Fastway

Formed in England in 1983 by former Motörhead guitarist 'Fast' Eddie Clarke and ex-UFO bassist Peter Way, Fastway was a heavy metal rock group that produced several albums and went through several line-up changes. When Clarke died aged 67 in 2017, only singer Toby Jepson and drummer Matt Eldridge were left. The original band had included former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley and newcomer Dave King as vocalist. Way soon departed to work with Ozzy Osbourne and bass player Mick Feat came on board uncredited for their self-titled debut album. It spent two weeks on the UK's Official Albums Chart and peaked at number 43, reaching number 31 on the Billboard 200. The single 'Easy Livin'' spent three weeks on the UK Singles Chart at number 74 and reached number 32 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs Chart.

Charlie McCracken signed on as bassist but he and drummer Shirley quit soon after and in 1986 guitarist Shane Carroll, bass player Paul Reid and drummer Alan Connor were added. They toured and in 1986 contributed several songs to the soundtrack of a comedy-horror rock film directed by actor Charles Martin Smith, which featured Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons.

Clarke made 'On Target' (1988) as Fastway with singer Lea Hart and a session band but it reached only number 135 on the 200 and in 1990 they released 'Bad Bad Girls', which failed to register. In 2007, former Little Angels vocalist Toby Jepson joined Fastway with festival and concert appearances and in 2011 they released their final album 'Eat Dog Eat'. When Clarke died, Jepson said on the Fastway website that they had spoken of re-recording parts of 'Eat Dog Eat' for an anniversary release: "I would have been happy to do so in a heartbeat. Sadly, that won't happen now."