Rote Kapelle were a post-punk/indie pop band from Edinburgh, Scotland, active during the 1980s. Its band members included musicians who were also members of Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes and The Shop Assistants. The band was formed in the early 1980s by Andrew Tully (vocals) and Marguerite Vasquez-Ponte (vocals), both of whom would also form Jesse Garon and the Desperadoes, with Chris Henman (guitar), Ian Binns (keyboards, also a member of The Stayrcase), Malcolm Kergan (bass, also a member of The Thanes), and Jonathan Muir (drums). The band's debut release was 'The Big Smell Dinosaur EP' in late 1985, after which they were signed by Marc Riley's In-Tape label. Tully described the band's sound in 1987 as a blend of noisy post-punk and anorak pop. Vasquez-Ponte was also a member of a third band, The Fizzbombs, alongside the Desperadoes' Angus McPake and The Shop Assistants' former drummer Ann Donald. They released two further singles and two more EP's, one of which featured tracks from their Peel Session, before splitting when Vasquez-Ponte joined the re-formed Shop Assistants. An LP, 'No North Briton', was released in 1990. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Kilgore Trout is an alternative rock band that was based in Nottingham and Sheffield in the north of England between 1985 and 1991. In that time Kilgore Trout released two EPs, contributed eight tracks to two compilation LPs, and appeared on a flexidisc that came free with the legendary fanzine Ablaze!
This band's mainstay was Chris Trout, a seminal figure in the British alternative music scene, who has also worked with Bear, A.C. Temple, Spoonfed Hybrid, Lazerboy, Coping Saw and Smokers Die Younger.
Trout wrote the songs and played most of the instruments in Kilgore Trout. He also recorded over 50 four-track demos for the band that were never released at the time. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
Bristol based group, The Groove Farm were one of the original 'C86' Indie-pop bands who in October 86 self-released their first EP ('Sore Heads and Happy Hearts'). Recorded quickly and cheaply with a real DIY attitude, the record found supporters in both John Peel and Janice Long and with regular radio plays soon sold out. They quickly became fanzine favourites.
The Groove Farm were inspired more by 1960’s garage bands found on Pebbles LP’s and the more pop-end of the Punk bands (The Undertones, Buzzcocks, etc.) and a love of The Barracudas and Thee Milkshakes, than they were by regular Indie-pop influences, and tried to blend these things together, so 20% Shop Assistants, and 80% The Seeds! Sometimes this even worked!
The band later moved to the already established Subway Organization label, but found they weren’t happy with being forced to change their recording style and use bigger studios, and soon reverted back to their own label releasing what was to be their biggest selling record ‘Plug’, an LP recorded on 8 track in a matter of hours. The group scored indie hits with songs like "Surfin’ Into Your Heart", a two minute pure garage pop classic! But at the time were often slated by journalists for not being "serious" or for their "lack of ambition", totally missing the point of the groups existence. In 1990 the band ended with all members continuing to make music which they all still do to this day.
St. Christopher are a British indie pop band formed in York in 1984. They are mainly known for their four singles and 10" mini-LP on Sarah Records, although they actually have a much longer history, both before and after their time on Sarah. They produced a prolific quantity of recordings on a variety of labels, from the early 1980s to the present.
The only constant member of the band during its more than twenty years of existence has been Glenn Melia, and, during this time, Melia and St. Christopher have recorded with many well-known indie labels, including Sarah, Bus Stop, Vinyl Japan, Elefant, Slumberland, Caff, and Parasol. The band probably achieved greatest recognition for the single 'All of a Tremble', released in 1989.
The original line-up of the band also featured Terry Banks, who went on to lead Tree Fort Angst. In 2007, a compilation album of their previous releases titled 'Lost at Sea - The Sarah Recordings' was released by Plastilina Records. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
One Thousand Violins was an English 1960s-influenced indie-pop group from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, who had several UK Indie Chart hits in the late 1980s.
The band was formed in 1985 by Darren Swindells (bass), Colin Gregory (guitar), John Wood (vocals), David Walmsley (keyboards/guitar), and Peter Day (drums). Gregory and Walmsley had previously played together in The Page Boys.
Their first single, 'Halcyon Days' was released in 1985. The B-side, "Like One Thousand Violins" was voted into that year's Festive 50 by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, the band having recorded a session for the show earlier that year. 1986 saw a second Peel session, and the band breaking into the indie chart with "Please Don't Sandblast My House", which reached number 11. In 1987, Day was replaced by Ian Addey, and the indie hits continued with "Ungrateful Bastard", "Locked Out of The Love-In", and "If I Were a Bullet". The following year the band's debut album, 'Hey Man That's Beautiful' was released, and Wood departed, to be replaced by ex-Hays Office singer Vince Keenan.
With the band troubled by financial problems and 'mind differences', they split in 1989.
Colin Gregory went on to form The Dylans. Keenan went on to join Splendid Fellows and later SPIGGOTT. Walmsley died from cancer in 1992. Following his departure, original vocalist John Wood formed The Chrysalids with Yves Altana and a retrospective was released in 2012 entitled 'Neither Love Nor Money'.
While the band's success during their lifetime was limited, the internet and the interest in this era of indie pop saw interest in the band increase. Vinyl Japan issued a collection of the band's work in 2000, 'Like One Thousand Violins'. A new compilation, 'Halcyon Days - Complete Recordings 1985-1987', covering the years with John Wood on vocals and featuring rare tracks, was released by Cherry Red Records on 26 May 2014. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
During the late '70s, Rockpile was the touring band for both Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe. Like Edmunds, the band was passionate about traditional rock & roll. Like Lowe, the band played with a reckless, trashy abandon. Driven by the powerful rhythm section of drummer Terry Williams and Lowe's bass, guitarists Billy Bremner and Edmunds were free to spit out crushing rock, blues, rockabilly, and country licks. With their fierce live energy and unpretentious rock & roll, the band fit easily into the post-punk new wave at the end of the decade.
Although they only released one album as a group -1980's 'Seconds of Pleasure'- the band provided support for most of the albums Lowe and Edmunds recorded in the late '70s. After the rushed release of 'Seconds of Pleasure', the band toured one last time before splitting apart, largely due to mismanagement. All of the members continued to occasionally collaborate with each other throughout the '80s. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
A leading light of the short-lived C-86/anorak movement of the mid-'80s, the BMX Bandits stood at the epicenter of the Scottish pop music scene for over a decade; however, despite helping launch the careers of talents ranging from Teenage Fanclub and Eugenius to The Soup Dragons and Superstar, they never grew beyond the confines of a fervent cult following, though they never gave up making sweet, idiosyncratic pop music.
The band was essentially the vehicle of singer/guitarist Duglas T. Stewart, a Bellshill native and onetime member of The Pretty Flowers; he formed the band in 1985, sarcastically selecting the name "BMX Bandits" out of his belief that they would fall apart after only one gig. Instead, the group became a popular local attraction, and soon signed to Stephen Pastel's 53rd and 3rd label. Recorded with a lineup of Stewart, bassist Sean Dickson, guitarist Jim McCulloch, drummer Willie McArdle, and backing vocalist Billy Wood, the BMX Bandits' charming 1986 debut single, 'E102', launched them to the forefront of the C-86 uprising, despite being denied a spot on the NME magazine compilation cassette of naïve jangle pop that gave the movement its name. By the follow-up, 'What a Wonderful World', both McArdle and Dickson had exited, and were replaced by ex-Boy Hairdressers bassist Joe McAlinden and drummer Francis MacDonald; Dickson soon founded his own band, The Soup Dragons, the first of many BMX Bandits spinoffs to eclipse the original group's success.
After a series of subsequent singles and roster changes (including the exit of McCulloch, who joined Dickson in The Soup Dragons), the BMX Bandits -Stewart, MacDonald, McAlinden, fellow Boy Hairdressers alum Norman Blake, and guitarist Gordon Keen- released their long-awaited debut LP, the tongue-in-cheek 'C86 Plus', in 1990. A whimsical concert album, 'Totally Groovy Live Experience!', appeared later in the year, but another hiatus followed as Blake and MacDonald formed Teenage Fanclub. Blake returned to the Bandits fold, however, for 1991's 'Star Wars', also recorded with ex-Vaselines frontman Eugene Kelly; after the 1992 EP 'Gordon Keen & His BMX Bandits', Keen and Kelly broke off to form Captain America, later rechristened Eugenius, and McAlinden founded Superstar.
Later in 1992, the BMX Bandits signed to the Creation label, where they issued their finest effort to date, the single 'Serious Drugs'. Released in 1993, 'Life Goes On' was the first Bandits LP recorded with the steady lineup of Stewart, MacDonald (after a brief tenure in Teenage Fanclub), his bassist brother Finlay, and guitarist John Hogarty; ex-Soup DragonSushil Dade was later added to the roster for 1995's 'Gettin' Dirty', a move into more lush sonic territory drawing clear inspiration from The Beach Boys. After the group released the more straightforward rock 'Theme Park' in 1996, Stewart split off to make a solo record, 'Frankenstein'.
After a long period of musical inactivity, the Bandits resurfaced in 2006 with a revamped lineup that included vocalist Rachel Mackenzie. The group released 'My Chain' in 2006 for Rev-Ola, then followed it quickly with 'Bee Stings' in 2007. Stewart and the group soldiered on and signed with a new label (Elefant), then released a compendium of "hits" and lost songs ('The Rise and Fall of the BMX Bandits') in 2009, before returning in 2012 with a new studio album ('BMX Bandits in Space') made with the help of long-lost BanditJim McCulloch. Mackenzie left soon after the album and was replaced by vocalist/keyboardist Chloe Philip. After another long break during which Stewart moved to Glasgow from his Belshill hometown and struggled with depression, the tenth BMX Bandits album, 'BMX Bandits Forever', was released by Elefant. It featured an appearance by Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe and production on a few songs by Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The McTells
formed in 1985 in Hertford, UK. Initially a 4 piece comprising Paul Rixon on guitar and vocal, Bill on guitar, Stuart on bass, Mark Flunder from the Television Personalities on stand up drums. Bill later left to form The Big Paintings but the rest of the band continued as a three piece releasing records on Paul's own Bi-Joopiter label and on Frank, K, Little Teddy Recordings and Vinyl Japan. The band last release was in 1994. Paul Rixon was also in the The Twins and Rig Veeda with Bi-Joopiter co-founder Gillian Elam while Mark Flunder played in Sindy Arthur with Gina Hartman of the Marine Girls. All released through the Bi-Joopiter label.
A rough-and-tumble British band with a melodic folk-punk sound, Band of Holy Joy emerged out of London in the mid-80s, delivering songs steeped in the grit and grime of London street life while maintaining a defiant and often optimistic call-to-arms tone. Led by frontman Johny Brown, they earned critical acclaim with 1989's 'Manic, Magic, Majestic' on Rough Trade, but ultimately fell apart a couple of years after the label's 1991 demise. Almost a decade later, Brown re-formed the band and they worked sporadically throughout the 2000s, then enjoyed a particularly fruitful and creative period in the front half of the 2010s, when they released five more albums. In the late 2010s, Band of Holy Joy issued an ambitious trilogy of politically driven releases which concluded with 2019's 'Neon Primitives'.
The group formed in the New Cross area of London in 1984 out of the remains of a previous punk band called Speed. Their initial sound bore a uniquely guitar-less set-up utilizing accordion, trombone, violin, and a rhythm section which earned them comparisons to The Pogues. Upon signing to the small indie label Flim Flam, Band of Holy Joy debuted with the 1986 EP 'The Big Ship Sails', followed in 1987 by the full-length 'More Tales from the City'. The group signed to Rough Trade for 1988's 'Tactless' single; the next year's 'Manic, Magic, Majestic' won widespread critical acclaim, but the commercial breakthrough projected for 1990's 'Positively Spooked' -an LP backed by a promotional tour of the U.S.S.R.- never materialized. The 1991 collapse of Rough Trade further derailed the group's momentum, and 1992's 'Tracksuit Vendetta'- recorded as simply Holy Joy- quickly disappeared from sight. After a final single, 'It's a Lovebite City', the group disbanded in 1993. Brown later became a freelance journalist, and in 1995 he and Holy Joy drummer Bill Lewington formed the band Superdrug.
In 2002, Johny Brown re-formed Band of Holy Joy and released the album 'Love Never Fails'. The band remained active, recording and touring intermittently throughout the remainder of the decade. A compilation, 'Leaves That Fall in Spring', appeared in 2007, followed by the full-length studio effort 'Paramour' in 2010. Over the next serval years, Band of Holy Joy enjoyed a rather prolific creative renaissance. 2011's 'How to Kill a Butterfly' arrived after a Greek tour and an appearance at that year's Glastonbury festival and in 2012 the band released 'The North Is Another Land' via German independent record label Moloko Plus. 'Easy Listening' and the 'Land of Holy Joy' arrived in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and in 2017, they launched a trilogy of politically-charged releases that began with the EP, 'Brutalism Begins at Home'. Later that year, the full-length, 'Funambulist We Love You' continued to the series which concluded with the 2019 album, 'Neon Primitives'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Shrubs were an English rock music group, formed in Watford in 1985, releasing two albums before splitting up in 1989. Future Shrubs singer Nick Hobbs had previously managed Henry Cow and after living in Stockholm for a year joined Swedish band Kraeldjursanstalten. When that band split up he relocated to London and looked for a new band. After being sacked from Stump for "being too serious", Hobbs formed his own band, taking inspiration from Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, The Fall, and The Ex, initially as The Kevin Staples Band, but changing name to The Shrubs before first release 'Full Steam Into The Brainstorm', a 6-track 12" EP in July 1986 on the Ron Johnson label. Bassist Phil Roberts left shortly afterwards to join Marc Riley in The Creepers, to be replaced by Steve Brockway, and subsequently by Mark Grebby, who had been the bass player for original Ron Johnson artistes Splat!
Shrubs contributed "Bullfighters Bones" to the NME's famous 'C86' album. A further 12", 'Blackmailer' followed towards the end of the year, with debut album 'Take Me Aside For A Midnight Harangue' hitting the shops in July 1987. With the collapse of the Ron Johnson label and the indie distribution network The Cartel, several hundred copies of 'Harangue' were incinerated, much to Hobbs' annoyance. Shrubs signed with the Hertfordshire-based Public Domain label for a studio/live 12", 'Another Age', and second and final album 'Vessels Of The Heart', both in 1988, after which the band split. The Shrubs recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, the first in June 1986 and the second in August 1987.
Hobbs went on to form Mecca, who toured the former Soviet Union with Nitzer Ebb and others, and subsequently Infidel, along with current Pere Ubu guitarist Keith Moliné and Nico's former drummer Graham Dowdall (a.k.a. Dids), at the same time carrying on in artist management. He carries on making music solo and with different groups under the name of Nikolai Galen. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
Indie pop cult favorites Miaow formed in Manchester, England, in 1984 -singer/guitarist Cath Carroll, a notorious habitué of the Factory Records-owned club the Hacienda and a New Musical Express writer (under the pseudonym Myrna Minkoff), previously collaborated with bassist Steve Maguire, keyboardist Jonathan Bedford, and drummer Chris Fenner in the Gay Animals. After Miaow completed their 1985 debut single, 'Belle Vue' for the Venus Records label, Maguire exited and with the additions of new bassist Ron Caine and lead guitarist Andy Winters, Miaow recorded "Sport Most Royal," their inclusion on the celebrated NME 'C-86' compilation tape that with its uniformly jangly, willfully primitive sound virtually defined British indie pop at the middle of the decade.
Miaow -now consisting of Carroll, Caine, Fenner, and keyboardist Joe Korner- next signed to Factory to release the group's creative apex, 1987's 'When It All Comes Down'. An energetic and infectious burst of pop ephemera, it was famously covered in 1991 by the acclaimed U.S. band Unrest, who so worshipped Cath Carroll that two years later they wrote a song in her honor for their final LP, 'Perfect Teeth', and even featured her photo on the cover. After a second Factory single, 'Break the Code', Miaow began work on their first full-length effort -provisionally titled 'Priceless Innuendo', the rough demos suggest a more electronic pop-inspired approach than past efforts, but the sessions stalled and the group splintered prior to the project's completion. After releasing 'England Made Me', a solo LP for Factory, Carroll relocated to Chicago, ultimately releasing several solo discs for Unrest frontman Mark Robinson's TeenBeat label. In early 2003, the LTM label issued 'When It All Comes Down', collecting the entirety of Miaow's recorded output. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
