With the advent of punk rock and then new wave, Clive Gregson realised they needed a change of material and started taking songwriting seriously.

[4] Airplay for Any Trouble's debut indie single "Yesterday's Love" led to interest from major record labels including WEA, Chrysalis, EMI and Stiff.

and the band gained significant visibility after featuring on a Melody Maker front cover and in a gushing article by Allan Jones.

[3] In some ways the band's career never recovered from this early rush of success and Gregson's singing was unfairly compared to that of Elvis Costello and Ian Dury.

[5][6] The band's second album Wheels in Motion, with Martin Hughes replacing Mel Harley on drums, was produced by Mike Howlett;[2] it would be the last recorded on the Stiff label in Any Trouble's original incarnation.

The band were dropped by Stiff during a 1983 US tour supporting Ian Hunter,[4] with their manager arranging for them to open for Molly Hatchet to help keep them afloat.

[8] Any Trouble's new line-up included Andy Ebsworth on drums and Steve Gurl on keyboards, with original members Clive Gregson and Phil Barnes.

Gregson has also toured and recorded in various combinations of musicians, including Boo Hewerdine, Eddi Reader, Nanci Griffith, Andy Roberts, Ian Matthews and Dennis Locorriere.

[9] In 2007, following the re-release of several Any Trouble albums on CD, the group reformed with the Wheels in Motion line-up of Clive Gregson, guitarist Chris Parks, bassist Phil Barnes and drummer Martin Hughes.