Sorry we didn’t have an update in October but we are just starting to catch up with the backlog of wonderful music we are preparing for your listening pleasure

We are always on the look out for great pics of great bands from 1977 to 1985 so please don’t sit on them at home – share them with the outside world. Please email [email protected]

All the updates below should be live on the site by Sunday 8^th Nov – please keep checking back – www.bristolarchiverecords.com

NEW RELEASES:   World Wide on all digital platforms now…

ARC116 THE SIDNEYS  - ‘Wave Bye Bye’

All recorded pretty much live by Steve Street at SAM Studios, Bristol … Autumn of 1984.

Joanna Swan, Wendy Partridge, Sarah Partridge  … Vocals, Bill Stair …. Bass, Nick Pullin … Guitar, Thomas Brooman …. Drums, Kenny Lacey … (Kenny Bongo Man)

Mastered by Steve Street July 2009

Childhood friends Joanna Swan and Wendy & Sarah Partridge first trod the boards as the Spicettes, backing vocalists for Bristol’s egregiously named neo-soul combo The Spics.  When that group fell apart, the three reinvented themselves as an acappella trio, and The Sidneys burst onto the scene – or at least the space outside the Pompidou Centre, where they learned that busking in Paris was more financially rewarding than gigging in Bristol.

Despite this, they decided to expand The Sidneys into a full band, eventually arriving at a lineup of: guitarist/philosopher Angelo Bruschini, percussive genius/raconteur Kenny Lacey, drummer/business supremo Thos Brooman and bassist/future mandolinist Bill Stair.…………

ARC118 THE INANE – ‘The Only Fun In Frampton Cotterell’

Tim Rippington   - Vocals, Guitar, Rob Pursey          - Bass, Vocals, Dave Squire         - Keyboards, Vocals, Melodica, Phil Cox               - Drums

What did your first band sound like? Not the first proper band you had, where everyone had learned to play their instruments and write songs, but your first ever band. Well, this was ours. We called it The Inane, because frankly we couldn’t think of anything else. People thought we must be a hard-core punk band until they met us. Our band started in the early 80‘s, an amazingly inspirational time for people who just wanted to get up and play music. Our heroes were the Clash, Joy Division/New Order, the Postcard scene, the Fall and their off-shoot the Blue Orchids. It all shows.  We were all 17 except for our drummer Phil, who was a mere 14 years old when we first started rehearsing.  We grew up fast, playing our first gig at the legendary Stonehouse before it was demolished, and recording our first demo with producer Steve Street not long after.………… 

This LP was entirely compiled from old cassette tapes, so the quality is somewhat variable. The studio recordings were all made at the original SAM studio in Backfields Lane.  From memory, tracks 1 and 2 were recorded on 16 track, the rest were recorded on 8 track. Tracks 4-6 were recorded first, in 1982, tracks 7-11 recorded in 1983 and tracks 1-2 in 1984. No one knows when or where the live recordings were made, probably it was the Bristol Bridge some time in 1983.

The 4-track recording of Bad Education was an attempt to capture a song that was first learnt for the Battle of the Bands Competition at Trinity Hall. The organisers insisted that every band did a cover version, so true to our ambitions we learnt this little-known song by Blue Orchids.

THE PRIMATES ARC115 – ‘Live at Barton Hill Youth Club 1977’

Recorded live by Simon Edwards in 1977 at Barton Hill Youth Club, Bristol

Mastered by Steve Street July 2009

Line up:

Johnny Britton – Guitar, Voice, John Shennan – Bass, Voice, JJ – Drums

The Untouchables ARC117- ‘Walk The Dog’

The album we believe was recorded live in SAM Studios by Steve Street in 1978 or 1979.

Mastered by Steve Street 2009

WHITE HOTEL ARC120 – ‘WHITE HOTEL’

After returning back to Bristol in early 86 I started putting together a new recording set-up, which included a few bits of the then new cutting edge ‘midi’ gear. Linn sequencer, Drum machine, DX7 keyboard & a Mirage sampler.

After having gone on a tangent working for other people now felt like the right time to try out some writing.

I remember from the Stonehouse days another fine Bristol band called TVI’s, I had been impressed by their singer & main writer John Kelly. I had briefly played one show with TVI’s back in Oct ’80 at the Berkley Rooms, so I called him up to see if he would be at all interested in a collaboration.

He was and we started working together in early 87.

John handled most of the vocals, I had always enjoyed his voice & he was also a superb lyricist/poet. I was more than happy with this as I was now getting deeper into the production side of things. We wrote quite a number of tracks together, they all started sounded much more cinematic & cerebral with various keyboards & piano featured quite a bit.

We decided to call ourselves ‘White Hotel’ after the infamous D M Thomas book.

Trouble was we took rather a long time getting the ‘right’ demo tape finished & out to people. In-fact we never even got to play one gig together.

When we finally did get the demo tape out we got very good interest from Atlantic Records in NY.

But as with so many record companies they were a bit unsure of jumping straight into a deal.

They decided to fund us for some additional demo tracks to try & convince them.

In the end Atlantic decided not to go for it.

Disappointed we decided to call it a day & move on after having come so close.

Alan Griffiths

VIDEOS:

We have added the The Pigs video shot at the reunion gig at The Thunderbolt earlier this year

PICTURES:

Many new pictures added to the individual releases but we always looking for more – please get in touch – we are still working on a book on the scene 1977 – 1984 but we need more fab pics and the input of some of the top photographers in Bristol during that era.

Please get in touch [email protected]

Next Batch of Releases:

OUR VIOLENT HOUR

ROYAL ASSASSINS LIVE

GARDEZ DARKX LIVE

STARGAZER LIVE

CREATURE BEAT LIVE

CREATURE BEAT ALBUM

STEREO MODELS

NEWS:

The Stingrays to support The Fall at the Metropolis Bristol

Its just been confirmed that we will be supporting The Fall on November 23rd at the Metropolis on Gloucester Road in Bristol. Looks like a good venue, should be a great night.

The Best of Fried Egg Records (Bristol 1979-1981) will be released on cd first week of Feb 2010. Its hould start to appear for presale on Amazon, Play.com, HMV etc in the next few weeks.

Thomas Brooman CBE has agreed to write the sleeve notes for another cd release of his favourite tracks and bands from the Bristol Recorder, Wavelength Records era – can’t wait!

Avon Calling 2 is currently being compiled by Simon Edwards (Heartbeat Records) for cd release in the spring 2010 with sleeve notes from the great man him self….

The track listing looks like being as follows subject to the bands approval:

1              SOCIAL SECURITY             STELLAS GOT A FELLA/CIDER

2              SOCIAL SECURITY             SELF CONFESSION

3              EUROPEANS                       TO BE AGREED WITH STEVE

4              GLAXO BABIES                  BECAUSE OF YOU

5              GLAXO BABIES                  STAY AWAKE

6              APARTMENT                      BROKEN GLASS

7              APARTMENT                      RETROSPECT

8              PRIVATE DICKS                  YOU GOT IT

9              PRIVATE DICKS                  WANT SOME FUN

10           SNEAK PREVIEW               MR MAGOO

11           SNEAK PREVIEW               I CANT GET OUT

12           JOE PUBLIC                         LETTERS IN MY DESK

13           JOE PUBLIC                         FASTER

14           ART OBJECTS                      WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

15           X – CERTS                            PEOPLE OF TODAY

16           48 HOURS                            TRAIN TO BRIGHTON

17           TVI’S                                      DANCER

18           VITUS DANCE                    ANY TAKERS

19           DIRECTORS                         EMPTY PROMISES

20           DIRECTORS                         SHOWCASE

21           SEAN RYAN                         SUICIDE MAN

22           STEREO MODELS              SO LONG

23           UNKNOWN                        MIGHT AS WELL ENJOY YOURSELF

And finally we have another compilation cd being compiled with sleeve notes by Shane Baldwin (Vice Squad) called ‘Bristol – The Punk Explosion’ – more news on the release date later this year.

FUTURE PLANNED RELEASES:

EITHER / OR
ANIMAL MAGIC
RESTRICTION
THE STARTLED INSECTS
STATIK SOUND SYSTEM
NECROMANCY
THE GAS TAPS
FIVE YEAR PLAN
TEMPLE
ANANDA MAYA
THE DIRECTORS
THE POSERS

CLAYTOWN TROUPE

That’s all folks.

Mike and the team.

www.bristolarchiverecords.com

ROYAL ASSASSINS
FLUX
Bristol Archive RecordsThis has apparently never been made available before, and is the earlier incarnation of the band before they really got going live, and they’re another one of those Bristol alt-funk outfits who blow mainly hot, but occasionally chillily cold, artily intense and somehow time-stamped. For those interested in history the man man Chris Scott was joined for this by Dave Hares and Sean Henneberry with Jerry Underwood on sax, but the band people saw was missing Hares and Henneberry (I have no idea what they do), as they’d been replaced by Ben Wilby and Keith Campbell. I have no idea who any of them are, or what happened to them, but this is an intriguing record for those who collect such records, but far more than just a curio for others.

‘Open Up The Rivers’ is gorgeous, the vocals slipping sideways over the oily surface of the sound, percussion, guitars and sax joined by elastic, but keeping to a central idea. It starts, moves away, empties out, comes rolling back and keeps that going, so you’re getting little waves of inventive sound lapping at your scalded, scolded feet. ‘Gutless Day’ is a lugubrious blend of sax tendrils, cocky leering vocals over a watchful rhythm, but it drifts in and out of focus, strangely like an orthodox Captain Beefheart. ‘Hypnotism’ keeps the drums just ticking, the bass on repeat, and vocals are delivered in a steady manner, fitting the title. ‘Ju Ju Man’ goes the other way, a raw cacophony, with indecent decorum at its heart so the body of the tune hangs together while its head falls off.

There’s angst aplenty wrung out during ‘River Of Tears’ while the sax is oddly modest,
‘Quiet Sun’ clip-clops into life which amused me because today I think I convinced Lynda to sing ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’ on Second Life on Halloween, demanding “more cowbell” throughout it. People who don’t get the reference will be thrown. ‘Song Of A Bullet’ saunters crisply along, with some brilliantly trudging drums, the bass going for the austere control, guitar little more than a memory although when it does appear it has a cool gentility too. Mooching into the gracefully rusted ‘Here Forever’ I think that’s the oddest thing for me about this bunch. There’s no angular arty farting about, and nor is there is much clenched throat rantiness, which often went hand in hand with the fucked funk brigade. These are simply deft but devious songs with a full-on pulse and semi-oblique lyrics brought to life with some offhand but quality vocals. ‘Here Forever’ wouldn’t sound out of place now, like Phoenix & The Oracle, brass infiltrating atmospheric murk. The consumptive ‘Big Wheel Hit’ is almost like a jazzy version of Ausgang in that it has gruff peaks of vocal repetition, as if he’s vomiting Kerouac, and grandly glowing guitar, but coming from a different direction

Cool, daddio. (Was there ever a Mummio that we know of?)

http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/The_Royal_Assassins.html
http://www.myspace.com/bristolarchiverecordsuk

Taken from www.mickmercer.com

ELECTRIC GUITARS
JOLTS
Bristol Archive

‘Eternal Youth’ is an unusual opener for an unusual indie band who shimmer with intelligent energy, keeping the songs restrained but bulbous ideas-wise. The backing vocals irritate through being overplayed and merely repeating the title 4endlessly. It’s just got a nicely dark melodic flow. The jabbering vocal stance used early in ‘Genghis Khan’ is very David Byrne, which must still have appeared new at the time, because there’s nothing copyist about the band elsewhere, and indeed the song develops to an enthralling close, with witty keyboards and winsome guitar. The gentle sing-song capering of ‘Cloud 9’ is equally interesting, fractured and oddly filmic.

This band ran ’79-’83 and, coincidentally, I saw the Dancing Did play with them, with Electric Guitars were also unfortunate enough to be on Stiff Records. It was that era, where people just started becoming wholly individual and wilfully perverse. Cheekily wispy keyboards lift ‘Voice of Sound’ well and then off it wiggles, incorporating a brief train and shivery vocals, the whole song appear to flicker.

‘Scrap That Car’ happened to be recorded when the singer had his balls trapped in a vice, but he carries on regardless and they go loopily funk, which is a happy habit of theirs. Like Gang Of 4 without the academia. ‘Stamp Out The Termites’ has a ditsy, plinky pop thing going for it, but the keyboards add a queasier feel to it, and the individual instruments do tend to have a tweak and twinge here to always just shake up the jittery silliness, and threaten to take the song somewhere weirder. ‘Start Up The New Life’ has some gorgeously Star Trek style keyboards going for it, as well as a snakey rhythm but ‘Food’ is pretty annoying, bordering on ‘quirky’ pop, and nobody needs that, yet once again the fantastic keyboards make it something memorable. Richard Truscott, take a bow!

‘Ja Ja Lunar Commander’ has a bit of Star Wars no doubt, so we’ll pass over that on principle, into the squeaky madness of ‘Interference’ that could even be a demented cuckoo clock. ‘Fat Man’ glides around like a headless XTC, and wit the watery guitar ‘Language Problems’ faffs around a bit too pretend-dippy for its own good, trying hard to be interesting and negaging pop, but not quite getting there, like early Wham! With a toothache. Although there are voices off, ‘Don’t Wake The Baby’ is essentially a reggae instrumental and makes for another strange twist on this corkscrewed record.

I gather they only released some singles apart from this and so, like the mighty Dids, they were snuffed out too early. Interesting band, if slightly maddening.

http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/Electric_Guitars.html
http://bristolarchiverecords.com/blog/
http://www.myspace.com/bristolarchiverecordsuk

GARDEZ DARKX
GARDEZ DARKX
Bristol Archive Records

The wheezy brass and clip-clop percussion of ‘White Rain’ is enough to tell you we’re in left-field art-rock territory, and as there’s never any map I can’t really clear things up. Stream of unconsciousness lyrics never take hold, as attractive, windblown guitar sails away, and a sax alternates between being sometimes heroic, sometimes hated. ‘Stranger’ wees itself happily, with some hideous guitar overspill from a cute enough tune which has some pushy little perky touches to go with the supreme crooning of Latif Gardez, who apparently also recorded as Mystery Slang. It’s like The Associates gone grubby and a touch muso. Is that a good thing?

‘S. M. Tiger’ gets some post-jazz tinkling going, which you did find creeping through at the start of the 80s, with the indie scene brimming over with people trying to reinvent styles other than punky fare, some rough and scary, some surprisingly mellow but irritating like Gardez Darkx. ‘Random Alligator’ is an interesting mess, the idling keyboards suggesting someone like The Doors but it mainly feels likely a drowsy early Spandau Ballet visited by some odd bluesy guitar runs, as the young Latif was apparently influenced by the late, great Rory Gallagher, not that you can tell. Doorsian similarities flood the dumpy ‘Steel Wind’ but sadly this is not the end, my friend.

‘Saints’ has a slinky feel going, but with annoying yowling vocals, but otherwise it’s less scattershot, more direct. ‘Go!’ sounds like ‘Hong Kong Garden’ meets ABC, with a kids tv audience in mind, twee but sweetly twisted while ‘Doctor Be Good’ is strangled Bowie.
‘Bandage Mechanics’ is a gnarled funk David Byrne thing too, so the influences are all over the shop although it’s all there to serve the somewhat sore songs. ‘Whirlwind Friend’ staggers boldly to a finish with all of the aforementioned sounds locked in its dusty grooves and really it’s gone before you’ve grasped what they’re after.

There were tons of bands like this back then, and I can’t say I’m surprised the name hasn’t established itself. The best I can say is that if you’re into that arty noodling there’s a lot more gravitas here than some of the jerkier blaring bands offered, but it’s not my kind of thing in any way. I was glad when it finished.

http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/Gardez_Darkx.html#tiger

by mickmercer.com

THE LONG MARCH
CUNFUOCO
Bristol Archive Records

William Waine (bass/vocals) seems the mainstay, having seen Dave Cullum (Rhythm Puppet) on guitar and even Mike Darby himself on vocals fall by the wayside, before David Simpson on guitar and the percussively powered Shane Leonard cemented the lineup, occasionally enlivened by string players Justine and Kate Dobbins, although it all occurred between 1986 and 1988 so it may have veered around for all I know. William now sings and swings with Dynamos Rhythm Aces. Snotty punk Dave suggests, “If, when you’re listening to these old tunes, you don’t like them, you can still fuck off!” Well said, that man.

‘When Reason Sleeps’ makes a fabulous impact immediately with keenly explorative vocals pushing through a lean but busy indie song, with muscular drums, and gently detonating guitar, it’s all very melodic, all very spirited. ‘Drowning’ pitches along with tumultuous despair through throttled guitar and wild vocal curves, like a darker version of Hurrah! ‘Weakness’ finds the drums escalate, the vocals drift away as a guitar vibrates cautiously and strings introduce more discretion. Whistles, percussion and drums buffet storytelling vocals in the cute ‘Black Friday’ which makes for an unusual approach, so they were inventive characters. The pattering drums, tight strings and constant vocal presence throughout ‘Themes For Dance’ seems like a bit of a mess when the melody could have been more all-embracing. ‘Risk’ is just as jumbled, with skittish strings poking against tumbling drums and feverish, bright vocals swooping madly, with plenty of gnashing energy evident, so regardless of their odd approach they carry you with them.

‘Heaven And Hell’ didn’t do much for me, as it surged along but the twirly twang of ‘My Six Miracles’ is more involving, despite the jolly guitar and tremulous vocals failing to explain what the six miracles actually were, which annoyed me. ‘Pride And Joy’ is simple agonised indie, with the more rhythmically pointy ‘Laugh Until You Cry’ doing the jostling pop thing. ‘Arena Days’ is pale but well propelled, then a live version of ‘I Am Your Ghost’ from the 1988 Ashton Court Festival maybe hints at what the website throws up, about the band loving punk and classical, because the terse delivery and sudden string moodiness creates an interesting collision. ‘Infantry’ drifts off on sorrowful strains, emoting quietly with some muted samples, before rough guitar goes off on some poisoned wrangling.

An odd indie band then, full of strange, winning elements. I don’t think I’d have followed them avidly at the time had I known about them, but they certainly had something.

(Mick Mercer – www.mickmercer.com)

http://www.3rdgenerationnation.de/ReviewsSeptember2009.htm

APARTMENT
„House Of Secrets“ CD-R
( Bristol Archive Records / BristolArchiveRecords.com , Release Date: Juli 2009 )
Dieses Trio ist mir noch bestens bekannt durch ihre grandiose erste Doppel-A-Seiten-Single „The Car“ zu Beginn des Jahres 1980. JOHN PEEL hatte sie bei sich im Programm und spielte beide Seiten, wobei ich den Track „Winter“ favorisierte. Dieser unterkuehlter Ton in der Stimme von Alan Griffiths und das dazugehoerige melancholische Gitarrenspiel machten diesen Song zu etwas ganz Grossem. Bis heute gilt „Winter“ als einer der besten Momente im PostPunk-Bereich ueberhaupt. „The Car“ hingegen ist ein schneller gradliniger PowerPop-Song, der ebenfalls von dem originellen Gitarrensound lebt. Ebenfalls auf der 15-Song-CD ist der Song „The Alternative“ vertreten, der 1979 auf dem „Avon Calling“-Sampler vertreten war. Diese drei Tracks sind natuerlich der perfekte Opener. Und insgeheim hatte ich gehofft, dass sich noch weitere Perlen dieser Art auf der CD befinden. Und tatsaechlich mit Track 4 „Distractions“ geht es in diese Richtung weiter. Man wird zwar unweigerlich an alte CURE-Songs erinnert, was aber voellig in Ordnung geht. Ein Song, der mir auf Anhieb gefaellt. Leider ist dann aber Schluss mit Lustig. Die nachfolgenden Songs werden groesstenteils von einer zu schwermuetigen Last getragen. „Shot Down“ macht den Anfang, obwohl dieser noch so halbwegs im gruenen Bereich anzusiedeln ist. Ich weiss nicht genau woran es liegt, aber ich finde einfach keinen Zugang zu diesen Songs, die wohl von einer Demo-Cassette stammen und eine erstaunlich gute Qualitaet vorzuweisen haben. Leider ist diese Aussage nicht ganz spruchreif, da es nicht eindeutig belegt ist. Demzufolge also keine brauchbaren Infos ueber die restlichen Songs zur Hand. „Distractions“ bleibt ganz klar der grosse Gewinner dieser CD!
( * * * * + )

http://www.3rdgenerationnation.de/ReviewsSeptember2009.htm

The English translation:

http://www.gothtronic.com/?page=23&reviews=5944

After the melodious ’77 punk of The Apartment, frontman Alan Griffiths and drummer Emil decided to go to the next level and team up with the new post-punk movement. As a three-piece, bassist Stuart Morgan completed the line-up, their aim was to create compelling  music with modest means. This resulted in a sound that grabbed you instantly, but never got so catchy that it would make for succesful top-40 material. Their passioned cool did however attract the attention of Radio One DJ Peter Powell and a recording session was the result. Then suddenly Phonogram offered them a contract and stardom was within reach. Emil however unexpectedly decided to leave the band which left Alan and Stuart to handle the deal. Just what happened to a likewise talented band at that time, The Comsat Angels, the major label was pushing the band to go for a poppy, radio friendly sound. Even with the help of several producers, including Associates’ Alan Rankine, the outcome was disappointing. In their original form however they were a very solid and vital band. Is Nothing Sacred compiles the complete recordings of The Escape, with the exception of “Relapse collapse”.
From shimmering to stern, the guitar play on the melodious “Eden” is diverse, the passionate vocals of Alan come out clear. Crescendos that seductively unfold add to the tension. With “Twenty four hours” that tension is turned into anxiety, delivered in well-placed doses. The piercing guitars and Alan’s dramatic voice make for a stirring track. “The retrospect” starts melancholic with low-key glistening guitar, the tense percussion however casts its shadow on the agitated chorus. “Nogo”, The Escape’s lone single, is a lost post-punk classic. Emotional, restless and grievious, it grabs you and doesn’t let go. The pronounced bass and elementary yet invigorating percussion of that single’s B-side, “I’ll pretend to kill you”, form a nice combination with the rather high-pitched yet amiable lead guitar. Again some suspenseful passages provide for additional intensity. “The difference between” features synths, a rare element in The Escape’s instrumentation. Thanks to an urgent groove this is a driving track. The resemblance to Bauhaus crops up, also because of Alan’s vocal timbre. Strident yet tuneful guitars characterize “Unknown war” and “Desolation”, a sticky bass is on the forefront on “Truth drug”. “Girl in the phone box” is remarkably subdued, although you expect it to increase in ferocity at any moment. On the swirling “Murder” that contained viciousness is unleashed. The strolling title track and the yearning, plaintive “Silent running” close this striking overview.