To have a career spanning 30 years, a successful movie soundtrack to boot, and a huge tour (including a show in Greenwich) still looming, would be wishful thinking for many bands of today.

But for 80s band Go West and its Kingston-born lead singer Peter Cox, it's a reality, and shows no signs of slowing.

It was 30 years ago that Go West stormed the charts with their hit single We Close Our Eyes.

Three decades later, and the band are as busy as they were back in the 80s, with an anniversary tour of Australia and the UK starting next month.

Before their three month tour begins, they performed at this weekend's Rewind Festival in Henley.

With hits including Call Me, King of Wishful Thinking (from Pretty Woman), We Close our Eyes and a cover of Sex on Fire, Peter Cox and Richard Drummie had the 40,000 crowd in the palms of their hands.

Peter said: "The King of Wishful Thinking is still the song in our catalogue which generates the most money and it's always a pleasure.

“Playing a song to an audience when you've had a hand in writing it and hearing them sing the chorus back while I'm just standing there smiling, life is good."

 

 

 

It was in 1990 that Go West struck gold with their song being chosen for the movie blockbuster Pretty Woman.

"It was definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time because we were signed to EMI in America and the film company came to them and said we would like the soundtrack to this film with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere."

Despite Robert Palmer, who was also on EMI's books, actually being paid to produce a song for the film, it was Go West's track which was deemed to be more commercial, and ultimately chosen as the soundtrack.

The Go West duo also had the chance to meet the leading actress Julia Roberts, which led to a little misunderstanding, as Peter recalled:

"We met Julia Roberts very briefly. In America, they call movies shows, and she said to me 'You guys have a song in my show'.

“Now I didn't know that that was film speak at the time and it seemed quite a self-important thing for Julia Roberts to say it was her show. I now know it in context.

"We had a very brief conversation with her and then Kiefer Sutherland, who was very clearly being very protective, came and said to Julia – away from these two Englishmen. So that was the end of that."

Go West’s UK tour begins on October 13, and includes a gig at the O2 Indigo on December 4. Go to gowest.org.uk