Rachel Stamp

Once upon a time there was a young singer who found himself transfixed by a dream of pure stardom and sonic accolades. His name was David Ryder-Prangley.
The dream had to be fulfilled at any cost so he set about a perfect plan. The first part of this prophetic plan would have to involve a relocation. At this moment the small village of Dinas Powys in southern Wales where he was currently situated could not contain his brutal and undaunted lust for something more.
The answer lay in the tawdry streets of London Town.
The first to answer the beckoning call of this obvious star was one William Crewdson, he himself a master of sonic entrapment in waiting.
His aural conveyance of choice, nay, of necessity was that of the six-stringed electric guitar and now he had found his vocal counterpart.
The next step of this phenomenal quest was to lace the seeds of musical poison with a rhythmic antidote as was the palatable choice of the day. One Clifford Harris, a native of David’s former location also seeking his fortune in London would see these duties through and pound upon the skins with almost unceasing abandon. Now was the time to capture the magic of Rachel Stamp - for that was their collective name - and nail the sound to the memory banks of analogue tape.
To accomplish this next task the collective enlisted the help of the wise one who shall be known henceforth as Thighpaulsandra. Nobody knew from whence he came or what he wanted but this suited the embryonic Rachel Stamp down to the ground and he set about concocting a solid memory bank by which to capture every nuance of their complex music. Also well versed in the alchemy of sound creation, Thighpaulsandra could be seen in certain public situations the group found themselves in lending a helping had through the mastery of his instrument of choice - the board of keys.
It was during one such public display that a local recording financier by the name of Clive Black chanced upon this group of like-minded minstrels. He promised them riches and fame beyond their wildest fantasies and offered them the chance to make the dream come alive. They were immediately offered a seemingly lucrative contractual agreement by Clive and his minions at the company known as Warner Brothers. This was what David had so longed for and it was now becoming a reality far, far quicker than anyone within the group could have imagined.
From here Rachel Stamp realised that they would be much better off filling the empty post of the board of keys within the group with a more permanent fixture. That fixture manifested itself when they chanced upon one Michael Rowe of Aylesbury Town. Here was a boy untainted by convention who could only add an originality and progressive synch to their already fast growing armory of songs.
With all it’s members in place, Rachel Stamp was ready to conquer the known universe with a brittle concoction of some of the most compelling songs ever written within the realms of the musical idiom known as rock.
However, it was at this point in our meandering tale that an ill wind befell our heroes. Clive Black had taken it upon himself to up and leave the Warner Brothers association and move on to pastures new.
Rachel Stamp were thus stranded within an organization seemingly out of touch with their needs and intent on perpetuating the ideals of a bygone age with no regard for anything with a vague originality or twist to it’s being.
The group battled on and managed to grace the Warner Brothers memory banks with ample ammunition by which to propel them to a higher status. Alas - it was not to be and sadly many of said sound recordings were resigned to the libraries of a soulless corporation.
Three blasts of passion were however unleashed from these vaults. These manifested themselves in emporiums around the country by the monikers of "Pop Singer", "Hey Hey Michael You’re Really Fantastic" and the "Bring me The Head of Rachel Stamp" extended play.
Here follows a pattern of loss that would have slain many a lesser group of musical miscreants but only served to strengthen Rachel Stamp into becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The inevitable loss of the contractual agreement with Warner Brothers brought about the resignation of Clifford Harris and Michael Rowe.
Things were looking decidedly rocky for our remaining members yet their conviction shone through the darkness like a gleaming sword as they vowed never to resist their calling.
A new rear battery component was set in place in the form of one Robin Guy of Chidingly Town and Thighpaulsandra volunteered his ever-helpful key skills once more for the purposes of the live arena, by now a second home to the group. The group now needed to harness their new-found freedom from the corporate shackles of Warner Brothers to bring their sound to a wider audience under their own supervision. Thus a company was created for the express needs of the group - it was to be known as Bitch Vinyl.
This period saw the unleashing of two more slices of aural excitement in the form of the modern-day classic "My Sweet Rose" and it’s boisterous counterpart "I Got the Worm". Both of which were to see the group broaden their horizons sonically and commercially whilst never compromising the artistic niche with which they had carved out so deftly in bygone years. Another fruition of this period was the tome known as "I Wanna Be Your Doll" released as the result of a brief flirtation with the Snapper recording label.
Despite the growth of the dream there was a troubling element that nagged away at the core of the group like a ragged beggar on a repetitive tangent of mercy. The board of keys was still left abandoned. Enter one Shaheena Dax.
Born in a land many aeons away, the Princess of Power was to shine her bright light over the group and encompass all the duties that would befall a mistress of synthesis to great effect. Rachel Stamp were a band once more and thus celebrated by embarking on one of their numerous fabled extensive travels around our fair isle.
The group went from strength to strength picking up devoted followers and educating them in the ways of their faith as they went. It was the very fact that something different was happening visually and sonically from the normal constraints of the music of the day that attracted so many to this new breed of heroes.
The first long- playing release from the band - "Hymns for Strange Children", was unleashed on the Cruisin Records imprint to enormous critical acclaim preceded by two more releases of the singular persuasion - "Spank" and "Didn’t I Break My Heart Over You".
The joy and satisfaction that accompanied the fruits of their labours did not go unnoticed and the group subsequently released their most infectious and jugular song to date - "Monsters of the New Wave".
At this point the group took unprecedented measures to go forth and take stock of what they had built on. They realised that no matter how big they would become through the power of their own skills there was always room for corporate input of some kind. However, their reputation still tarnished by the earlier Warner Brothers fiasco this was to prove another difficult task.
Help arrived in the form of an organisation known as Pure Stirling.
With new outside input and a slew of songs that breathed maturity and conviction into the already full lungs of the group, they set about gracing the Pure Stirling vaults with what would become their finest and most complete opus.
"Oceans of Venus", for that was it’s name, was everything the group had stood for realised in one fell swoop of a glorious long player.
And so to the future.
The Americas beckon and Rachel Stamp are ready and willing to rise to the challenge that is now before them. Their travels will be vast but they are certainly up for the task. It seems that the target of world domination is never out of the question for this most special group of individuals.
david ryder prangley and the witches
www.willcrewdson.com.