As well as The Diagram Brothers, and Dislocation Dance, Andy Diagram was in The Mud Hutters, a lo-fi prog-punk combo who could obviously play their instruments. Mud Hutters and Dislocation Dance were part of the Manchester Musicians Collective, and toured the UK on the "I Like Shopping" tour with Diagram Brothers, Decorators, Ludus, and Eric Random. Mud Hutters later formed into Spaceheads along with Andy Diagram.
Their music is a clanking, jammy post-punk/UK-DIY. It takes some loutish manner of a James Chance, but substitutes his NY funk with rainy dub in the vain of Public Image Ltd as well as plenty of off-key basement rocking and jerking. The sound esthetics occasionally border on lo-fi, kind of industrial-esque stunts, but also have poppier, more playful and down-home moments. Great, adventurous music, that shows what could happen in early '80s UK subculture. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
'O' Level was created in 1976 by London guitarist Ed Ball along with two friends from school, the Benett brothers (John on drums and Gerard on bass), who would leave the band in March 1978. That same line-up plus Dan Treacy (another school friend of Ball's) recorded the first Television Personalities single in 1977, titled '14th Floor'.
'O' Level self-released that same year a first single which included three tracks strongly influenced by punk's energy (Buzzcocks and Undertones guitars and melody on "East Sheen") and attitude (with ironic comments about fake punks on "Pseudo Punk"), but all of as if seen from a distance, outside a decadent scene which had already been absorbed by the establishment. The single also features a sort of homonymous anthem called "'O' Levels". As a record collector anecdote, there are two versions of the single with different covers, which go for very high prices.
Ed Ball, DIY superhero, returned in late 1978 with four more hits, displaying a sound more oriented towards 60s pop but with the new wave spirit of the time. On this occasion he was accompanied on bass, drums and backing vocals by himself, Ball played everything! The single, titled 'The Malcolm EP', contains a new hit in "homage" to Malcolm McLaren, "We Love Malcolm"; a portrait of the scene, "Everybody's On Revolver Tonight" (where the pseudo punks and part time punks make another appearance); and two tracks with 60s melodies: "Leave Me Alone" (with a very Love-esque chorus) and "Stairway To Boredom" (pure new wave sound).
But Ed Ball's music career didn't end with this second single. After recording three more tracks in February 1979 which have never been released on vinyl until now, he continued developing the same strand of wonderful pop through the 80s and 90s with bands such as Teenage Filmstars, Television Personalities, The Times and many more, ending with four records as a solo artist.
The Digital Dinosaurs were one of the foremost cassette bands, with nine releases on their own Spott label. The Dinosaurs were a couple years older than most of their cassette-swapping peers, and if their music is more varied and complex (even a bit schizophrenic), it also draws more extensively on their pre-punk heritage, especially their heroes The Bonzo Dog Band, who they honored both musically and theatrically.
Having given up on singles on account of the expense (their debut may exist only as an acetate), The Digital Dinosaurs embraced the cassette format with a vengeance. Selections of their first three tapes, 'Earpop', 'New Needles' and 'The Final Touch', appear on 'Armchair Theatre' (Messthetics #214), joining treasures of their middle period on 'Extinction' (Messthetics #207 CDR) and their wonderful DIY rock-opera, "Huh?" (Messthetics #209 CDR). In 1984 bassist ChrisSidwell launched Crocodile Tears as a solo vehicle, although he/they were frequently abetted by the Dinosaurs' late Gordon Francis. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
Denizens formed
in 1979 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Members
were G.P. Lawson (bass), Joe Lampton (drums) and Andy Downer (guitar). Lawson was an ex-John Dowie & the Big Girl’s Blouse and Brent Ford & the Nylons. Denizens released a couple of 7":
'Ammonia Subway / People Of The Night' (1979, Big Records), and 'In The Crowd..' (1980, Citizen Records).
The origins of De Tian go back to 1978 when, as a result of a combination of disillusion with the new wave music scene and the emergence of synthi pop, Paul Shaft left Sheffield new wave pioneers, 2.3 to form a band of people interested in breaking rules. Members came and went, but the core of De Tian consisted of Shaft and ex-2.3 roadie and percussionist Paul Hague. De Tian live employed a huge range of different “instruments’ ranging from the conventional (guitars, horns, percussion), to more unusual ethic and self-constructed ways of making sound, together with self-recorded voice backing tapes. The result was music that defied categorisation but owed more to Stockhausen and Partch than any kind of conventional “pop”. Live shows also included films, slides and even a magician. A 6 track EP 'Two Spires Split' was released on Oblique Sounds and a track appeared on the compilation, 'Bouquet of Steel'.
With Paul Hague leaving to join Imaginary Friends, Shaft met Martin Archer, then playing with the emerging Sheffield Free Music Group and De Tian Mk 2 was born. With other Free Music Group members occasionally dropping in, De Tian eventually morphed into jazz-punk pell mellers Bass Tone Trap. [SOURCE: DISCUS MUSIC]
Danny & The Dressmakers might be best known (if at all) for gifting Graham Massey to the world -after spending time in post-punk funksters Biting Tongues, he’d go on to fame as a member of techno outfit 808 State- but there’s so much more to Danny & The Dressmakers, one of the finest exponents of “bad music” circling around the Weird Noise, Fuck Off Records etc. They released a batch of cassettes -'Go Mental', '200 Cancellations', '39 Golden Grates'- pitched in with various compilations, played some wild shows where their performance antics were every bit as important as the wigginess of their improvised non-songs, and generally terrorised Manchester for a couple of years: all highly admirable pursuits. [SOURCE: THE VINYL FACTORY]
Disturbed
were a punk band from UK formed in 1977 by
Josi Munns (vocals), Ian Willcock (guitar), Steve Strand (bass) and Trevor Warburton (drums). They released only a single, 'I Don't Believe', on
Parole Records in 1979.
After Disturbed split, Josi Munns formed Josi and the Pussycats (1979-1982) and later the goth band Josi Without Colours.
Formed in Edinburgh in 1979, cult garage / indiepop band The Delmontes released just two singles on indie label Rational Records: 'Tous les Soirs' (1980) and 'Don't Cry Your Tears' (1981). Boasting a poised avant-retro sound and vision (three of the five band members were female), the band anticipated several later indie trends, including C86, Creation, Sarah and TweeNet. Both DinDisc and Zoo Records competed to sign the group, who completed a full UK tour with the Teardrop Explodes, but sadly this potential went unfulfilled, and The Delmontes split at the beginning of 1983.
The roots of the band lie in an earlier outfit called Strange Daze, formed in Edinburgh in February 1979 by Mike Berry (guitar), Gordon Simpson (bass), Bernice Simpson (drums) and vocalist Julie Hepburn. The name reflected a keen interest in The Doors, although Mike and Gordon's burgeoning interest in garage and psychedelic music soon expanded to include the 13th Floor Elevators, Seeds, Electric Prunes,Red Crayola and Golden Dawn, along with the seminal 'Nuggets' compilation album. Along with Ronnie Gurr and John McTernan, Mike Berry and Gordon Simpson were also responsible for punk fanzine Hanging Around, a cultural mix reflected in Strange Daze's valiant atteps to fuse vintage psychedelia with contemporary post-punk.
The band's progress was enhanced by the recruitment of accomplished keyboard player Gillian Miller, complete with vintage Farfisa organ and handy backing vocals, and by the end of the year Strange Daze had become The Delmontes.
Much of 1980 was spent rehearsing, and playing live dates around Scotland with the likes of Orange Juice, Fire Engines, Revillos and The Associates, at venues including Teviot Row in Edinburgh and Paisley's celebrated Bungalow Bar. The fact -purely accidental- that the band featured three girls and two boys was seen as a novelty, and lead to lazy comparisons with The B-52's and Martha and the Muffins.
The emergence of The Delmontes coincided with a surge of press interest in the so-called Sound of Young Scotland, including the lauded Postcard Records stable (Josef K, Orange Juice, Aztec Camera) as well as Scars, Fire Engines and Restricted Code. Journalist Johnny Waller proved an enthusiastic champion of the band, and soon The Delmontes found themselves sharing a de facto manager with Josef K, Allan Campbell.
Having recorded a first demo in the autumn of 1980, featuring a clutch of short and snappy songs, The Delmontes became the first signing to Campbell's new indie imprint, Rational Records.
Run from the back room of indie emporium Gutter Music on Henderson Row, Rational would go on to release a string of fascinating 7" singles by The Delmontes, Article 58, The Visitors (who would sign to 4AD but split before releasing an album) and Paul Haig.
Rational's first outing was the debut single by The Delmontes, released in September 1980, and featuring three tracks: "Tous les Soirs", "Ga Ga" and "Infectious Smile". An outstanding debut, it would win them several influential friends, and although "Tous les Soirs" itself may have owed a debt to "Liar Liar" by The Castaways, both flipsides revealed The Delmontes as a band with impressive writing and arranging skills that covered the waterfront from Barry-tinged spy twang ("Ga Ga") to crepuscular balladry ("Infectious Smile"). "Ga Ga" and "Tous les Soirs", incidently, featured lyrics by Peter Watson, a non-playing friend of the band.
With Josef K, Orange Juice, Fire Engines and Scars all riding high on the indie chart, the single attracted some useful national publicity, including a half-page feature in the NME. The 1000 copies pressed quickly sold out.
The Delmontes played their first London show in October, debuting at the French Youth Centre, before opening for Buzzcocks and Orange Juice at The Lyceum on 2 November. Other notable London gigs followed over the next few months, including the Sundown with Comsat Angels and Minny Pops, The Venue, and Cabaret Futura, the cultish Soho club hosted by Richard Strange. The group also played a short tour supporting The Passions. It's probably fair to say that the band preferred gigging Northern venues, memorably Manchester University (with The Fall), Leeds Warehouse and the seminal Beach Club in Manchester, with boy wonders Aztec Camera supporting.
In February 1981 the band recorded a BBC radio session for Richard Skinner, broadcast the following month. The second single was 'Don't Cry Your Tears', initially released by Rational in March 1981 and housed in a wraparound Paisley pattern sleeve. Another four-track recording, it was a dark, barbed pop song, and gained extra punch from the simple production values, although flipside "So It's Not To Be" was remixed when the single was re-issued in May. Once again the critical reception was warm, with Smash Hits placing the band "at the top of the queue" and rightly praising the single as a gem. By June it had climbed as high as #11 on the NME indie chart, although for some obscure reason the paper persisted in listing the a-side as "Don't Dry Your Tears".
"Tous les Soirs" and The Delmontes' psychedelic references had already attracted the attention of Bill Drummond at Zoo Records and Julian Cope of Teardrop Explodes, arch psych-heads both. As a result the band was invited to support the Teardrops on their 20 date Culture Bunker tour of the UK in June, with the newly poptastic headliners riding high on the UK success of the singles "Reward" and "Treason". The tour kicked off in Bradford on 5 June and took in major cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, London, and ended with a rescheduled date at Dunstable on the 29th. Unusually for the time the tour was not a buy-on, and The Delmontes instead received the princely sum of £50 per night. While this barely covered petrol, it did afford the band an opportunity to play to large and appreciative audiences nationwide, and helped 'Don't Cry Your Tears' scale the indie chart.
The tour climaxed with a prestigious show at Hammersmith Odeon.
Thanks to the singles and the tour, The Delmontes were on top of their game during the summer of 1981, and found themselves courted by bigger labels, fielded by new manager Gordon Dair. Virgin-backed faux-indie DinDisc (Monochrome Set, OMD, Martha and the Muffins) travelled all the way from London to chilly Bo'ness to table a deal, although the terms were less than generous, and the offer was declined. Another Virgin affiliate, Cuba Libre, run by Ali Mackenzie of The Cuban Heels, also expressed interest. Intriguingly, The Delmontes were also offered a deal by Zoo, the celebrated Liverpool indie run by Bill Drummond and Dave Balfe, and earlier home to Echo and the Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes. Again, however, the terms were average, and while it's possible that Zoo might have been able to sign or licence The Delmontes to a major, as they had with the Bunnymen and Teardrops, there were no guarantees, and by itself Zoo was just as much an indie as Rational.
In passing, it's worth noting that the Zoo/Food axis later signed (and charted) Strawberry Switchblade, another female-fronted indiepop band from north of the border, albeit Glasgow rather than Edinburgh. The Zoo connection also explains an unlikely rumour in circulation in Edinburgh at the time, to the effect that The Delmontes were due to sign with hip New York dance label Ze.
In December 1981 the band entered Palladium Studio to record a four song demo. Rational Records also released a one-off 7" ep (RATE 5) credited to Mark, James and Julie, whose five tracks included a cover of "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake". The trio behind this charming record included Julie Hepburn, and James Locke, of Paul Haig's 'Rhythm of Life' and later The Chimes.
The Delmontes remained active, writing new material and playing college dates, as well as a short, snow-blown tour of Holland in January 1982, but failed to capitalise on the success of the singles and the Teardrops tour. A sense of boredom and inertia crept in, allied to a self-confessed lazy streak, and an uneasy realisation that the rocky road from indie hopefuls to mainstream contenders might be a rocky one.
Their quandary was best summed up by Steve Sutherland in Melody Maker, reporting on a prestigious Scots-only Rock Week at the ICA in London in March 1982. By then The Delmontes had been out of the public eye for nine months.
The band played well enough at the ICA, although NME chose to print a cropped shot of Julie's Doc Marten boots alone, and reviewer Paul Morley was oblique in his praise.
By May 1982, when Steve Sutherland awarded The Delmontes a full-page feature in Melody Maker, the band aspired to create "elegant pop music" and confessed candidly that "success is now our paramount concern." This new sense of ambition bore fruit that summer when major label WEA expressed interest in the band. In fact the deal owed much to the band's ongoing friendship with Alan Rankine of The Associates, whose partnership with Billy Mackenzie had recently stalled after a string of cancelled shows, and who the label were now keen to groom as a producer.
Ultimately the longed-for major deal proved a Faustian pact. The A&R department sought to impose a raft of crass ideas on the band, which included ousting the overtly 'garage' rhythm section of Gordon and Bernice Simpson, and subjecting Julie to a Sade-style makeover. This proved too much for the Simpsons, who elected to leave, fearing the band would lose its way. In the interim drummer Bernice was replaced by Neil Braidwood, formerly of cult post-punks The Freeze, while Gillian and Mike added bass where required.
Undoubtedly the departure of Bernice and Gordon allowed The Delmontes to follow a more commercial musical direction, but equally their loss served to diminish the band's unique visual impact onstage. Bernice subsequently joined The Pastels, remaining with them until 1989.
After recording a polished six song demo at Wilf's Planet in Edinburgh in September, the new-look Delmontes played a one-off date supporting Roxy Music (then promoting 'Avalon') at Edinburgh Playhouse on 1 October. The band then travelled down to London to record three tracks with Alan Rankine. A final demo was recorded a few weeks later at Palladium, Edinburgh, now with drummer Keith Burns (of Hey! Elastica) and bassist Neil 'Dunc' Duncanson on board.
Any one of the three songs recorded with Rankine would have been strong enough to crack the charts, however, at the beginning of the New Year their A&R contact failed to show for a scheduled meeting at Edinburgh hostelry Mr Mustard's, and instead Mike Berry was called to the bar to take a telephone call, the gist of which was that the band were to be dropped. It was a blow from which The Delmontes did not recover. Profoundly disenchanted, the remaining members went their separate ways. [SOURCE: LTM RECORDINGS]
1978, Birmingham UK. Mike Cooper (vocals), Rob Peters (drums), Chris Ames (guitar) and Rob Rampton (bass) form a band called Dangerous Girls.
Their first gig booked them with Dexy’s Midnight Runners (then known as The Dynatones), UB40 and Surprises (50p entrance), but pulled at the last minute. The first actual gig was in Dudley (with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and The Surprises, all playing their debut gig). The band builds a following but, with no records out, Chris leaves in April 1979 and Beetmoll joins on guitar two days before his first gig.
In July 1979 they have their first single out, 'Dangerous Girls/I Don’t Want To Eat (With The Family)'. Play UK tours offering use of the PA, lights and equipment to local bands who wish to play.
In
November 1979 the live 'Taaga' EP is released, and reaches number 1 in the last indie chart of the 70’s. John Peel describes the band as “spasm rock”.
Signed to London indie label Human Records, they released their third record, 'Man In The Glass/M07S', then fouth record 'Step Out/Sidekick Phenomena/Men In Suits' and BBC Radio 1 session 'Dangerous Girls/Simmer/Instict/Domestic Blister'. Start to record an album, 'Nerve Ends', but Human Records go bust and the album was abandoned.
In 1982 the band splits. Get together again in 2012 for reunion gigs with new members Micky Harris (bass) and Jake Simmons (guitar). Chris Ames rejoins and the band self-release first vinyl album 'Highbury Studio May 2015'. [SOURCE: RAVE UP RECORDS]
Dum Dum Dum
were a british post-punk band formed
in 1978 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, and disbanded in
1981. Original line up were Paul Conneally,Bill Buchanan and Andy Fulks. Later line ups included Andy Sizer, Tom Green (synths and a battered Vox organ), guitarist, mandolinist, and vocalist Martin Cradick, and free improvising soprano and sopranino saxophonist Lol Coxhill.
Divert Off Centre was a post-punk band from Lancashire attempted to do something different, probably influenced by the New Avant sounds coming from Bristol rather than the straight ahead punk sounds of 1976. Formed
in 1979, members
were Tim White, Simon P. Jones (guitar), Phil Clare, Jak Knowles (bass), Jenny Lobell, Mark Wilkinson, Luke Smith. They later evolved as The October Group. Divert Off Centre only released the single 'The Oh So Diverse Plastic New Art', engineered by Robin Dalton and Chris Riley in 1982, actually a flexi in a fold out sleeve with the usual mystical sounding mumbo jumbo on the back.
[SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]
Dry Rib were a band formed in 1978. Originally they were a 3-piece featuring Rob Vasey on guitar, Mike Mulholland on bass and Andrew Goodwin on drums, based in London. In 1979 they released an EP on Edward Ball's Clockwork label. Later that year Rob Vasey left the band and the line-up was extended to include Bernie Martin on guitar, Joni Dee Sackett on vocals, Paul Kendall on alto saxophone and Ray Kent on keyboards.
Vasey went on to form a band called As Hem Syrup in the early 1980s which was followed by Sinking Sun King a couple of years later. Most of the material recorded by the early version of Dry Rib plus material from As Hem Syrup and some other solo Vasey recordings have been released on Chuck Warner's Messthetics series as Messthetics #213, titled 'Whose Last Trickle'. A couple of other Dry Rib tracks are also available on earlier Messthetics compilations.
Currently Vasey is working under the name Neureille. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
Devils Hole Gang were formed around 1975 from a bunch of Ilford, Essex musicians.
The first incarnation featured Chris Elliott (guitar / vocals), Steve Riley (bass / vocals), Richard Ashman (guitar / vocals), John Kennett (vocals) and Nik Sands (percussion). Richard Ashman left leaving the core of Chris, Steve, John and Nik. Eventually John was kicked out and they continued as a three piece. Nik left the band's drumming seat and concentrated on the 'backroom scene' (roadie, sound engineer, general dogsbody...) and Kev Stevenson took over. It was Kev who played drums on thir only single, 'Free The People' (1979). A fourth band member, Kev Beaumont, joined on lead guitar but it wasn't to last. After a few gigs with the last line-up they decided to call it a day around 1980. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
Paul Reekie (Poet, Writer, Iconoclast; born January 23rd 1962; died June 2010), was regarded by anyone who knew him as a living legend. This was the case whether sharing a record with Joy Division, publishing a novella in "Children of Albion Rovers", Rebel Inc’s seminal 1996 collection of Scotland’s underground literati, or sharing stages and wild times with an iconoclastic social circle who would change popular culture forever.
Where peers such as Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner were courted by major publishers, Reekie published little and remained on the margins, a classic literary outsider. Reekie’s influence, however, was as immeasurable as the larger than life persona that made him a garrulous, often unpredictable but never dull presence. Yet beneath the edgy bonhomie there lay a fiercely astute intellect that could go off on any number of diverse tangents. There were too, it seems, more than a few demons that have finally caught up with him.
Reekie grew up in Leslie, Fife, where he discovered books via his father’s job at the local paper factory. Reekie moved to Edinburgh aged sixteen, attending Leith Nautical College where he trained to be a radio officer. He lived in a seaman’s mission, having acquired papers claiming he was working for BP and was waiting on a ship. When BP sold off its merchant fleet, however, the game was up.
By that time, punk had happened. Reekie became president of the Scottish branch of the Subway Sect fan club, and formed his own band, Thursdays. With Reekie on vocals and bass, Thursdays shared bills and attitudes with the likes of The Falland local contemporaries, Fire Engines and The Scars.
In 1979 Thursdays recorded two songs for 'Earcom 2', a compilation EP released by Bob Last’s Fast Product label, which also featured Joy Division and Basczax. Thursdays featured one original, "Perfection", alongside a remarkable cover of Otis Redding’s "(Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay". Still only seventeen, Reekie’s unique vocal sounds fragile and mournfully world-weary.
Reekie hooked up with Mark Perry’s Good Missionaries project, and toured with The Pop Group. He released a solo single, 'Lovers', and started a cassette label, I.D. Reekie’s public debut as a man of letters came in 1983, when he gave a lecture at Edinburgh University entitled "Towards A Royal Arch Built From Broken Ribs".
Reekie would find his full voice in the early 1990s, when he began taking part in a series of Monday night readings in the back room of Edinburgh’s Antiquary bar. Sporting flying hat and ski goggles, Reekie would read epics that would later appear in the 1993 Rebel Inc pamphlet, "Zap – You’re Pregnant", or else extemporise on why Miles Davis was a better bass player than trumpeter. In 1992 Kevin Williamson’s Rebel Inc magazine championed Reekie’s singular genius as both writer and performer.
In 1994, Reekie’s poem, "When Caesar's Mushroom is in Season", appeared at the frontispiece of Welsh’s 1994 book, "The Acid House", and in 1996 the two authors read at a Rebel Inc Hogmanay event across three floors of Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. By that time, Reekie’s novella, "Submission", had appeared alongside work by Welsh, Warner, Gordon Legge, Laura Hird and James Meek in "Children of Albion Rovers". Written in the first-person, "Submission"’s contents caused a former partner of Reekie’s to threaten legal action. Publishers Canongate withdrew the book until a heavily edited version was released.
Reekie would go on to appear at the Yellow Café literary nights, and in 1999 supported Nick Cave in Princes Street Gardens. In 2002, Reekie guest-starred on Subway Sect founder Vic Godard’s album, 'Sansend'. No more new fiction or poetry appeared, although Reekie is known to have written constantly inbetween attending Hibs games, reading Noel Coward or listening to free jazz and reggae. In 2007, "Lovers" appeared on an American compilation of DIY music from Scotland recorded between 1977-81. [SOURCE: PAUL REEKIE OBITUARY]
The Ripchords
were a punk rock band formed
in Street, Somerset by
Sean Dromgoole (vocals), Morris Gould [aka Maurice Gould, Mixmaster Morris] (bass), Jonathan Jetlag [Jonathan Collins] (guitar), and Michael Trei (drums). Morris founded The Ripchords at 15, whose sole release, an eponymous EP with four tracks, was championed by the BBC Radio One DJ John Peel. Its another one of those singles that just kept appearing and featured a mighty fine tuneful punk with sepulchral vocals and deep growling bass. [SOURCE: PUNK77]
