No time to live for tomorrow, I'm gonna live for today!

RSG! pays tribute to another great, long lost band and speaks to former guitarist Eric Lindsay.

The first time I saw Whiteout was when they burst onto the scene with a raucous performance on The Word. They looked fantastic and sounded amazing. Struttin' their stuff amongst a crowd of dancing hip clubbers of the day. The Word was Channel 4s modern attempt at recreating the buzz of 60s TV shows such as Ready Steady Go and it worked thanks to spectacular legendary live performances by the likes of Oasis and Nirvana.

It was the perfect platform for bands to make their big screen debuts. Whiteout couldn't have done it any better with the good time swagger and youthful exuberance of the jaunty 'No Time'. I can't have been the only person knocked out by their performance surely!? They looked incredibly young, yet so perfectly formed and at the top of their game. You couldn't have made it up. They looked to have it all.

But what happened? What the hell went wrong? Why have a band this great been consigned to rocks' unwanted forgotten pile. Why does an album as glorious as 'Bite It' languish in the bargain bins when lesser bands have gone on to bigger and better things.

I guess the writing was on the wall from the very start. For every person such as I to be instantly bowled over you would expect an equal amount of people to be instantly suspicious and envious of a band who looked and sound so immaculate.

It also probably didn't help that Whiteout came from as far north of London as you could possible get. The media were never gonna be rushing up to their doorstep when they were happy drooling over the latest bunch of no hopers who happened to frequent their local Camden boozer. It has to be said Whiteout weren't really prepared to embrace the media too for their own benefit which in some ways goes a long way to enhance their credibility and honesty but in another way portrays their naivety.

You need the press on your side if you wanna succeed. That's why so many arse lickers make it I guess. It was obvious Whiteout didn't want to/wasn't prepared to play the bullshit game which is fair enough and says more about the industry than it does about the band.

Another big mistake (in my humble opinion) was signing to Silvertone Records. Unlike the labels' previous record with the Stone Roses (surely that was a big warning sign???) Silvertone did persist in trying to break Whiteout but their marketing drive grossly underachieved/ran out of steam/or simply gave up. They simply didn't cash in on the momentum the band created when they initially burst onto the scene.

There was another option on the table at the time. The band could have and should have signed to Heavenly Records. It seemed like a more natural home for them.

The original line up released four classic singles (No Time, Starrclub, Detroit and Jackie's Racing) and a strong debut album (Bite It) that stands up strong today and would probably be a lot bigger hit in 2006 than it was back in 1995. Remember this was a time before Oasis phenomena really blew up. A time when indie meant small is beautiful. Yet, like Oasis, Whiteouts sound was made with a bigger ambition, a new found confidence and aimed at a bigger stage.

Their ambition was to follow in the footsteps of the true greats; Beatles, Stones, Big Star, Stone Roses… It would be Oasis who finally blew the small minded indie mentality out of the water but the tide was already turning and bands like Whiteout recognised the need to think big, to try and plug the gaping whole left by our last great white hope, the Stone Roses.

If Whiteout were famous for one thing it is the fact that they were part of the bill for Oasis' first major UK tour sharing equal billing. Eric has fond memories.

"Oasis- pretty much all good memories" confirms Eric, "It was an amazing time, and retrospectively it was quite something to see the media machine go into overdrive- at the start of the tour we were at the same stage, but a month later it was clear they were on their way to the top- The irony was we were the ones in the tourbus while they slummed it in b&bs and a transit- with bonehead driving! Though I pretty much got on with them all, Liam was my favourite- even when he was skint he still acted like a star- and a very civil one; never let anyone tell you otherwise. He was friendly and approachable to fans to everybody".

Despite drifting into relative obscurity the band did manage to experience their own form Beatlemania when they went down a storm on a tour of Japan, creating the kind of hysteria and crazed fandom only the Japanese can provide. If all else fails the fact that you've been chased down the street surely looks good on any rock CV!

"Japan was the culmination of everything we had wanted to be and do" says Eric, "playing to full houses of right up for it fans, we really felt like we connected in a way we'd never done before (and never after). I cried on the plane home- a rare occurrence".

Rock history is littered with bands that could have been/should have been. Time will prove, Whiteout, were indeed a true bona fide classic, great lost band.

They looked like the Small Faces (all perfectly formed: hair (tick), clobber (tick), attitude (tick) - three ticks and you've got it folks!). They sounded more like the Faces meets Big Star. Their songs sounded like a cross between the struttin' swagger of the Faces 'Stay with me' and the meandering big, bold soul of 'Ballad of El Goodo' by Big Star or Primal Screams' 'I'm losing More than I ever Had' (pre-Loaded version).

Big, sprawling, beautifully messy guitar licks with a country rock swagger woven around big hearty soulful vocals. Guitarist Eric Lindsay played a mean Keef inspired guitar with dirty, sprawling, raw licks reminiscent of the Stones' Exile on Main Street era creating classic power pop anthems and beautifully melodic, heartfelt torch ballads.

At the time I claimed 'Bite It' was "the ultimate feel good album" and listening to it today the good vibes resonate like never before. From the cheeky 'Start Me Up' like chords of the opener 'Thirty-Eight' and onwards with the groovesome 'No time', 'Altogether' and 'Everyday' the band packed a mighty punch but were equally adept at turning on those great big melancholic taps in the sky with the lovelorn sounds of 'Baby don't give up on me yet, 'No more tears' and 'We should stick together'.

I interviewed the boys a few times and felt I get to know them quite well. They weren't the greatest interviewees in the world but off tape they were chatty, warm and friendly. It felt like our musical influences were entwined. The last time I saw them it was just Eric and Paul left with a new line up, giving it one last shot, promoting their self financed follow up long player, 'Big Wow'. The band didn't play a single track from their previous incarnation, which seemed very odd at the time and you could sense the mood had changed and the guys were clearly tired of trying. It wasn't long before the band called it a day and that was that.

Until now! Thanks to the wonderful myspace.com, RSG! managed to track down Eric Lindsay and is delighted to report that he is still playing in his native homeland with his new outfit, Eli. The songs are sounding great with a welcoming chilled country vibe.

Despite the split it's great to hear 90% of the band are still good mates as Eric confirms, "I still consider Paul, Fudge and Eggy our keyboard player as my best friends. In fact we all met up, for the first time in ages, with our wives and kids last week. Rock and roll, eh! Stuart I see occasionally and have a laugh with, Andrew I don't".

"I don't have any regrets, no point! I do, with the benefit of hindsight, realise that we did about 1001 ones things which I would now do in a totally different way. So now that I've got a new group, that's how I'm going to do things! Onwards and upwards."

Don't forget to check out Eric's new band at www.myspace.com/elipop and if you ever come across a copy of the band's debut album snap it up quick because in time, people will start to realise what a great band Whiteout once was!