RELEASES

Cast your mind back to a time when new music was coming at the public in ‘waves’. First there was the ‘new wave’ of punk rock. Then 1979 and into the early 1980’s, taking its’ cue from those shorter haired thrashings, the then mighty music press in the form of Sounds came up with the laborious name of the ‘New Wave Of British Heavy Metal’ for the deluge of new rock bands that were emerging from all over the country.

In a story that is little appreciated, bar amongst the bands’ fiercest fans, Bristol’s very own Stormtrooper were ahead of the ‘N.W.O.B.H.M’, as they had originally formed in the mid 1970’s. But they were right in there more than holding their own with the likes of Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Saxon and Motorhead in terms of seeing their music released in the slip-stream of that catch-all ‘brand identity’.

Bristol as a city has no claim to being a rock stronghold, but the band didn’t let that hold their campaign back. Their passion, talent and ambition enabled them to launch themselves to gain recognition, and their hard work and blistering live shows paid off when ‘Pride Before A Fall’ became one of the singles released through the unlikely means of local Heartbeat Records operation, run by Simon Edwards in Bristol.

‘Pride’ roared its’ way into the ‘Heavy Metal’ chart at 23 in Sounds in its’ first week of release. It reached the heady heights of number 11 after. But unfortunately that was as far as it got in terms of national recognition of the bands’ releases.

Now the other recordings made by the band in that era, including at the now sadly lost Crescent studios in Bath, as well as in their home city, are available on the ‘Pride Before A Fall – The Lost Album’ album, released on Bristol Archive Records.

Songs like ‘In The State In the City’ and ‘Still Coming Home’ showcase the bands’ unique blend of Bob Starling’s distinctive and passionate blazing guitar attack, with the driving force of an electrifying  rhythm section.

Nick Hancox’s technically brilliant and energetic drumming fused with Colin ‘Boggy’ Bond’s knock down the walls bass playing, and his definitive use of Moog bass pedals which brought another dimension to the textures in the music. In the best traditions of a great rock band, this was topped by the rock power and vocal range of singer, Paul Merrell.

The full-on epic ‘Battle of the Eve’ – recorded ‘live’ in the studio in one take like the other songs on ‘Pride’ – took the band into more ‘Prog’ territory, with the use of basic Moog synthesisers and various effects adding extra colour.

You can hear on this album how the band wore their collective influences – centring on Led Zeppelin and Rush – on their musical sleeve, whether it was hard rock, intricate ‘Prog’, blues or plain kick out the jams slamdunk riffing. Their sheer vim and punk-infused enthusiasm, combined with a strong collective control, gave them a sound that was very much their own.

In spite of the minimal time spent on it in the studio, ‘Pride’ as an album bristles with high level musicianship that transcends any production limitations. This is a band recorded in the raw, and the music tells it like it is, with no frills yet has plenty of depth. It’s music that HAS to be listened to.

The album shows the undoubted potential in a band that with the right management, combined with that bit of luck that every act needs in their career, should have been serious contenders to make an international breakthrough, as Leppard and Maiden did. But that’s the rock and roll dream, and they certainly lived it.

They ‘got away’ from their backgrounds from the meaner streets of south Bristol – and there are plenty of those all over the city – while doing their best to reach out to a wider audience. It takes a lot to get out of what could be seen as ‘the Bristol attitude’, but once the band split Colin Bond also had his own wide ranging career after he’d left as a member of Stampede, touring with Meatloaf and playing on 14 different albums . His brilliant sleeve notes to the album convey this and his story wonderfully.

Now it’s time for Stormtroopers’ brand of crafted musicianship, high-octane, no holds barred passionate rock thrill to get its’ official album release, and the wider recognition that will inevitably go with it. This album is an explosive listen, with depth, intensity, heart and graft written right into it. It’s a lost gem that’s rock gold and is worthy of being in any genuine rock fans music collection. Feast your ears on it!

Colin Bond -  

Bass: Rickenbacker 4000

Synthesisers: Moog Taurus, Moog Prodigy

Effects: Colorsound Flanger

Amplification: Hiwatt/WEM 

Bob Starling -

Guitars: Gibson Les Paul SG, Gibson Firebird, Yamaha Acoustic 

 Effects: MXR micro amp, Cry Baby wah wah, Coloursound delay and Flanger

Amplification: Marshall/Vox

Nick Hancox -  

Drums: Sonar

Paul Merrell -  

Vocals: Shure

Tracklisting   

1.  Pride Before A Fall. 3.01 (Bond/Lloyd) 

2.  Battle of The Eve. 12.38 (Bond/Lloyd)

3.  In the State in The City. 4.57 (Bond/Starling/Merrell)

4.  If It Takes A Man a Week To Walk a Fortnight Then How Long Is a Piece a Piece of String. 2.44 (Bond/Starling/Merrell)

5.  Bounty Hunter. 4.01 (Bond/Starling/Lloyd) 

6.  Still Comin’ Home. 4.30 (Bond/Merrell)

7.  Drunken Women. 5.59 (Bond/Lloyd)

8.  Confusion. 8.16 (Bond/Merrell)

9.  After Battle. 9.42 (Bond/Merrell)

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A worthy heir of Patti Smith, The Velvet Underground, Poison Girls, Iggy Pop and Pauline Murray and gutsy contemporary of PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Kirsten Hersh and Juliana Holter releases.

This documents Rita’s 30 years of work in the world’s musical underground. She has produced nine outstanding studio albums to date. This compilation spans her career and includes unreleased demos, mixes and classic tracks which truly represent the breadth of Rita’s song writing ability. Songs like ‘Beautiful Eyes’ and ‘Call me your Girlfriend’ and ‘Rolla Coaster’, included on this album, have been soundtracks to many people’s lives. Her recent work with Blue Aeroplanes drummer and bassist; Jon Langley and Mike Youe have been her most productive yet.

The daughter of Irish immigrants to London in the 1950’s, she was brought up a very religious child and wanted to be a nun or a saint when she grew up. Instead, inspired by Bob Dylan, Irish traditional music and then the counter-revolution of punk rock, she became a songwriter and threw herself into every experience she could get. Hard drinking and living in squats, travelling Europe, experimenting sexually and living a life that challenged preconceptions of identity, led her to be upheld as a true Lesbian icon. She fought though, against the limits of any categorisation and made music that reflected that. Her work bristles with an aggression that is often softened by her words and her ability to write about humility, sexuality, religion and death speaks to all of us. Channel 4 made a documentary about her life and work called ‘On the road with Rita Lynch’ in 1998 and she has been inspirational for so many artists:

I think my music is less aggressive than hers; or rather she’s aggressive in different way. She’s had more experience of the world and I think that shows in her performance.” P.J. Harvey

Her albums from 1991’s “Call me your Girlfriend’, ‘All Dressed Up’ (2001), ‘Good Advice’ (2008) through to the most recent album ‘Anti-Social’ (2015), have always presented beautifully crafted, angry, staccato guitar stabbing brilliance with thoughtful and strong lyrics about the human condition – all captured wonderfully in this career spanning compilation.

Track Listing:

1- All Dressed Up
2 – Illusion
3 – Far Away
4 – Call Me Your Girlfriend
5 – Beautiful Eyes
6 – Alright Alright
7 – Losing
8 – Love Goes On
9 – Sweet Pain
10 – Shiver
11 – The Only Man
12 – Rolla Coaster
13 – Last a Lifetime
14 – New Girl
15 – Do You Dream
16 – O God Above
17 – So Good To Me
18 – Remember Me
19 – You Gotta Leave
20 – Tied To You
21 – I Can’t Explain
22 – Strip Right Away

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Bristol Archive Records have been telling the story of the incredibly diverse Bristol Music scene for several years now. The label has gained incredible success with their three previous releases ‘The Bristol Reggae Explosion’ series – Volume one, two and three covering 1978 to the end of the 80’s. They followed the Reggae vibe with another critically acclaimed release, The Bristol Punk Explosion 1977-1983 which covered 1977 and The Cortinas through to Onslaught and the oncoming of Thrash Metal.
Now they turn their attention to another SUB CULTURE – Mods, Power Pop and Scooter Boys.

“I love a subculture, particularly when the fashion sense is sharp and the music is full of youthful energy.  Even better when it’s homegrown in the provinces and not in London, then there is a feeling of authenticity and sense of place. That is exactly what is captured on this 21- track album ‘Bristol Boys Make More Noise’ released by Bristol Archive Records.
From the jangly pop of Huw Gower’s ‘She’s Still a Mystery’ to the pop romanticism of  Thin Air’s ‘A Thousand Burning Voices’ or my personal favorite, the fusion of ska and mod on Sky High’s ‘Maryanne’, this album is a testament to Bristol’s  mod/ power pop revival and those boys and girls who weren’t afraid to embrace diversity in their music”.

Pauline Black (The Selecter) – Feb 2016

This album covers the period 1979 to 1987 and features 21 tracks.   When punk rock started to fizzle out and Squat Punks started to appear on the streets, many of the UK’s disaffected youths had already moved sideways in Modernism and fell in love with bands like The Jam, Secret Affair and The Chords.

Mod was another gang culture, to some a way of life, to some it became life.  The smart,  striking fashion sense, the scooters, the music; (some from the 60’s, soul and motown), some from the 70’s and 80’s, guitar driven power pop. Wow, Mod was the real deal.

The West Country embraced the scene and produced its own Mod bands like Mayfair and The Newbeats.  Other bands were in on the act but could be more appropriately described as Power Pop / Ska, namely The A.T’s from Bath, The Review from Clevedon and Sky High from Gloucester.

Success for some was supporting their heroes, a good example being Thin Air (previously called Out of Order) with their 14 year old guitarist and songwriter Paul Sandrone, who supported The Jam at The Locarno in 1980.  Or The Rimshots, who played on the same bills as The Beat and The Bodysnatchers.

Most of the tracks on this album are previously unreleased or were issued on tiny runs of Limited 7” vinyl.

Some of our boys did make the grade though.  Huw Gower with his band The Records, signing to Virgin in 1978 and had a number 56 Billboard Top 100 hit single with ‘Starry Eyes’, also playing on the same bills as the Jam.  Huw recorded the track ‘She’s Still a Mystery immediately after he’d left The Records in 1981 with a big anthemic chorus, classic trademarks of The Who.
This album is a soundtrack to an era, remembering a period in time when Top of The Pops was full of Two Tone bands.  Thatcherism was killing multi cultural Britain but to escape, it was ok to write a catchy pop song, it was ok to look smart and it was acceptable to wear a Parka (weirdly all the rage again now in the 2016).

Enjoy the soundtrack to their lives – Bristol Boys Make More Noise! Mods, Power Pop, Scooter Boys 1979-1987 is released April 1st 2016 on CD and digital download.

The novel provisionally entitled ‘To Be Someone’ Bristol Mod 1979-1985 written by Michael W Salter will follow later in the year published by Bristol Archive Records and Tangent Books which tells the story of the Bristol Mod and Scooter Boy scene.

Track Listing:

1.    The A.T’s – Too Young Girl
2.    Huw Gower – She’s Still A Mystery
3.    Thin Air – A Thousand Burning Voices
4.    The Rimshots – Little Boys and Little Girls
5.    Mayfair – Traffic
6.    The Various Artists – Weekends
7.    The Gross Club – Second Chance
8.    Sky High – Maryanne
9.    The Rimshots – I Was Wrong
10.  Joe Public – Hermans Back
11.  The Review – Englands Glory
12.  Cass Carnaby Five – November Rain
13.  The Untouchables – Keep Your Distance
14.  The Letters – Nobody Loves Me
15.  The A.T’s – Sand In My Face
16.  Thin Air – Sentry’s Life
17.  The Newbeats – Somebody’s Girl
18.  Mayfair – The Legend
19.  The Review – Fleet Street
20.  Blue Riverside – Experiments in Colour (Live)
21.   Blue Riverside – High Time Baby (Live)

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To keep a vinyl album on catalogue and steadily selling for five years, is something of an achievement and we are rightly proud that “The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983” and it’s slightly newer follow-up “The Bristol Reggae Explosion 2 – The 1980s”, both continue to find new fans. Unfortunately five years, is also a long time when it comes to licensing agreements and with the expiration of some licences, we needed to update both compilations and swap some tracks for alternatives. Since 2010, our approach to compilations has also evolved, so both updated volumes will be getting a release on CD and digital download. When it comes to vinyl, we’ve borrowed an idea from our hugely successful Midlands Roots Explosion series and created a brand new exclusive vinyl compilation, “The Bristol Roots Explosion”.

The new LP naturally draws heavily on the first two Bristol Reggae Explosions, featuring firm favourites such as Joshua Moses’ all time classic “Africa (Is Our Land)” produced by the great Dennis Bovell, Bunny Marrett’s rare and almost impossible to find on the original 12” “Times Are Getting Harder” and Ron Green’s 3D Productions “Riot”, another track that’s very difficult to find on its original 7” format.

Local legends Talisman contribute the 7” mix of their excellent “Dole Age” single and make a second appearance, in their earlier Revelation Rockers guise with “Culture”. Having reformed around the time our first Bristol Reggae Explosion was released, it’s good to see that Talisman are also still going strong and making regular live appearances throughout Europe. With the core members of Restriction also being members of Zion Band, we have another double with “Calling For Mercy” and “Twelve Tribes”. It’s been a long time coming, but Restriction fans can rest assured their planned compilation album is still on its way.

The remaining two tracks mark the debut appearances for Big Roy and the Rhythmites. Roy ‘Big Roy’ Bailey has been involved in reggae music for decades and is still active to this day; he was also one of the first Bristol reggae artists to document his talents in the studio with this track “Ethiopia Revelation” dating from the mid-seventies. It’s great to welcome Roy to the fold. Bath band The Rhythmites saw a welcome reissue of their “Integration” album earlier this year, it’s excellent to add them to our compilation series and also to give the excellent “Nation Integration” a vinyl outing.

Compiling this album along with recompiling the first two volumes of “The Bristol Reggae Explosion”, we also looked at updating the sleeves and tweaking our approach to graphics. The vintage cover shot we chose was provided by the ever supportive Popsy Curious and shows him on his bike outside what were the remains of Bristol’s famous Bamboo Club. It was with great sadness that we recently learned that Popsy had passed away. He was a true friend and supporter who will be greatly missed and it’s somehow a fitting tribute that he adorns the cover of this release.

“The Bristol Roots Explosion” is exactly what the title says, a record that documents the West Country take on roots reggae from the second half of the 1970s until the end of the 1980s. The album will be released on vinyl LP and digital download on 4^th March 2016, distributed by Shellshock/SRD Distribution and available from all good retailers worldwide.

Side A

1. Big Roy – “Ethiopia Revelation”  (R Bailey 1976) (p) Copyright Control  

2. Revelation Rockers – “Culture” (D Taylor 1979) (p) Archive Publishing Ltd

3. Joshua Moses “Africa (Is Our Land)”  (S Bailey / D Bovell 1978)   (p) Archive Publishing Ltd / Copyright Control

4. Bunny Marrett – “Times Are Getting Harder” (B Marrett 1980) (p) Archive Publishing Ltd

5. 3D Productions – “Riot”   (J Carley 1980) (p) Archive Publishing Ltd

Side B

1. Rhythmites – “Nation Integration” (Rhythmites 1989) (p) Archive Publishing Ltd

2. Restriction – “Calling For Mercy”  (Restriction 1983) (p) Astar Artes Publishing

3. Zion Band – “Twelve Tribes”   (R Duncan 1982) (p) Unitone Publishing

4. Talisman – “Dole Age” (7″ Mix)   (D Joseph / Talisman 1981) (p) Recreational Music

ARC279V

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Whereas Bristol is all too often associated with the ‘’Bristol Sound’’ of Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky, the city has produced musicians and bands who’s work goes way past that stereotype. With the release finally of Apartment’s ‘House of Secrets’ album, music lovers will hear a classic example of this for themselves. It is set ‘in’ the city, but is also very much ‘(a) part’ of it, because those on the outside of any charmed circle in a given place have to fight to get heard.

In the mid to late 1970’s the raucous and angry meets chorus strewn ‘new wave’ sounds of New York and punk driven London were also finding fertile soil in the west of England.

Part of that surge of the blast of youthful energy that shifted eardrums came from the more affluent Clifton west side area of the city, and to national attention, in the shape of The Cortinas and The Pop Group. But many others were writing, rehearsing and playing based in all 4 corners of Bristol. These included Glaxo Babies, Vice Squad and Essential Bop. All of these bands went on to achieve a respectable level of national recognition.

Hidden away right out in the suburbs of the eastern fringes of the metropolis, 3 young lads called APARTMENT were forging a truly international, post-punk variation of the classic guitar band trio. Guitarist / singer / songwriter, Alan Griffiths, drummer Emil, and bassist Richard White had a vision that was driven by their talent and ambition, and a burning desire to shatter the complacency of what was going on musically in Bristol and beyond.

Griffiths and Emil were inspired by seeing Television and Blondie on the same bill, utilising the artful angularity, chiarascuro guitar blendings and existential angst of the Verlaine / Lloyd axis, and the melodic twists and pop sensibility of La Harry’s quintet in their own soulful, sonic mayhem.

The spirit of CBGB’s had infused this band, like no other from the city of Bristol’s environs. In spite of the inevitable technical limitations of these home-recorded songs, enough of their power and passion shines from them and into the wonderful variety of songs.

The music sound-tracks a travelogue of themes, seasons and places, providing a perfect backdrop for the plentiful stories which were cascading from Alan’s imagination. The settings dramatically come over as often relentlessly urban, rammed full of atmosphere, self-doubt, pain, questioning and clarity.

Apartment’s star burned brightly for a relatively short period, but the band packed a lot into their time together. They did a session for national radio in the UK, played shows in London at the legendary original site of the Marquee club, and along with releasing just the one single were also included on one of the seminal compilations of music from a city in the UK, ‘Avon Calling’, released on arguably the most important label at that time, Heartbeat Records.

One of the key people in developing Apartment’s early career was the label owner, Simon Edwards. His initial contact with the band’s music was, for him, highly memorable.

“I distinctly remember receiving the Apartments’ original demo cassette – which I still have – and remember being immediately impressed by the songs and how well they were presented. They were almost good enough to use as they were.  This wasn’t because of any amazing studio quality – I was later to learn they were recorded in Alan’s bedroom – but because they were delivered with such energy, innocence & a sense of urgency. They were SO alive. In fact, one of Apartments most endearing qualities to me was always their “on the edge” delivery – both in recorded work and live performance, the latter often being quite shambolic and in danger of literally falling apart. ‘’

Edwards’ own direct involvement came with the recording and release of a double-A side single, both tracks being included on ‘House of Secrets, along with a home recording on ‘Avon Calling’.

‘’Perhaps it was this single that told the bands story in one – front man Alan Griffiths with the ability to write really great yet very diverse songs and deliver them like it was the first and only time he would ever get to sing them.  Was it all this emotion and angst that just became too much to control?”

‘House of Secrets’ collects that blend of organised chaos in all of its glory from a heady time in Bristol music, and all over the UK at the time. Open the door and walk on in.

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Formed as a collective in the mid-eighties, Fresh 4′s roots were firmly south of the river Avon with members Flynn and Krust coming from Knowle West. Suv was from Ashton and joined by fourth member Judge from Totterdown. The band  stayed close to their South Bristol roots and based themselves in a warehouse on nearby St. Lukes Road. They represented the south of the City in a scene that was more often orientated somewhere north of the city centre.

Although “Wishing on a Star” cracked the Top Ten, the two follow up singles were less successful and due to disagreements with their label, a planned album never materialised and the group members went their separate ways. In the following decade Suv, Krust and Flynn would all go on to find greater success as pioneers and mainstays of Bristol’s hugely successful Drum and Bass scene, writing new chapters that overshadowed their earlier success.

Who can say what might have happened if a Fresh 4 album had been released on a major label at the start of the 1990s, perhaps they would now be discussed alongside Massive Attack and Portishead or maybe Bristol’s Drum and Bass scene would have felt the loss and not been as successful as it was. We can’t give you that lost album, but we have tracked down some long forgotten demo tapes and twenty five years later, assembled them into an album. It’s not THE Fresh 4 LP, but it is filling in a gap in their story and the story of Bristol music, therefore at Bristol Archive Records we thought the music deserved a wider audience.

The seven tracks plus an alternative edit, lead off in a familiar style with “Take Control”, the closest match to the “Wishing on a Star” blueprint recorded at Fresh 4 and Smith & Mighty’s studio and also featuring that song’s vocalist Liz E. The rest of side A sees some early authentic British Hip Hop with that unique Bristol twist, whilst side B, aims for a then contemporary dance sound.

These tracks are definitely works in progress rather than polished finished tracks, they show the band working on a variety of musical ideas and exploring various directions. The sound is rough, these tracks were never expected to be shared at such an early stage yet they give us an insight into the thought process of the group.

They were pioneers, not confined by rigid rules; they could try anything and often did. These are musical sketches, a peak behind the scenes that listeners rarely get and also a reminder, that Fresh 4 have more to their claim of a place in Bristol’s musical history than those three singles.

Fresh 4′s “The Lost Tapes” is released by Bristol Archive Records on vinyl and digital download on 23^rd Oct and is available from all usual retailers and all digital platforms

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Rhythmites split up in the year 2000 but in 2007, they picked up where they’d left off and once more began spreading the roots reggae message at live shows as well as recording new material. With all the renewed activity, many fans both old and new have been asking about “Integration”, an album released only on vinyl more than twenty five years ago, long deleted and not readily available on the used market.

As chance would have it, Rhythmites and their music were already on the Bristol Archive Records radar so; when they mentioned the possibility of reissuing “Integration” we were very happy to be of assistance. We discovered that the band had never been entirely happy with the original mix and wanted to remix the album with the benefit of twenty first century facilities. Remixes can be a bad thing but as someone who saw the band perform many times and bought “Integration” on release, I was blown away by the new mix. Not only have they remained totally faithful to the original with no badly judged attempts to update the sound, but engineer Ben Findley has totally nailed it with the new mix; it takes the original to another level, improving it whilst maintaining the spirit of the vinyl pressing.

For those that aren’t familiar with the band this is a roots album, the songs deal with living one’s life in a better way. The sound is authentic and not in any way contrived, in no small part due to Angus’ excellent and distinctive vocals which really fit both the music and the lyrics. Anyone who has seen them perform live will know about Stuart’s didgeridoo and that makes an appearance right from the start in “No Guns”, a song that suggests it doesn’t take weapons and violence to be a freedom fighter. 

Other stand out tracks includes “Nation Integration” with its call for unity, and “Pain and Suffering” which shines a light on some of the ills of the world. The rest of the tracks all deal with serious issues although, “A True” and “Hold On” drift into what was, when recorded, a more contemporary almost dancehall style. As a bonus we’ve included brand new exclusive dub versions for “Heed No Dream” and “A True”.

It’s great that one of the best live reggae bands of the late eighties and nineties are back on the road, as is the fact that their first album is getting a long overdue reissue, the fact that it’s sounding better than ever is the real bonus. “Integration” by Rhythmites is released on CD and digital download by Bristol Archive Records on the 18^th September 2015, available from all usual outlets.

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