You remember East 17, yeah? That band from Walthamstow who weren’t trying to be all polished and perfect like Take That. The ones with the baggy jeans and the backwards caps. The ones who gave us “Stay Another Day,” which still gets played every single Christmas without fail.
I was about twelve when they were massive. My mate’s older sister had their posters all over her bedroom wall. Brian Harvey was her favourite. She cried for about three days when he left the band.
Anyway, I got curious the other day. What are those four blokes actually doing now? Because it’s been, what, thirty years since they first started? Longer, actually. And the story’s more complicated than I thought it’d be.
How It All Started
Tony Mortimer put East 17 together back in 1991. Him, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell. They were all from Walthamstow, proper East London boys. The name comes from the E17 postcode, which is probably the most straightforward band name decision ever made.
They weren’t going for the clean-cut look that other boy bands had. They wanted to be urban, a bit rough around the edges. And people loved it. Between 1992 and about 1997, they sold millions of records. Actual millions.
“It’s Alright” was their first massive hit. Then came “Deep,” which did even better. But “Stay Another Day” was the big one. Christmas 1994. Everyone and their nan bought it. It got to number one and stayed there. My mum still puts it on every December. Drives me mad, but in a good way, I suppose.
The thing is, when you’re that successful that quickly, stuff can go wrong fast. And it did.
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When It All Went Sideways
Brian Harvey left in 1997. He’d said some stuff on the radio about ecstasy that didn’t go down well. Stupid thing to say, really, especially back then when everyone was much more sensitive about that sort of thing. The band tried to carry on without him, but it wasn’t the same.
Tony Mortimer, who wrote most of their songs, wanted out too. By the late 90s, East 1,7 as people knew them was done. Finished. Four blokes who’d been mates were now barely speaking.
What happened next is where it gets messy. Really messy.
Tony Mortimer Then and Now
Tony’s always been the shy one. The songwriter. The bloke who felt a little uneasy with all the screaming fans and attention that never stopped.
He’d gone solo after East 17 broke up for a while. Had released a few songs, but nothing that scorched the charts. Then he began writing for other people. Producing tracks. Working in the background, where he seemed a great deal happier.
He did return to East 17 for a spell between 2006 and 2010. They did some tours, trying to recapture the old magic. But Tony left again. Told it wasn’t for him anymore.
These days, from what I can find, he’s still making music. Writing songs. Doing his own thing without the pressure of being in a massive band. He’s hinted at new solo stuff coming out, but whether that actually happens is anyone’s guess. He seems alright, though. Stable. Doing what he wants.
Brian Harvey’s Rough Road
Right. So this is the difficult bit to write, because Brian has been through a very difficult phase after quitting East 17.
He tried going solo. Had a little bit of success early, but didn’t hold. Then things got bad. Mental health struggles. Money problems. He had a terrible accident in 2005, where he somehow ran himself over with his own car. He pulled through, so to speak, but it was pretty dicey there for a while.
It’s been up and down since then. He’s been super-open about his struggles. Takes courage, really, to be that honest when it’s all coming apart.
Brian’s been quite active on social media over the past few years. Vlogs about his life, the industry, and what happened with the band. Some of it is hard to watch because you can see he’s still hurting from all that went down.
There’s talk he might be working on new music in 2025. I hope that’s true. I hope he’s doing better. But honestly, it’s difficult to know for sure.
Terry Coldwell and John Hendy Keeping It Going
These two have basically kept East 17 alive as a touring band. Well, tried to anyway.
After the original split, Terry and John were the ones who wanted to keep performing under the East 17 name. There’s been a legal battle over who actually owns the name. Proper complicated stuff that’s gone on for years. At some points, they’ve had to call themselves E-17 or other variations because of rights issues.
But they’ve carried on. They’ve been doing gigs throughout 2024 and into 2025. Not big, massive arena shows like they used to be. More holiday parks, 90s nostalgia nights; that type of circuit. Which sounds depressing when you say it like that, but there are still people who want to see them. Wanna go to a live show to listen to those songs.
I watched a clip from one of their recent performances on the internet. Honestly, they still sound halfway decent. “Stay Another Day” still hits the same way it did back in 1994.
The Other Members You Might Not Know About
So there’s a thing that most people don’t realise. East 17 band members have changed over the years beyond just the original four.
When Brian left in the 90s, they brought in a bloke called Robbie Craig to replace him. He was with them for a few years, but never achieved household-name status like the original members. We can’t find much about what Robbie is up to these days. He appears to have dropped out of the music business entirely.
There was also Joe Livermore, who joined during one of the reunion attempts. Once again, not much about where he is now or what he’s doing.
The current touring version seems to mainly be Terry and John, sometimes with session musicians helping out. It changes depending on the gig.
What About New Music?
Everyone always asks this. Are they recording anything new?
The short answer is not really. Not as a full band anyway. The touring version performs the old hits because that’s what people want to hear. Nobody’s turning up to hear brand new East 17 songs. They want “House of Love,” “Thunder,” and “Stay Another Day.”
Tony’s mentioned working on solo material. Brian’s hinted at recording. But nothing concrete that you can actually go and listen to right now.
The music industry has changed completely since the 90s. Streaming pays next to nothing. Physical sales are dead. The money’s in touring, but only if you can fill venues. For 90s bands who aren’t at Take That’s level, it’s tough going.
Looking at Where They Are Now
It’s weird, isn’t it? Four blokes from East London who were absolutely massive for a few years. Sold-out arenas. Had number one records. Girls were screaming at them everywhere they went.
Now they’re all doing completely different things. Tony’s off making music quietly. Brian’s struggling but still here. Terry and John are playing the nostalgia circuit. And the other East 17 Band Members who came later have pretty much vanished from public view.
My mate’s sister, the one with all the posters? She’s got kids of her own now. Still loves East 17 though. Still puts “Stay Another Day” on every Christmas. Her kids think it’s ancient history, which I suppose it is.
But those songs were brilliant. Properly brilliant. They meant something to a lot of people. Still do.
Would it be nice to see all four original East 17 band members back together? Of course it would. Will it happen? Probably not. Too much history. Too much bad blood. Too much time passed.
And maybe that’s okay. Sometimes things run their course. Sometimes the music’s enough to remember them by. Those songs aren’t going anywhere. They’re still there whenever you want them.
That’s got to count for something, hasn’t it?
