BRISTOL ARCHIVE RECORDS is a label dedicated to re-releasing and pre-viewing music from the Bristol music scene. The aim of the label is to provide historical material to ensure that the artists involved are never forgotten. Many of the artists involved have been/are still very influential people in today's music scene.
Mike Darby 18/12/2007
BRISTOL ARCHIVE RECORDS is a subsidiary of Sugar Shack Records Ltd...
(Below is an extract from the Bristol Archive site which sits within the Bristol Archive Records website - GO TO :
http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com
The music player below is designed to give you a broad cross section of some of the amazing bands that have appeared and evolved within the bristol Music Scene over the years - ENJOY and then if you can find the tracks on itunes - BUY AND SUPPORT BRISTOL MUSIC !!!!!
THE BRISTOL MUSIC SCENE 1977-1981 THE DIARY
Here at Sugar Shack we are proud to have evolved because of the bands, artists, musicians, liggers and personalities who were part of the Bristol scene during the period 1977 to 1981. We found that Sheila Street(Steve Streets wife) had kept a record of all the gigs she saw during this time. The list is comprehensive but the gigs we've chosen to publish exclude all the bands they saw where no Bristol band supported the national touring act.
You can see that Kevin Draper at Rainbow Ents, Mark Simpson at Trinity, Madge at the Stonehouse and all the other promoters kept us busy every night of the week with a fantastic and diverse range of local and national talent. Many of the big names in the Bristol music scene today would have gone to these gigs as young punks desperate to escape normal everday working life - what a shame the venues have disappeared along with the bands.
You will soon see that there was a Bristol Music Scene before Trip Hop and Drum & Bass evolved. Check out the line-ups of all the bands from that era in the following pages...
THIS MYSPACE SITE WILL INCORPORATE ALL ARCHIVE MUSIC FROM BRISTOL NOT JUST 1977 -1981.
THE TEXT BELOW IS JUST AN EXTRACT FROM THE INFORMATION ON BANDS FROM THE ERA 1977-1981 HELD AT:
WWW.BRISTOLARCHIVERECORDS.COM
THE NUMBERS
Nick McAuley, Angelo Bruschini, Wayne Kingston, Lee Gardener
Bowie influnced new wave - way ahead of their time. The band recorded for Heartbeat Records ,regrettably their only output was a track on the Avon Calling LP and another on the 4 Alternatives EP. Angello Bruschini later joined the Rimshots, The Blue Aeroplanes and currently plays guitar with Massive Attack.
THE X-CERTS
Clive Arnold, Simon Justice, Phil Lovering (TAFF), Neil Mackie,
LATER
Clive Arnold, Kevin Mills, Chris Bostock, Neil Mackie
Clash influenced punk rockers. The original line-up recorded two tracks for Heartbeat Records and featured on Avon Calling and the 4 Alternatives EP. Taff left to join the Review but is best remembered for forming Disorder who released many records and became one of the leading 80's Punk bands. The line-up and style changed with the introduction of Kevin Mills and Chris Bostock from the Stingrays. The band are featured on the Bristol Recorder 3 and released a single for the excellent Recreational Records. The band spilt when Chris Bostock was whisked off to London to play with Johnny Britton who by then was managed by Bernie Rhodes the Clash's manager. The songwriter Clive Arnold became an actor, Neil Mackie joined the Crazy Trains before playing with Andi Sex Gang and Kevin Mills left for London to form the Specimen later to play with Flesh for Lulu.
JOE PUBLIC
Kevin Leadbetter, Rob Marche, Mike Smith, Shaun McLusky
LATER
Kevin Leadbetter, Rob Marche, Mike Smith, Thos Brooman
LATER
Rob Marche, John Shennan, Geoff Alsopp, Nick Sheppard
APARTMENT
Alan Griffiths, Richard White, Emil
Later to be The Escape - Brilliant, weird, strange, secretive. Alan Griffiths very influenced by Television should have been massive but way ahead of his time. Recorded for Heartbeat Records, a single and a track on Avon Calling. Later Alan became the Escape signed to Phonogram and now works with Roland Orzabel from Tears for Fears.
THE A.T'S
Dave Eccles, Stig Manley, Neil Deamer, Russ Crook, Paul Fennell
Later to be Umo Vogue
Debbie Marlow, Russ Crook, Stig Manley
Pop band, mostly from Bath, signed to Rialto Records and released one single. Neil Deamer is the brother of Clive who plays with Portishead amongst others. Stig and Russ released one single for EMI as Umo Vogue. Stig formed Crustation and released records for Cup of Tea Records, he is currently playing with Hazel Winter.
THE HYBRIDS
Davey Woodard - Guitar and Vocals, Chris Galvin - Bass, Jimmy - Drums
(Davey and Chris) LATER TO BE THE BRILLIANT CORNERS
When someone asks you to look into the past and tell it like it was there's always a temptation to make it sound better, to re-invent, maybe make oneself sound more important than one was. I will do none of these things. ,br Everyone knows about 76, Punk!! It was also the year Chris persuaded me to buy a guitar. Naturally I did because he was in the brainy class and he must have had a good reason for asking me to do this. The reason for having a guitar was to turn an amp up loud and pretend you were Hendrix and oddly enough for that time Ted Nugent. That's when I knew I would have to learn to write songs. What also inspired me was seeing this kid called Damon from school playing in a punk group called The Pigs. With a click of the fingers this non-descript lad from 4S was transformed into a god! And I wanted some of that! Bristol bands that meant something to me then were The Media and The Cortinas.
By 78 Chris and myself and a 13 year old called Jimmy were in a band called The Hybrids. We were unashamedly Jam copyists with a bit of Kinks, Clash and Stones thrown in for good measure.
There was this great little pub called The Stonehouse where Bristol's handful of mod/skin/punks hung out to watch their mate's bands. We had no mates but because I would always smash my amp up people liked us. We began to play the place on a regular basis and to my surprise became quite popular. We used to play with a band called Thin Air who really were like the Jam, many years later Thin Airs singer Paul Sandrone would play in the last line up of The Brilliant Corners. Fitting in a strange way.
Another band I remember back then was Concrete Contraption, now they could play proper but they were crap! Interesting to note that Si John of Reprazent fame started life in this band. You could see an interesting band every other day at The Stone house. Today it's an office block. I can't remember exactly when or even if this is totally right but Jimmy who played drums left because his mum was either fed up of taking us to gigs, me and Chris throwing up in the van (Jimmy couldn't get drunk while his mum was around) or us buying a Doctor Rhythm drum machine. When you're sixteen and playing live every other week you develop fast. In the space of a few years The Hybrids had become two boys and a drum machine not too surprisingly we sounded like Echo and the Bunnymen meets Joy Division. We played places called Mistys Nite Club and the Ace of Spades where I snogged my first fan. She was very drunk and threw up in my mouth while we were wriggling tongues. We went to a gig every night. I don't know where the money came from; well I do actually, um, stolen goods. We discovered amyl nitrate, speed, dope, and sometimes sex.
When I left school I got a job as a lab technician. It was while doing this I met a lad called Dan who played in a band called The Glaxo Babies, they had a record out and had been played on John Peel. I was awe struck! Dan would bring his guitar into work and at lunch times he would show me things called dis-chords which totally blew me away. He also told me to check out Captain Beefheart which I did not get at all.
Around this time I saw The Pop Group play which I did get, and Essential Bop and Art Objects and all those Fried Egg bands that people referred to as the Clifton Scene. At that time I had a real problem relating to the so-called Clifton Scene. The people in those bands made me feel dumb me and Chris had working class chips on our shoulders. I would see these people in the Dugout but I had nothing in common with them. I never got invited to parties or happenings. This lot were educated and pretentious and boy were we jealous! There were loads of bands hanging out at the Dugout but I think The Hybrids were the only ones that danced to soul at The Turntable Club and slid on our jackets at Romeo and Juliet's to James Brown, but that's another story.
Davey Woodward (HYBRIDS, BRILLIANT CORNERS, EXPERIMENTAL POP BAND)
THE CORTINAS
Jeremy Valentine, Dexter Dalwood, Nick Sheppard, Mike Fewins, Daniel Swan
THE CRAZY TRAINS
John McLean, Paul Grudzinski, Jon Chilcott, Barry Cooperm Neil Mackie
Later to be (The Crazy Bones)
John McLean, Paul Grudzinski, Mike Crawford, Chris Gregory, Jim Drakett
Managed by Mike Tobin who also managed Stackridge. Neil Mackie's band after the X-Certs. They should have been massive, signed to Spellbound Records in 1984 a subsidiary of CBS. Jon Chilcott later joined Vice Squad and then Apache Dropout. John McClean and Paul Grudzinski are still gigging as the Crazy Bones.
THE ESCAPE
Alan Griffiths, Stuart Morgan, Emil
LATER
Alan Griffiths, Stuart Morgan, Nicky Holland
ELECTRIC GUITARS
Neil Davenport, Richard Hall, Andy Sanders, Matt Salt, Dick Truscott
ELECTRIC GUITARS - Interview
It's noon and there isn't a lot happening in the dilapidated Redland house which until recently served as HQ for the Electric Guitars. I had been let into the house by Rachel, who was setting about clearing up some of the debris in the kitchen - the result of five ravenous souls returning in the early hours after a recording session in London. But of the five Guitars there was as yet no sign, Rachel informing me that Andy was tucked up in bed in his flat somewhere in Clifton, Matthew was out jogging - well drummers must keep fit! - and the others were away in the Land of Nod. After a couple of cups of tea my patience was finally rewarded by the appearance of a haggard and drawn Richard staggering into the kitchen, followed shortly afterwards by an equally worse for wear Dick. An adequate reflection of the perils of trying to become rock stars, I take pity on their condition and wait a few minutes more before plunging into that time-honoured journalistic ritual of discussion of developments and problems. Fortunately once life-giving fluids and the first cigarette of the day had been consumed the grey matter made a brave attempt at re-assembling themselves and some form of coherence asserted itself.
Electric Guitars were formed two years ago and made their recorded debut on the first volume of the innovative and imaginative 'Bristol Recorder' disc/magazine. The four Guitars contributions were, as with the other, recorded 'live' and display a more jagged and XTC-style attack than the more sophisticated and varied angle they use now. (As a point of interest the record is due to be re-released this year due to the Guitars popularity). 'Magic Surfaces' and 'Dumb Words' rarely feature on current outings, but the inimitable hassle in 'Le Camping' is still a stage favorite and 'Continental Shelf' appeared on the flip-side of their first single for local label Fried Egg - now sadly somewhat hard-boiled and dealing more with Shoes for Industry output. 'Health' is a wicked dissection of the calorie and cholestorol conscious fads of the jogging and fitness freaks and was an over-looked gem from last year and one of the reasons for its poor showing was a lack of effective promotion and distribution.
The follow-up 'Work' has of course faired far better having figured in the lower reaches of the indie singles chart and has received a respectable volume of radio exposure - a fact that can largely go down to the efforts of Recreational Records, run from the back office in Revolver Records. In spite of its instant appeal 'Work' did create some confusion in the mind of one reviewer - yes.Barney Hoskyns - due to the split recording credits, and behind its production lies a tale of amusement and frustration. Dick: "The single was initially recorded with Denis Bovell. He was fun to work with but wasn't the right sort of producer for our kind of music really. For one thing the bass and bass drum sound were all wrong. Things weren't helped by the studio being flooded after we'd done our first session! That delayed further recording by a couple of weeks and after that Denis seemed to lose his enthusiasm, and certainly his normal spontaneity in the studio. It seemed to us that his energy and interest only extended to a limited period, and with the way he works it's more a question of bursts of inspiration rather than a consistent application. It was a shame, so in the end we had to finish off the single in Steve Street's SAM Studio which is where we rehearse, and the single sounds as good as it can be given the circumstances but isn't completely what we wanted."
There are several parties interested in the Guitars distinct brand of mutated reverberations, and this has led to several visits to London to record demos. Fortunately with the groups finances being in a perilous state the money to do this has been put up by the companies concerned, such as EMI and Pre. But in spite of this Richard wasn't altogether satisfied with the arrangements and the results. "It was ridiculous," he said "in the EMI studio we were given just enough time to enable us to finish putting down the music and vocals, and in the end we were left with just half an hour to mix down each track. Still we didn't pay for it and the experience won't all be to waste." While Richard was speaking a breathless Matthew came in and quietly sat down on a chair in the corner of the room. Even though his Feelies-style coiffure was extremely out-of-sorts he was suitably refreshed by his exertions, his mind was alert and he quickly picked up on the conversation. "Do you want to know about one of the songs we recorded?" he asked me. "It's called Ja-Ja and has Andy and Neil reading extracts from The Empire Strikes Back over a lot of 'star-track' voices. It really came out well and I think it's one of the best things we've done." So what were the other songs you've recorded then? Matthew continued: "Well if my memory serves me right we did several of the newer songs like 'Lovely Statues', 'Beat me Hollow', 'Language Problems' and 'Voice of Sound'." (These songs were also done for the Kid Jensen programme and broadcast on December 15th last year)
The Radio One session will be the culmination of processes which have enables the Guitars to reach a wider audience than has been the experience of other talented Bristol bands in the past. One of the most significant break-throughs for them last year was supporting the Thompson Twins on their twenty-date British tour last year. This came about through Neil and Dick meeting the band at the Granary and when the Twins commented that they were pissed off with the standard of the local support acts they were getting lumbered with Neil suggested the Guitars would be interested and would be a sympathetic foil to the Thompson Twins equally energetic stage act. This tour in its aftermath led to some flak being aimed at the Guitars, the accusers saying that they ripped off the Twins. Dick strongly disagreed and pointed out that although one or two features may have rubbed off it was a reciprocal process, and that was an inevitability considering the two bands were on the road together for three weeks. For example in a more physical form clothes and instruments were swopped round freely, and at some gigs so were the musicians! These jibes are really total non-starters and best treated with the scorn they deserve. "What we do tends to be an anti-response; for example a lot of bands are very static on stage, so we decided to be very active. It was very difficult to break down our inhibitions at first. What you say about Neil seeming to be aggressive isn't strictly accurate. He had less of a problem because he was a martial arts instructor at one time, and he's into throwing himself around on stage. Also he's not hampered or restricted by having to hold and play an instrument. It's good fun for Neil as he likes revving up an audience anyway, particularly if their reactions to us are too sluggish!" Matthew laughed and commented on how different the content and approaches of the two groups are, admitting there were some similarities but highlighting the emphasis the Guitars put on vocal arrangements: "It's not so much a question of what we sing, as some of the lyrics are in a deeper sense quite banal, but it's more down to how they're sung. A similar point was made by Elvis Costello on that Southbank programme and it's an important disitinction to make. Dick: "I think we will be using Jo and Wendy a lot more too, especially on the older songs as having them singing gives the songs a new lease of life. We tried them out on stage first of all at a gig at the Venue which worked quite well and since then as long as we get the sound balance right its been sounding better and better." In fact the Electric Guitars are by now as familiar to London gig-goers as they are in Bristol, having spent many evenings in the capital, supporting the likes of U2 and Our Daughters Wedding, as well as headlining in their own right. The 'Wedding' gig took place at the Venue and is an evening they would sooner forget as they came up against the narcissic and hyped aspects of the biz which disgusts anyone with integrity. Richard: "ODW were this hip synthesiser group from the States who took five hours over their sound-check, and during most of that time were sitting around eating McDonalds and generally pratting around. We were getting so fed up with hanging around that we almost decided to push off and forget about the gig. Fortunately we didn't as although we weren't able to do a proper sound-check we played well and were told afterwards that we'd blown them off stage!" Perhaps not a surprising result considering the fact that the Guitars 'live' are a powerful combination of an invigorating instrumental capability mixed with an action packed physical presence. It's a busyness which has spilled over into the business and right now the band are being checked out by prospective managers and involved with the never ending battle with the bank manager. But they are keeping cheerful and patient, certain that the right offer will come along. Dick wryly commented, mindful of how many other bands in the past in their position have said the same thing: "We've not been hasty and taken the first offer that came our way. We did come very close to signing something a few weeks back and we're very glad we didn't as now we're in more of a position to take the highest bidder with the least strings attached. ! hope."
(Dave Massey Interview in 1981)
ESSENTIAL BOP
Steve Bush, Simon Tyler, Danny Cotterill, Dave Robinson, Phil Howard, Mike Fewins
Essential Bop was one of those 'post-punk' bands that flourished everywhere in the immediate aftermath of the tidal wave that had not long before engulfed things like facial hair, lengthy solos, baggy trousers and Tender Expressions of Love. Castigated at the time for 1) being students (well, a few of us were) 2) using keyboards (we certainly did) 3) being 'arty' (if only they knew); and 4) for not hanging out enough with the avante-garde brigade (where are they now ?) we endured the taunts and eventually managed to garner quite a following - more by accident than design. At the time (1979) the local competition was pretty fierce. The Pop Group were busy working on their 'We're weird, us' act, which was going down jolly well, The Art Objects were starting to motor along nicely, and bands like the Exploding Seagulls, The Spics and The Glaxo Babies were packing 'em in. In such company we were very much 'pigeons in the outfield', but by hanging in gamely we sort-of flourished. In those days Bristol had plenty of places to play, and a DJ was a person who played a few records before (and after) the Real Thing, not someone whose name appeared on the masthead above those of the people who'd actually created the music. In the years that followed all manner of low-rent Spinal Tapisms transpired as we slithered up and down the greasy pole that is/was popular music. Sometimes we played great, other times we sounded like an explosion in a roadie's underpants. We wrote and recorded songs that were by turns pathetic, pretentious, presentable and - occasionally - perfect. Our singles featured in the independent charts and the great Paul Morley trekked down to the sticks to interview us. Suddenly our butts were kissable within the BS postal area, and possibly elsewhere. Cor! A US tour was offered, and we arrived in New York in August of 1981 just as everyone else was leaving to escape the heat and humidity. Still, we had a laugh (when we weren't fighting with each other) and the Yanks dug us. In the end the fighting overcame the music and we bowed out at the Peppermint Lounge, NYC, never to play live again. The return to Bristol was so depressing that I can recall the horror to this day. Coming back to the same old grind in Thatcher's grey Britain was too much to take, and we knocked it on the head. Around this time virtually every rock musician in Bristol decamped to London because bands from Bristol just couldn't get arrested, whilst those from cities like Manchester and Liverpool seemed to get signed on the strength of their vowel sounds. We, too, had a crack in the Smoke - rehearsed, did some recording. But the thought of climbing that hill again was just too much, and we let it die for good. Now the world has caught up with that unique Bristol combination of angst and irony, and hails it as some kind of miracle. Truth is, it was there all along. Whilst Essential Bop embodied much that was indulgent in that so-called 'New wave' era, we did 'give it plenty' and swam against the tide, using a wide variety of strokes. If you were there, all I can say is "sorry", but If you weren't you certainly missed something, and if you can remember what it was, please let me know.
(Steve Bush April 2000)
EUROPEANS
Jonathan Cole, Jon Klein, Stephen Street, James Cole
The biggest selling indie band from Bristol in their time? The band spilit when Rialto Records signed Jonathan Cole as a solo artist. Jon Klein disappeared off to London with Kevin Mills from the X-Certs to become the Specimen and created the Batcave, he later joined Siouxie and the Banshees and recorded on three of the albums. John was lucky to get this far having jumped from a window whilst in The Europeans and broken his neck! Steve Street joined Apartment and Interview and was fortunate to play Top of the Pops with a band called The Planets. Steve retired as a bass player and recorded just about every band in Bristol as an engineer/producer - he later worked for Tears for Fears.
JUAN FOOTE' N' THE GRAVE
Stuart Gibb, Jim Maclean, Tony Heyes, Andy Pinner, Bryan Cox, Snakey Lineton, Billy (Ogmore) Phillips
MISDEMEANOUR
Kevin McFadden, Bob Watson, Steve Capaldi, Keiron Wright
LATER
Kevin McFadden, Bob Watson, Lyndon Perry, Phil Rice
Formed from the ashes of Vitus Dance. They were managed by U2's tour manager and should have been huge.Kevin McFadden was a prolific song writer and brilliant front man but maybe a little too Bruce Springstein influenced for the UK.
NO DEPOSIT
Paul Poundbury, Mike Crafer, Mark Cooper, Roger Garbett, Simon Davies
Released one single for Shoc-Wave Records.
THE PIGS
Kit Gould, Eamonn McAndrew, Nigel Robinson, Ricky Galli
THE POP GROUP
John Waddington, Mark Stewart, Gareth Sager, Dan Katsis, Bruce Smith
We are all prostitutes sleeve designed by Rich Beale later in Head, Apache Dropout, Pregnant and currently Don Mandarin.
( AGAIN I REPEAT THAT THE TEXT ABOVE IS A TINY EXTRACT FROM THE BRISTOL ARCHIVE 1977-1981)
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