Prowse was born at Chester City Hospital and grew up in Little Sutton, a suburb of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire where he attended Sutton Comprehensive School. Having performed in school bands When in Rome and Joseph Groome Towers, Prowse formed Pele in 1989 along with Dally, Robbo, Nico and Jim McCallister. Signed by Michael Levy, Baron Levy in March 1991 to M&G Records/Polydor, the band went on to release two studio albums, one live album and six singles. Pele's singles never reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, with it being often remarked that Pele sold more of their famous primary colour T-shirts than they did records. However they scored a number one single in South Africa with "Megalomania", and had other hits in Holland, Portugal and Belgium. After nine tours of the UK, including those with Del Amitri and The Pogues, they split in 1996 due to problems with the record company whose efforts to make Prowse record as a solo artist were resisted by the singer. Prowse celebrated the 25th anniversary of first album Fireworks with a UK tour in the early 2017 with a 25th anniversary of The Sport of Kings tour announced for 2018.
Amsterdam
Prowse went on to form Amsterdam in 1999 with former Blow Monkeys drummer Tony Kiley and cousin Johnny Barlow. It was not until September 2004 that the band managed to secure a record deal in the form of London-based Beat Crazy. They released one album The Journey in February 2005 and three singles, "The Journey" and "Does This Train Stop on Merseyside" also hit the lower reaches of the chart. The partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in 2006. The band then signed to The Stranglers management company and released their next album Arm in Arm on CIA Recordings in 2008. "Does This Train Stop on Merseyside" regularly elicited an emotional response from Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Peel's widow Sheila Ravenscroft went on the station after the DJ's death and confirmed that 'He was not capable of playing it without crying'. The song itself got a further lease of life in 2009 as one of the centre pieces of Christy Moore's album Listen, which spent five weeks at the top spot in his home country. During this time, the band struck up a friendship with Elvis Costello who used them as his backing band on the Jonathan Rosstelevision show as well as support act on several occasions. Prowse also performed a duet with Costello for EMI Records with a cover of The Searchers' 1964 hit "Don't Throw Your Love Away" for the Liverpool Number Ones Project in 2008. He also picked up a musical icon award on Costello's behalf at Liverpool's Titanic Hotel in November 2014.
Discography
Albums
Does This Train Stop On Merseyside: The Very Best Of Ian Prowse 2012
"You Can't Win Em All Mum" Digital/ Video single 2015
Other work
Prowse is a member of the Irish Sea Sessions, which is described as "Part super group, part colossal session and part festival, all in a single gig". April 2012 saw the release of the career spanning Does This Train Stop On Merseyside: The Very Best Of Ian Prowse. Prowse and former Style Council drummer Steve White released a version of Bruce Springsteen song "Rosalita" in 2013, for the 'Check 'em Lads' testicular cancer charity. Prowse has a young daughter named after the song. He released his first solo album, Who Loves Ya Baby? in March 2014 initially via PledgeMusic and then IRL Records. Prowse also graduated with a BA History Degree in 2009 and completed a master's degree in Irish Studies in 2010 at the University of Liverpool. His Masters thesis was entitled 'Locating the Role of Christy Moore in Irish Folk and Traditional Music'. Prowse released his second solo album Companeros in 2015, the project rediscovered long lost songs from the British Isles. Elvis Costello has invited Ian Prowse to be his special guest on his Just Trust UK Tour in 2020.
