fans and ask them not to deal with the Demon Merchandising and Fan Club for the time being.
(Sounds, 18/06/83)

Demon release their third album called 'The Plague' this weekend on Clay Records.
(Sounds, 25/06/83)

Clay
CLAY 25
1983

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Chris Ellis (B)
Les Hunt (G)
Andy Richards (K)

1. The Plague
2. The Only Sane Man

DEMON: 'The Plague' Clay LP 6 ****
An evil-looking figure in a pin-striped suit and bowler leans against a tattered UN flag with a syringe in his hand and a foot on the world. Provocative pessimism of the highest level and a fitting cover for this doom-laden document of foreseen disaster, 'The Plague'.

It's Demon's third album and their most complete both lyrically and musically, with Chris Ellis and Andy Richards working overtime on keyboards and consequently increasing the depth of the songs and Dave Hill penning some of the band's best ever lyrics to great effect.

It's an album which moves from anger to melancholy and from sarcasm to sincerity in it's horrific account of nuclear war and its after effect, warning us at first to beware of 'The Plague' and complaining bitterly of how they "Turn a blind eye to the jobless millions/Queues of wreckage to be broken down/Leaders feed us with their solutions/Mistakes the death cart clears away" But it offers no hope in 'Nowhere to run', asking questions like "What's for the living?/They'll build you up to knock you down again".

'Fever in the city' stems from a marvellous melancholic acoustic guitar and piano piece and emotionally explains how "the wind she cries" at the diabolical outcome of the city, while 'Blackheath' reports on the naivety of the people who are trying to adapt to the new life: "Keep belief in avoiding wars/Keep faith in Santa Claus/Feel free the first time in your life/Give yourself away".

'The writing on the wall' offers no consolation ; in fact, it's quite a bitter view of society, but still manages of humour with "Life's no more exciting after twenty one/Than Billy Graham or Mary Millington with no drawers on/Piss artists who feel they're owned one after time/Rise up from the slaughter-house into mime".

There's also sarcastic political comment like "Dr. Frankenstein getting government grants/While Mrs. T nurses another right-wing transplant" and even a pathetic shout of "You've never had it so good" followed by a wicked cackle.

'The only sane man' is a pitiful resignation, while 'A step too far' hints on the wheel coming full circle: "Run free you spaced out monkey/Run free you superman... You wait in the slipstream/To be called." And the album ends with a startling cry of "Oh my god - You finally went and did it!"

A must for CNDers everywhere, it's a package which'll surely expand the Demon appreciation society.
(Mark Putterford, Sounds, 02/07/83)

Clay
CLAYLP 6
1983
Gatefold + booklet

Clay
CLAYLP 6P
1983
Picture disc

Atlantic
80130-1
1983
U.S.A.

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Chris Ellis (B)
Les Hunt (G)

1. The Plague
2. Nowhere To Run
3. Fever In The City
4. Blackheath
5. Blackheath
6. The Writing On The Wall
7. The Only Sane Man
8. A Step Too Far

Clay
12 CLAY 41
1984

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright
Steven Watts

1. Wonderland
2. Nowhere To Run
3. Blackheath

Clay
CLAY 48D
1988

1. Tonight
2. Hurricane
3. Don't Break The Circle
4. Night Of The Demon

2 x 7"

Spaced Out
SPMCD 002
2002

Dave Hill (V)
Mal Spooner (G)
John Wright (D)
Les Hunt (G,B)

1. Full Moon
2. Night Of The Demon
3. Into The Nightmare
4. Father Of Time
5. Decisions
6. Liar
7. Big Love
8. Ride The Wind
9. Fool To Play The Hard Way
10. One Helluva Night
11. Wild Woman
12. On The Road Again
13. Liar (1st recording 1980)
14. Night Of The Demon (1988 re-mix)

Spaced Out
SPMCD 005
2002

Dave Hill (V)
John Waterhouse (G)
John Wright (D)
Andy Dale (B)
Stepen Watts (K)

1. First Class
2. Cold In The Air
3. Touching The Ice
4. Second Stage
5. Proxima
6. The Link
7. New Ground
8. From The Outside
9. Wonderland
10. Hemispheres
11. New Ground (live)
12. Only Sane man (live)
13. Wonderland (acoustic)