The fickle finger of fashion has confounded more than a few artists who lack confidence in what they're doing. For some, however, it can be an elevating challenge.
Back in the mid-'70s, Manchester singer-songwriter Clive Gregson led a British folk group called Any Trouble that was well-respected but slightly behind the curve at a time when people like Graham Parker were setting a new standard for folk rock. Gregson redirected Any Trouble's music toward a more poppish New Wave sound and signed with Stiff Records in 1980. NME called the band's first album "the most exciting debut since 'The Pretenders,' " but despite consistently great reviews, none of their five albums ever made a dent in the marketplace and Gregson dissolved the group in 1984.
Fashion finished, Gregson returned to folk and hooked up with singer Christine Collister, taking up where Richard and Linda Thompson left off when they'd split several years earlier. After six years of beautiful, dark records and an extended stint as members of Richard Thompson's touring band, Gregson and Collister themselves broke up, but not before producing their own parting-of-the-ways album, which some say rivals the Thompsons' "Shoot Out the Lights" as a gripping testament to love gone sour as seen from both sides of the bed.