September Update Now Live At

www.bristolarchiverecords.com

New Release on CD and digital download:

                                                              VARIOUS ARTISTS

‘AVON CALLING 2’

Released worldwide on 14^th September 2010

20 SUPERB TRACKS ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

Buy now from www.bristolarchiverecords.com or HMV, AMAZON, PLAY.COM or any good Record Shop

In 1979, Bristols’ music scene was riding the crest of the new wave, spawning numerous bands and performers whose influences and indeed physical beings have gone on to feature in some of todays’ big music makers.

During this period local musician Simon Edwards decided to form Bristols’ first independent label, HeartbeatRecords, to capture all the excitement and get Bristols’ music out beyond the M32.

With so many bands to choose from the label set about releasing a series of 7” singles, and such was the demand realised by these that a compilation LP featuring fifteen of these bands was released. The album, topically titled AVON CALLING went on to achieve near legendary status – even hailed by John Peel as “truly superb, the compilation that all others should be judged by”.

Such was the interest in the album that the bands involved continued to supply the label with demo tapes, and the lucky ones went on to release more singles, even 12” EP’s and ultimately LP’s.  The sheer volume of demos and the eventual logistical constraints of “just how many records can one man put out in a year” meant that only a few would actually see further releases – though the content was in most cases nothing short of superb.

Label boss Edwards openly admits to continually returning to many of the songs purely to just listen and enjoy some “bloody good music”.  Long has it been his ambition to put together an album of these songs – for no other reason but to get them out there where they belong, so they can at last be heard by others and the bands once more be applauded for making such exciting and essential sounds.

Well, the dream has finally been realised and Bristol Archive Records have given him the platform to finally release AVON CALLING 2, a collection of previously unreleased recordings from the vaults of  Bristols’ Heartbeat Becords.  Featured bands include EUROPEANS, APARTMENT, SNEAK PREVIEW, JOE PUBLIC, 48 HOURS, ESSENTIAL BOP, THE DIRECTORS, THE X-CERTS and SOCIAL SECURITY.

This new album full of forgotten treasures will sit perfectly along side the original AVON CALLING release and go some way to completing the story of just what was happening in Bristol back in 1979/1980 and how the music sounds as relevant today as it did back then.

Tracklisting:

1          SOCIAL SECURITY   SELF CONFESSION                                       

2          EUROPEANS              THE ONLY ONE                                                        

3          APARTMENT             BROKEN GLASS                                           

4          PRIVATE DICKS        YOU GOT IT                                     

5          X – CERTS                  PEOPLE OF TODAY                                      

6          ESSENTIAL BOP        AUDITION ROOM                            

7          APARTMENT                         RETROSPECT                                                            

8          SNEAK PREVIEW      MR MAGOO                                                  

9          JOE PUBLIC               LETTERS IN MY DESK                                             

10        48 HOURS                  TRAIN TO BRIGHTON                                                

11        DIRECTORS               SHOWCASE                                                   

12        PRIVATE DICKS        WANT SOME FUN                            

13        SNEAK PREVIEW      I CANT GET OUT                                          

14        STEREO MODELS      MIDDLE OF NO WHERE                                          

15        THE PHONE               ANY TAKERS                                                

16        SEAN RYAN               SUICIDE MAN                                                                 

17        JOE PUBLIC               FASTER                                                         

18        TVI’S                           DANCER                                                        

19        DIRECTORS               EMPTY PROMISES                                        

20        UNKNOWN                YOU MIGHT AS WELL ENJOY YOURSELF                       

DIGITAL ONLY RELEASES THIS MONTH:

ARC 167              ANIMAL MAGIC

Originally released on Recreational Records in 1982

Recorded at Crescent Studios, Bath 11/12 April 1982

Engineered by Steve Street

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 170              SHARON BENGAMIN

Originally released on Shoc Wave Records in 1980

Drums

Rhythm Guitar

Keyboards                           Joshua Moses

 Lead Guitar                         Larry Wilson

Sax                                        Nigel Wood

Bass                                      Gene Walsh

Percussion                            All

Vocals                                   Sharon Bengamin

Produced by Gene Walsh

Rereleased with the permission of Gene Walsh

 Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 171              SHOES FOR INDUSTRY

Originally released in 1980 on Fried Egg Records

Recorded at Sound Conception Studios by Ken Wheeler

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 172              SHOES FOR INDUSTRY

Originally released in 1979 on Fried Egg Records

Recorded at Sound Conception Studios by Ken Wheeler

Crystal Theatre presents Shoes For Industry

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 173              BUGGS DURRANT

Originally released in 1983 on Shoc Wave Records

A Side Written by Errol Williams  and Produced by Gene Walsh

B Side Written by Richard Gibbons and Produced by Roger Lomas

Rereleased with the permission of Gene Walsh

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 164               DAN RATCHETT

Originally released in 1989 on Freshblood Records

A Musi –Tek Production

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 165    MYSTERY SLANG

1.       I’m Mad At You ( J.L Hooker and L Gardez)

2.       The Golden Cross ( L Gardez)

3.       Seven In A Ditch (L Gardez)

Produced by Stephen Street 1989

Constructive Music . Tristan Music

All instruments played by Mystery –Slang and Stephen Street except:

David Catlin Birch              B/A

Simon Roberts                     Harmonica

Front cover photograph by Neil Davenport

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC166                HERB GARDEN

1.       Bulldozer Jones

2.       Red Van

3.       Convicted Man

4.       Sunburn

5.       Ice Cream Man

Dave      Bass

Rat         Guitar

Phil         Lead Guitar

Carl        Vocals

Ben         Drums

All songs written by Herb Garden 1989

Recorded at S.A.M Studios

Engineered by Sooty/Simon Frazer

Sleeve    Steve Taylor

Produced by Paul Jocelyn / Herb Garden

Photo     Simon Sherrin

Illustration            Nick Hamer 

Originally released on Vermin Vinyls

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

ARC 161   ANIMAL MAGIC

1.       Grip

2.       Go Funky-Doo-Lally

Howard, Mark, Mark, Gill, Rob with Jamie on percussion

All tracks written by Animal Magic 1982

Published by Recreational Music / A.T.V Music Ltd

Originally released on Recreational Records

This was originally a 4 Track 12” two tracks have been excluded due to problems with the transfer. They will appear as a seperate release in the future

Remastered by Steve Street April 2010

DEVAN ARC162                                RAGGAFUNKIN     

 Produced by Desi ‘T’, Le-Roy, & Oliver Jones for Wild Cherry Productions

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Coach House Studios Bristol

All songs written & composed by Desmond Taylor

Originally released on wild Cherry Records in 1994

DEHVAN              ARC 163               MYSTORY-I

Recorded at J&J Studios

Recording Engineer – James Barr

Mixed at Easy Street Studios

Mixing Engineer Antony Ric

Mastered at Loud Mastering

Published by Wild Cherry Productions Publishing

Originally released in 2000 on Wild Cherry Records

ARC 159  Stargazer   ALBUM               ‘Beyond The Skyline’

All of these tracks would have been recorded between 1978 – 1980.Gimme Direction and Tonight being the last of those recordings during that period (at about the same time as the St. Pauls’s riots).The significance being, that the tracks were recorded at Cave Studios, just off Portland Square, St. Pauls.The band were blissfully unaware of anything going on outside and that close to them

WHATS NEXT?

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983

Released worldwide on 21st February 2011 

14 SUPERB TRACKS, 11 NEVER RELEASED BEFORE IN A DIGITAL FORMAT 

CD, DIGITAL DOWNLOAD and VINYL

From Pop to Punk, the late seventies and early eighties saw a huge explosion in the number of local bands as more and more people thought they’d give it a go, new studios and independent labels weren’t far behind and Reggae wasn’t going to be left out of the musical mix.

If the majors were even aware of Bristol they showed minimal interest and it was left to the bands themselves and the handful of indie labels to document Bristol’s contribution to what was then a vibrant UK Reggae scene. Working on tight budgets and with no money for marketing campaigns local bands managed to release a small, but steady flow of vinyl, mostly pressed in tiny quantities and often sold direct to fans at gigs, these records, although cherished by those who own them, and sought by those in the know, have been largely ignored by the wider music industry.

Fortunately Bristol music has its own champion in the shape of Bristol Archive Records, a label with a mission to share our great musical heritage with the world, “The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983” is the first and only attempt to document the local Reggae scene from the late seventies until the early eighties. With the exception of the Black Roots tracks none of the recordings have ever been reissued and all were originally released before CD had been launched, so this is their debut in the digital format.

The music itself reflects the dominance of the Roots style in Bristol, even today Roots is by far the most popular type of Reggae in both the retail and live scenes locally, Black Roots live up to their name and show why they were the equal of any UK Reggae band in their day, Talisman, Restriction and 3D Production follow in their Roots footsteps, but a real highlight of this release is the inclusion of the ultra rare “Africa Is Our land” from Joshua Moses, a UK Roots classic. Bristol wasn’t all about Roots though and the other tracks follow a more mellow template, dealing with love and relationships, both Talisman and Joshua Moses show another side to their music and are joined by tracks from Buggs Durrant, The Radicals and Sharon Bengamin who’s “Mr. Guy” is a classic UK Lover’s track in the mould of Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson, Louisa Marks et al.

“The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983” will be released as a fourteen track CD, but you can’t have a proper Reggae release without it being on vinyl so there will be a very limited vinyl pressing featuring an eight track selection and just to keep things local the sleeve art is a mid-eighties carnival shot from Bristol’s own Beezer, (www.beezerphotos.com), featuring a classic image of Jah Revelation sound-system.

This release will shine the spotlight on a long neglected corner of the UK Reggae scene and Bristol’s musical heritage, the same music that would help underpin Bristol’s musical dominance in the following decade.

( Sleeve notes and press release by Martin Langford)

 Thanks for reading, check us out at www.bristolarchiverecords.com

Bristol’s famous for many things like Chatterton the poet, Cary Grant and now the Archive can be added to fellow locals ‘Blackbeards the Pirates chest’, as a true treasure trove of wonders.

Bristol Boys make more noise…

Mark Stewart
( THE POP GROUP)

Mike and The Team