HISTORY

Biography

The Opposition 1979 – 2019

The Opposition 2019 features Mark Long from the original band. Mark formed the Opposition in 1979 as a four piece with Chris Thompson on bass, Ralph Hall on drums and Dave Wolfson, keyboards and sax. The band recorded one album in 1979 but split before it could be released. Mark and Ralph continued the band and were joined by Marcus Bell, to form the classic Opposition line up. In 1994 with various line ups and 8 albums later, Mark and Marcus played their last live gig in France. 24 years later the Opposition is on the road again, to promote a new album and release of the remastered back catalogue. A four piece once again featuring Mark Long, Bernard Husband on bass, Nico Watts on guitar and keyboard and David Beckett on drums. Bernard Husbands joined the band in 2016 replacing Marcus Bell who sadly died in December 2014. His death was the impetus for Ralph and Mark to pick up their instruments and play together as a form of bereavement therapy.  Bernard had played in a band with Ralph Hall in the 1990s and various other London based bands. He was the obvious choice to work with Mark and Ralph on the new album. 

David Beckett was The Opposition roadie, running away from school at the age of 14 to join them on the road in the 80s. He played keyboards on Intimacy and joined the band on stage for the Intimacy tour, playing keyboards and percussion. He then joined Josi Without Colours as a drummer which became his current band – Voice of the Sea – where he plays drums & piano. When Ralph Hall suddenly moved to New Zealand, Mark asked David to join the band on the road in October 2018. He will continue to play live with The Opposition for dates in 2019. Nico Watts was only 5 years old when the Opposition last played live and brings down the average age of the band significantly. He is a multi-instrumentalist who fronts his own anarchic punk band based in Brighton, which changes its name and line-up for every gig. The 5th “member”, Kenny Jones will also be touring with the band, dragged from the comfort of his recording studio in north London. Kenny has been producing and engineering Opposition albums from the beginning, being absolutely instrumental on Breaking the Silence through to Somewhere in Between. He also toured with the band in the 80s and resumes his place at the mixing desk for 2019 tour.