Eye Of The Hurricane first appeared on the Eye Of The Hurricane album released on 9th November 1987. All the songs on Eye of the Hurricane had a suffix after the title to indicate where they were written or the location the idea of the song came from, in this case it was Eye of the Hurricane [Point of Ayr].
Point of Ayr is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately to the north of Talacre in Flintshire, at the mouth of the Dee estuary.
Mike Peters has returned to Point of Ayr/Talacre Lighthouse for creative input, most noticeably in 2017 when during the recording of Walk Forever By My Side for the BBC Songs of Praise programme where he is seen sat outside the lighthouse and walking through the dunes with Jules Jones Peters.
Dave Sharp became increasingly fed up with the way the album was going, looking back it must have been a nightmare for him. The problem was Eddie and I wrote a lot of the main guitar parts within the context of writing songs and we were very fussy about the way they should be played. In the end, Dave would refuse to have either of us in the room with him whilst playing guitar, which then made it very frustrating for both myself and Eddie. Dave also took a further position with his guitar playing – he refused to do more than one guitar part per song. He also refused to be “dropped in”, or to re-record over any mistakes. This meant that John Porter and I had to record a lot of secondary guitar parts for the songs. On the title track Eye of the Hurricane, Dave Sharp never even played at all. (Mike Peters, Alarm 2000 collection sleeve notes).
Running length: 3:45
Written By: Macdonald/Peters
Musicians
Mike Peters – Lead vocals & acoustic guitars
Eddie Macdonald – Bass guitar & backing vocals
Nigel Twist – Drums & backing vocals
Chris Stainton – Piano
Backing track recorded May/June 1987 at Great Linford Manor Studios, Milton Keynes, England.
Produced by John Porter. Engineered Tony Platt. Mixed by David Leonard.
Alternative studio recording releases – remaster, acoustic, reimagined
1997 – Mike Peters – Acoustic Works 1987-1991
Running length: 3:13
Musicians
Mike Peters – Vocals & acoustic guitar
Recorded in 1995 by Dan Mcloughlin at Fort Apachache Studios, Boston, Massachusetts USA. Produced by Michael Peters
2000 – The Alarm – The Alarm 2000 Collection Box Set : Eye Of The Hurricane 1987-1988 [Remastered]
Running length: 3:37
Musicians
Mike Peters – Lead vocals & acoustic guitars
Eddie Macdonald – Bass guitar & backing vocals
Nigel Twist – Drums & backing vocals
Chris Stainton – Piano
Remastered from the 1987 John Porter Mix recording by Mike Peters
Remastering Engineered by Gary Butler @ RTS Liverpool in 2000
2019 – Mike Peters presents The Alarm – Stream {Hurricane of Change} – Downstream disc
Running length: 3:10 plus 0:07 intro narration
Musicians
Mike Peters – 1st Voice, electric, acoustic guitars, harmonica and narration
Smiley – 2nd Voice, drums, percussion, tambourine
Jules Jones Peters – 3rd Voice, piano
George Williams – 4th Voice, bass guitar
Recorded at Sain Studios, Wales 8th – 12th February 2019
Recorded and engineered by George Williams
Assistant recording engineer Aled Hughes
Demonstration tape engineer Mark Warden.
Album appearances and discography for studio versions
9th November 1987 – The Alarm – Eye Of The Hurricane – IRS Records vinyl MIRG 1023, cassette MIRGC 1023 , CD DMIRG 1023 (UK Release). Original 1987 recording
Declaration was also released on vinyl, cassette and CD in USA, Canada, Europe and Spain. Vinyl and cassette in Australia. Vinyl and CD in Japan. Vinyl only Greece, Netherlands and Brazil. Cassette only Taiwan.
1997 – Mike Peters – Acoustic Works 1987-1991 – Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number No. 21C005. (CD) 1995 Fort Apache Acoustic Recording.
2000 – The Alarm – Eye Of The Hurricane (1987-1988) – Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number 21C013 (CD). Appearing as part of the Alarm 2000 collection box set and then later as an individual disc. 1987 recorded John Porter mix remastered.
2012 – The Alarm – Two classic albums: Strength / Eye of the Hurricane – EMI GOLD, no catalogue number (CD). 1987 recorded version.
2019 – Mike Peters presents The Alarm – Stream {Hurricane of Change} – Downstream disc – Twenty First Century Recording Company, catalogue number 21C112 (CD). 2019 recording.
Single appearances and discography for studio versions
UK releases
1987 – CD single – Rain In The Summertime – Track 4 – promo UK release IRS Records, Catalogue number DIRM144
Officially released live recordings – Audio
All are Worldwide Releases on Twenty First Century Recording Company
(Except where stated)
20th August 2005. Recorded at Capitol Records Studio A, Los Angeles, California, USA
Running Length 3:36. Mike Peters Solo acoustic
Released in 2005 on Alarmstock III Los Angeles Set 2 – When We Were Bullet Proof
26th January 2013. Recorded at The Gathering 21, Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales
Running length : 3:32. Band line-up : Mike Peters, James Stevenson, Craig Adams, Steve “Smiley” Barnard and Mark Taylor
Released in 2013 – The Alarm – Abide With Us – Live at The Gathering 2013, catalogue number 21C063
1st to 5th November 2017. Recorded at The Norwegian Church, Cardiff, Wales.
Running Length 4:44. Mike Peters Solo acoustic
Released 1st October 2019 – Mike Peters Presents the Alarm Electric Folklore Live, catalogue number 21C110
Officially released live recordings – VHS/DVD
All are Worldwide Releases on Twenty First Century Recording Company
(Except where stated)
26th January 2013. Recorded at The Gathering 21, Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Wales
Running length : 3:32, Band line-up : Mike Peters, James Stevenson, Craig Adams, Steve “Smiley” Barnard and Mark Taylor
Released in 2013 on DVD – The Alarm – Abide With Us – Live at The Gathering 2013 Catalogue number 21C063
Lyrics
Mission bells ring out from kingdom hall
A lone voice cries on the hillside
The winds from the north blow the sea to the shore
I walk away in the fateful moonlight
Love forsaken man, love forsaken land
For God’s sake don’t look back
Into the crucifix night
The storm of a cross
I live to love again and again
All my life
Oh I, I of the hurricane
I walk away in the wind and the rain
Into the eye of the hurricane
Face to face
The view from the hill looks bleak from where I stand
The waters are come in unto my soul
I can’t cry no more my eyes are bone dry sore
There’s a river of tears flowing down to the sea
I’m a desolate soul on a desolate shore
Destined to walk alone
Into the crucifix night
The storm of a cross
I live to love again and again
All my life
Oh I, I of the hurricane
I walk away in the wind and the rain
Into the eye of the hurricane
Face to face
When will I see you again?
I’m a desolate soul on a desolate shore
Destined to walk alone
Into the crucifix night
The storm of a cross
I live to love again and again
All my life
Oh I, I of the hurricane
I walk away in the wind and the rain
Into the eye of the hurricane
Face to face
2019 Downstream narration and lyrics
Narration – intro
The lights go down on a world fading fast and I walk away into the fateful moonlight
Lyrics
Mission bells ring out from kingdom hall
A lone voice cries on the hillside
The winds from the north blow the sea to the shore
I walk away in the fateful moonlight
Forsaken man, forsaken land
For God’s sake don’t look back
Into the crucifix night
The storm of a cross
I live to love again and again and again and again
All my life
Oh I, of the hurricane
I walk away in the wind and the rain
Into the eye of the hurricane
Face to face
The view from the hill looks bleak from where I stand
The waters are come in unto my soul
Can’t cry no more my eyes are bone dry sore
There’s a river of tears flowing down to the sea
The desolate soul on a desolate sea
Destined to walk alone
Into the crucifix night
The storm of a cross
I live to love again and again and again and again
All my life
Oh I, of the hurricane
I walk away in the wind and the rain
Into the eye of the hurricane
Face to face
Hurricane
When will I see you again?
(When will I see you again?)
Hurricane
(When will I see you again?)
When will I see you again?
(When will I see you again?)
When will I see you again?
Narration – outro
“When will I see you again?” I hear voices say through the sound of wind rushing over hill and vale. “When the new day dawns” is all I can answer back.
Audio & Visual Sources
Audio Link – 1987 remastered recording – from the official the Alarm youtube channel
Video Link – The Gathering 21 January 2013. The first ever full band performance of the song. Uploaded to youtube by Ian Edwards. Audience recording.
Images
