RELEASES

SPLIT 7” Vinyl – Limited Edition Single – Hand Numbered 250 Copies
Featuring ‘Pretty Girl’ and ‘Mr.Guy’
Released as part of ‘Record Shop Day’ April 16th 2011

Bristol Archive Records are extremely pleased to announce their participation in the phenomenon that is ‘Record Store Day’ For our contribution we have selected two tracks from our highly popular album “The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978 – 1983”, (ARC191), and coupled them on a strictly limited seven inch single.

This double A sided release finds us in a mellow mood as we couple Joshua Moses’ “Pretty Girl” with Sharon Bengamin’s “Mr Guy”.

“Mr Guy” is a lovely slice of lover’s rock and somewhat overlooked when released in 1980 but it has become a firm favourite with us here at Bristol Archive. “Pretty Girl” finds Roots singer Joshua Moses showing his softer side, it was something of a hit on the original release and makes a natural pairing with Sharon’s tune.

Both tracks were originally released as singles on Bristol label Shoc-wave Records some thirty years ago and were given their first digital release with their well deserved inclusion on “The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978 – 1983”. “Mr Guy” also made it onto the limited vinyl version of the album, but running time constraints meant there was no room for “Pretty Girl” something we a very pleased to rectify with this vinyl release.

To compliment the vinyl we’ve designed a custom die-cut sleeve that pays homage to those original reggae disco bags of the late seventies, each sleeve is individually hand numbered with the pressing being limited to just 250 copies.

The record will be available to buy on Record Store Day April 16th 2011

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Various Artists ‘The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978-1983′

Released worldwide on 21st February 2011

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.

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 and Restriction 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, Talisman show another side to their music and are joined by tracks from Buggs Durrant 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 eight track Vinyl album, which sits perfectly along side the 14 Track cd version 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.

Vinyl

Cat. No ARC191V Tracks:

Side 1

1. Bristol Rock – Black Roots    4.18
2. Wicked Dem (Live) – Talisman     5.38
3. Four Point Plan – Restriction    4.02
4. Africa (Is Our Land) – Joshua Moses    5.57

Side 2

1. Tribal War 12″ Mix    – Black Roots    4.20
2. Run Come Girl (Live) – Talisman    7.27<
3. Baby Come Back (Home) – Buggs Durrant    3.35
4. Mr.Guy – Sharon Bengamin    4.31

CD

Cat. No ARC191CD Tracks:

1. Black Roots : Bristol Rock (Bunny Marrett) (Arranged by Black Roots) p Nubian Music 1981
2. Joshua Moses : Africa (Is Our Land) (Joshua Moses 1978) p Copyright Control 1978
3. Talisman : Run Come Girl – Live (Taylor / Talisman 1980) p Recreational Music 1981
4. Restriction : Four Point Plan (Restriction 1983) p Unitone Publishing 1983
5. Black Roots : Tribal War 12″ Mix (Black Roots) p Nubian Music 1981
6. Restriction : Restriction (Restriction 1983) p Unitone Publishing 1983
7. Joshua Moses : Pretty Girl (Joshua Moses 1979) p Unitone Publishing 1979
8. Talisman : Wicked Dem – Live ( Taylor / Talisman 1980) p Recreational Music 1981
9. The Radicals : Nights Of Passion ( John Carley 1980) p Copyright Control 1980
10. Sharon Bengamin : Mr Guy (Unknown 1980) p Unitone Publishing 1980
11. Black Roots : Juvenile Delinqent (Black Roots) p Nubian Music
12. Buggs Durrant : Baby Come Back(Home) (Errol Williams 1983) p Unitone Publishing 1983
13. 3-D Production : Riot (John Carley 1980) p Third Kind Music 1980
14. Talisman : Dole Age 12″ Mix ( Joseph / Talisman 1981) p Recreational Music 1981

Tracks 1, 5, 11 originally released on Nubian Records
Track 2 originally released on More Cut Records
Track 3 and 8 previously unreleased Live Recordings
Track 4 and 6 originally released on Restriction Records 1983
Track 7, 10 and 12 originally released on Shoc Wave Records 1979, 1980 and 1983
Track 9 originally released on The Bristol Recorder 2 1980
Track 13 originally released on Third Kind Records 1980
Track 14 originally released on Recreational Records 1981

Track 1, 5 and 11 Engineered by UK Scientist, Recorded at The Facility, Produced by UK Scientist and Black Roots
Track 2 Engineered by Dennis Bovell, Recorded at Gooseberry Studios London, Produced by Dennis Bovell
Track 3 Recorded Live at Glastonbury Festival
Track 4 and 6 Engineered and Mixed by The Mad Professor, Recorded at Ariwa Sound Studios London, Produced by Restriction
Track 7, 10 and 12 Produced by Gene Walsh, Recording location unknown
Track 8 Recorded Live at Bath University
Track 9 Engineered and Produced by David Lord at Crescent Studios Bath
Track 13 Recording location unknown, Arranged and Produced by Ron Green
Track 14 Engineered by David Lord at Crescent Studios Bath, Mixed by UK Scientist, Produced by Talisman and UK Scientist
All tracks re-mastered by Steve Street, July 2010

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THE PIGS

‘1977’

Released on 4th October 2010

LIMITED EDITION 500 COPIES VINYL ALBUM

100 Copies will have a special Limited Edition Insert featuring stories and exclusive pictures

“When we finally got to see The Cortinas at the Granary – up till then we had them down as more of the Feelgood thing – wow we really got the message!! And that’s what did it. It was so energizing, it felt like we had to get our band started the next day, the same night probably. The Punk train came and we all jumped on it, like a lot of people did, but we were the first ones on in Bristol, after The Cortinas.”

So says guitarist Kit Gould, who indeed formed The Pigs with drummer Ricky Galli, bassist Nigel Robinson and singer Eamonn McAndrew, in time to release the second Bristol Punk single to hit the shops after said Cortinas debut.

New Bristol Records was set up after the band supported Generation X at Chutes, where they met Miles Copeland. “We decided to set it up, it was our idea, with Vernon and John (their managers), and he just went along with it”, says Kit. “Now, looking back, it’s obvious that if Miles Copeland’s going to pay for you to do a recording, he’s not just donating it to you so you can set up your own label, whereas at the time that seemed like an entirely realistic proposition. It’s just naïve kids really that don’t have a clue about the music business. Miles Copeland came on board, he was our London connection.”

The band went into Sound Conception Studio on 12 August 1977 and recorded their whole set, from which four tracks were selected for the ‘Youthanasia’ EP. It gained airplay on John Peel’s show and sales were reasonable, but it proved to be their only release. They continued to gig regularly, including two more shows with The Cortinas, a support slot with Siouxsie and the Banshees at Barton Hill Youth Club, and even a headliner at the legendary (but by that time sadly ailing), Roxy, on 13 January 1978 with Open Sore and The Heat, but they called it a day the following March.

And now we are proud to give you, for the first time, all eleven tracks that the band recorded at Sound Conception, on lovely vinyl, in a rather dinky sleeve.

TITLE: “1977″

LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: Bristol Archive Records / Shellshock

CAT NO: ARC090V

FORMAT: Limited Edition 500 copies Vinyl Only

Tracklisting:

Side One
1. Psychopath
2. Youthanasia
3. Ran Me In
4. National Front
5. They Say
6. Exploitation

Side Two
7. General Election
8. Nuclear Disarmament
9. Personality Change
10. Give It Ball
11. They Shoot Horses Don’t They

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VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘AVON CALLING 2’

Released worldwide on 23rd August 2010

20 SUPERB TRACKS ALL PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

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, Heartbeat Records, 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
just to 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

REVIEWS

Record Collector Album Review
3/5

The legacy of Bristol’s Indie bands is in safe hands.

In subtitling this follow-up to the 1978 Avon Calling compilation, documenting a multitude of hopeful Bristol indie bands, Forgotten Gems and Unknown Curios, its archivist Simon Edwards (who put out the original LP on his Heartbeat imprint all those years back), is acknowledging both this collection’s distilled essence of musical ambition and that, while none of these acts have transcended their regional scene, some have totally vanished without trace. What got left behind was a veritable treasure trove of cassette tapes that Edwards has horded and loved ever since.

We don’t care that these bands never got to the Colston Hall, let alone Carnegie: what we like is the notion that someone out there is hearing themselves and their aspirations and dreams for the first time for 30 years due to this diligent tending of the flame. What that must feel like!

As you’d anticipate, there’s a certain amount of raw enthusiasm over genuine talent embedded in these C60 demos, but there’s also some perky three-minute pop recorded for posterity. Were you a member of Sneak Preview, The Phone, Social Security (what a shame Self Confession is so grainy), Directors or Europeans? You did good!

Ian Abrahams

Other Avon Calling 2 Reviews

UBERROCK

RED HOT VELVET

LIVE MUSIC SCENE

ROOM THIRTEEN

GET READY TO ROCK

GLITZINE

TASTY

WHISPERIN HOLLERIN

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Released on 21st June 2010

LIMITED EDITION 500 COPIES VINYL ALBUM

14 STUNNING TRACKS 3 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED IN ANY FORMAT

Bristol Archive Records via this website have 100 special copies available which will include a black and white pull out with Stories / A personal insight by Tim Williams, Steve Bush and Phil Harrison. Also included are rare pics by Stephen Swan of the band recording Fascist Dictator and playing live at Chutes Club in Bristol, 1977 ( FANTASTIC!)

Bristol’s first punk band, The Cortinas, formed in March 1976 when Jeremy Valentine (vocals), Nick Sheppard (guitar), Mike Fewins (guitar), Dexter Dalwood (bass) and Daniel Swan were still at school.“Jer put the band together, he definitely had a vision of what he wanted; he was very hip – Dexter and Mike went to the same school as him” remembers Nick. “He found me via Mark Stewart, who I went to school with, and I brought Dan in; we had played in a band together before. We used to practise at the back of Jer’s Dad’s shop”.

The Cortinas soon built up a big local following, and a break came when the band supported The Stranglers at the fabled Roxy Club in Covent Garden on 22 January 1977. Nick recalls how it came to be: “Hugh Cornwell was staying at a friend of his’ flat near the university, on holiday, and me and my girlfriend met him in the street. This would have been in the summer of 76. We started talking to him because we recognized him from seeing The Stranglers and hung out for the afternoon. I told him about the band. Later on, in January 77, he sent us a postcard asking us to play at the Roxy, so we rang up and said yes! I remember my mum telling me not to be too disappointed if people didn’t like us…”.Things then moved quickly for the band. Miles Copeland and Mark Perry’s Step Forward label released the classic singles ‘Fascist Dictator’ in June and ‘Defiant Pose’ in December, the band recorded a fine Peel session, and they appeared on the front cover of the April/May issue of Sniffin’ Glue. Heady stuff, but sadly, it was over all too soon.

The following year, after a poorly received album, the band were no more, but in 1977 they were unstoppable – simply one of the best first wave punk bands around.
This album contains all four tracks from those two great singles, plus ten rare early demo tracks, all newly remastered.

Tracklisting:

Track 2 Side Two and 7 Side One recorded at Polydor Studios Engineered by Peter Wilson and Produced by M.C and M.P

Tracks 1 and 5 Side One recorded at CBS Studios Engineered by Simon Humphrey and Produced by Turner, Copeland and The Cortinas

Tracks 2,3,4,6 Side One recorded at GBH Studios Bristol Engineered by Andrew Peters and Produced by The Cortinas

Tracks 1,3,4 Side Two recorded at GBH Studios Bristol Engineered by Andrew Peters and Produced by The Cortinas

Tracks 5,6,7 recorded at GBH Studios Bristol Engineered by Steve Street and Produced by The Cortinas

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Released worldwide on 14th June 2010

20 STUNNING TRACKS 7 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

The Cortinas were the first. They played the Roxy Club, released two singles on Mark Perry and Miles Copeland’s Step Forward label, graced the front cover of Sniffin’ Glue and recorded a Peel Session. Guitarist Nick Sheppard remembers the night it all slotted into place: “I think a real turning point for us was seeing the Ramones at the Roundhouse on July 4 1976 – we definitely started to write our own songs after that gig. We had been playing and doing gigs for about a year by then – all covers apart from one song, Tokyo Joe as I remember. After that gig we started writing stuff like Television Families. I think we saw people like us in the audience at that gig, and it must have given us confidence.”

Taking their cue, bands like Social Security (the first band on Heartbeat Records), The Pigs (whose Youthanasia single was released by Miles Copeland’s New Bristol Records), The Primates, The Media, The Posers and The Verdict gave Bristol one of the strongest provincial early punk scenes, mainly centred around the Clifton area of Bristol and Barton Hill Youth Club.

Barton Hill also gave us The X-Certs, who by 1978 could already pull audiences of 500 into Trinity Church, without the aid of a safety net or record contract. Though we didn’t realise it at the time, they effectively bridged the gap between the late 70s Bristol scene and what our American cousins like to term the UK82 bands.

Vice Squad and Heartbeat Records boss Simon Edwards formed Riot City Records toward the end of 1980, releasing the band’s first single Last Rockers in January 1981. It sold well and after a second Vice Squad single the label recruited other Bristol bands like Portishead lunatics Chaos UK, Court Martial and The Undead, while Disorder recorded for their own label, all achieving impressive sales. The less said about Chaotic Dischord, the better.

Lunatic Fringe, with the mighty Bear Hackenbush on vocals, recorded their first single on the short-lived Resurrection Records label.

The Bristol Punk Explosion brings you all these bands, and closes with a track from Death Metal Monsters Onslaught. Before all this “Spitting blood in the face of Gaaaahd!” malarky, Onslaught were a Discharge-style hardcore punk band, and here we include the snapilly-titled Thermo Nuclear Devastation Of The Planet Earth from their first demo.
In short, this is the history of Bristol punk, from its very beginnings, through the early 80s, and up to the point when hardcore began to morph into thrash, metal, and, um, thrash metal.

(Sleeve notes by Shane Baldwin – Vice Squads Drummer and Record Collector / Big Cheese Journalist)

The release includes a 16 page full colour cover with 4000 word sleeve notes.

Tracklisting:

1. The Cortinas – ‘Defiant Pose’ (The Cortinas 1977) (p) Step Forward Music
2. The Pigs – ‘National Front’ (Kit Gould 1977) (p) New Bristol Music
3. Social Security – ‘I Don’t Want My Heart To Rule My Head’ (Social Security 1978) (p) Heartbeat Music/Cherry Red Music
4. The Pigs – ‘Youthanasia’ (Kit Gould 1977) (p) New Bristol Music
5. Social Security – ‘Choc Ice’ – (Social Security 1978) (p) Heartbeat Music/Cherry Red Music
6. The Posers – ‘Good Advice’ (The Posers 1978) (p) copyright control
7. The Media – ‘New Blood’ (J Britton 1978) (p) copyright control
8. The Primates - ‘ Generation Warfare (Live)’ (Britton, Shennan, JJ 1977) (p) copyright control
9. The X-Certs – ‘Fight Back’ (S Justice 1978) (p) copyright control
10. 48 Hours – ‘A Soldier (Demo)’ (A Peters 1979) (p) copyright control
11. The Verdict – ‘IRA Man’ (The Verdict 1978) (p) copyright control
12. The X-Certs -‘ Stop The Fussing And The Fighting’ (Culture 1979) (p) copyright control
13. Vice Squad – ‘Resurrection’ (Bateman, Bond 1981) (p) Heartbeat Music/Cherry Red Music
14. Disorder – ‘Complete Disorder’ (Allen, Curtis 1981) (p) Complete Music
15. Chaos UK – ‘Four Minute Warning’ (Greenham 1982) (p) Heartbeat Music/Complete Music
16. Court Martial – ‘Gotta Get Out’ (Burrough, Burrough, Braybrooke, McPherson 1982) (p) Heartbeat Music / Complete Music
17. The Undead – ‘It’s Corruption’ (Hamm, Hamm, Denning, Scarlet, Simmonds 1982) (p) Heartbeat Music/Complete Music
18. Lunatic Fringe – ‘Who’s In Control?’ (Finch 1982) (p) Heartbeat Music / Complete Music
19. Chaotic Dischord – ‘Who Killed E.T? (I Killed The Fucker!)’ (Chaotic Dischord 1983) (p) Heartbeat Music / Complete Music
20. Onslaught – ‘Thermo Nuclear Devastation Of The Planet Earth’ (Onslaught 1983) (p) Irate Music Publishing

Track 1 originally released on Step Forward Records 1977

Tracks 2 and 4 originally released on New Bristol Records 1977

Tracks 3 and 5 originally released on Heartbeat Records 1978

Tracks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,11,12 all previously unreleased

Tracks 13, 15, 16, 17, 19 all previously released on Riot City Records and licenced from Captain Oi!  Records 2010

Tracks 14 previously released on Disorder Records 1981

Track 18 previously released on Resurrection Records 1981, never re-released or made available

Track 20 previously unreleased until 2008 when it appeared on the Candlelight Records album Shadow Of Death.

Track 1 Engineered by Simon Humphrey, A Turner, Copeland, Cortina Production

Tracks 2and 4 Engineered by Chris David and Produced by The Pigs at Sound Conception

Tracks 3 and 5 Engineered and Produced by Simon Edwards at GBH

Tracks 6, 9, 11, 12, 16, 17 Engineered and Produced by Steve Street at SAM

Track 7 Engineered by Roger Wall at The Facility

Track 8 Recorded live by Simon Edwards

Track 10 Recorded at Duffys Anerley

Track 18, 20 Engineered by Steve Street and Produced by Shane and Dave for S.A.D Productions at SAM

Track 19 Engineered by Sven and Steve Street at Frome Musical and Produced by Shane and Dave for S.A.D Productions

Track 13 Engineered by Andy Allen and Produced by Vice Squad at Cave

Track 14 Engineered by Andy Allen and Produced by Disorder at Cave

Track 15 Engineered by Andy Allen and Produced by Chaos UK at Cave

All tracks re-mastered by Steve Street Feb 2010

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Format – CD plus Digital Download

Ah, Bristol in the punk era! Guitars, cafes, speed and conspiracy theories. Originally one of the main punk centres (early attention for the Cortinas, Social Security and the Plastic Snowmen), by 1979 it had settled into the position it holds today – self-sufficient bohemianism with a hint of cross-over and the occasional defining moment to interest the outside world.

By the turn of the decade, the original punk-oriented labels were already looking beyond the city to fame and big bucks (yeah right) and not reflecting the uniquely pungent flavour of punk, pop, pilfering, piss-take and pretension that has always characterised this inland port.

Someone had to recognise Bristol’s combination of shit-hot musicianship, theatricality and absolute disregard for success, and that man was Andy Leighton, Phil Manzanera look-alike guitarist for the Crystal Theatre (a real 60′s alternative theatre group) and publisher of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The Crystal Theatre production of RADIO BLZBUB (featuring a youthful Keith Allen) led to the formation of Shoes For Industry, and then to Fried Egg Records, and then to a John Peel session. Suddenly, a label! Led by the twin poles of musicality and eccentricity, it must have seemed normal at the time to sign anything that sounded good or interesting. A bunch of 13-year-olds performing Dr Feelgood-style R & B? No problem! A performance poet backed by college-rockers who were also Bristol’s premier pop band? Great! Post-punks who split up before they could be accused of inventing Simple Minds? Fantastic! A tour of England and Europe called the Be Limp tour? Spiffing! Fried Egg’s world domination was only prevented (according to local rumour) by Andy inheriting a Caribbean island and disappearing from the scene.

Personally, I remember that time with great affection. I saw all these bands play live in all the local dives and we all had a great time. No one knew anything about The Music Industry, and I’m sure it would all have been different if we had. What we had was clever innocence: useless for paying the mortgage and it won’t get you press coverage, but these recordings were made for the hell of it and to get gigs at the Western Star Domino Club. Nothing quite like this stuff exists today, and whether that’s good or bad is up to you.

GERARD LANGLEY (ART OBJECTS AND BLUE AEROPLANES)

Tracklisting:

1. Jerusalem – Shoes For Industry
2. Positive Thinking – Pete Brandt’s Method
3. Hard Objects – Art Objects
4. Johnny Runs For Paregoric – Exploding Seagulls
5. Minimum Maximum – Wild Beasts
6. Invasion Of The French Boyfriends- Shoes For Industry
7. Original Mixed Up Kid – Various Artists
8. Following You – The Fans
9. Exceptions – The Stingrays
10. Unofficial Secrets – Various Artists
11. Keep on Walking – The Untouchables
12. Continental Shelf – Electric Guitars
13. Giving Me That Look in Your Eye – The Fans
14. Countdown -The Stingrays
15. Fit of Pique – Art Objects
16. Health – Electric Guitars
17. Angels In The Rain (Demo) – Viceroys
18. Stephens Body – Various Artists
19. Work (Demo) – Electric Guitars
20. Sheepdog Trial Inna Babylon – Shoes For Industry

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A COMPILATION OF BANDS FROM THE FORGOTTEN YEARS 1979 – 1981

FEATURING… GLAXOBABIES, TALISMAN, SHOES FOR INDUSTRY,ELECTRIC GUITARS, GARDEZ DARKX and many others.

Awash with 40th birthday parties, it’s been a great couple of years for viewing fat, sag and follicle loss amongst Bristols ‘we’re going to make it’ set of the 70′s and early 80′s.

At the latest we were pre-warned by our hosts (including Gareth Sager -Pop Group, Rip Rig and Panic Kevin (Ebo) Evans- Colour Tapes) to anticipate the onset of the ageing process. So I squeezed into a pair of leathers, applied layers of slap and prayed for dim lighting….. and do you know it plain didn’t matter.

The Tabernacle, Notting Hill was simply oozing with Bristol-weaned artistic talent. From a Make up artist on Eastenders to Dexter Dalwood – Cortinas now an internationally acclaimed artist, what these people shared was a Bristol Music past that must of made an impact long before the Bristol Sound was invented.

Unfortunately together with physical deterioration, memory loss is a big set back for the over 40′s or is it simply that the 60′s catchphrase about not really having been there if you remember it, applies to all decades. In either case, try and get people to remember back then and you get lots of ‘I always stuck to the Dug Out carpet’ and not much more.My very first experience of bands and such like was gawking at my friends brothers band Exiguus Mus containing Ben Young (pre Cold Storage entrepreneurism) and the dabblings of Tony Moore (of Eurovision Fame!). I really can’t remember the music but it was probably of the’progressive’ genre.

In search of a more diverse musical education and boys that wore Ben Shermans, I joined Youth Clubs and lent against palm trees at Tiffany’s hoping for a musical awakening. No sooner positioned than some boys I knew got a gig ‘up the Youth Club.’It was my first local live experience and although Jeremy Valentine was the butt of my newly discovered sharp tongue (I adamantly deny having ever snogged him), I had to concede that together with Mike Fewins, Nick Shepherd, Danny Swan and Dexter Dalwood, The Cortinas were on the road to somewhere.

Now Mark Stewart, who I had considered extremely uncool as I was the only girl at his Birthday party at which his Mother produced a Birthday cake, announced his intention to ‘gig.’ The Pop Group’s first outing was at Tiffany’s and I was there, ready to ‘take the piss’. Instead I came away hooked, hooked on the music, hooked on the rock and roll dream and hooked on the endless possibilities for boys. The Pop Group rise to fame and the esteem with which they are revered today is well documented and the Birthday incident now replaced in my memory by one of Mrs Stewart standing next to Ian Dury at a Pop Group ‘event’ at Hope Centre.

Jeremy Valentine, a bitten off ear, a punkette and presumably Shane McGowan (as he has been credited with the incident), for me it was the first time someone I knew appeared in the national music press.

Meanwhile other groups were emerging on the Bristol circuit and with them my realisation that going to watch a band didn’t need to be the intense experience that Maestro’s Sager and Stewart would have us believe.

The Spics were my first love, not only were they graced with a plethora of good looks (I can’t look at Michaelangelo’s David to this day without remembering John Shennan), but their music was fun, I could dance to it (they did a mean version of Springsteen’s-Fire, before The Pointer Sisters) and Wendy, Sarah and Jo’s backing vocals introduced me to a previously unknown concept, that girls could do it too.

The back bar of The Lion, Cliftonwood, once I’d found it, was the place to hang. The glitterati met and talked in loud voices of big name supports and ‘pie in the sky ‘ record deals, but here too ‘yet-to-be exploited’ innovations were realised. Bands were formed, shuffled and renamed. No one had any money, signing on was fine if you said you were a poet, all our clothes were from second hand shops and DIY record production was the toast of the day. Heartbeat, Fried Egg, Wavelength recorded The Spics, Shoes for Industry, Various Artists, Gardez Darkz, The Europeans, The Untouchables, Wild Beasts, Essential Bop and more. Avon Calling became the first Bristol compilation album and in the absence of anyone spotting my potential as a lead vocalist, I became the first female DJ down the Dug Out Ah, the Dug Out, unique and never cloned, a club for non-clubbers, where chatting was easy and disco scorned. Where Indie could be mixed with Reggae and Glaxo Babies back to back with Joe Loss (1979- I did it first!). From then chronological order becomes blurred.

Mike ‘Spic’ knew some people moving into a house in Redland, they needed a sixth. I was that girl, although I seriously doubted my sanity on first meeting Neil and Richard (at least I combed my hair on a regular basis), but Matthew was quite cute. They’d moved in together to form a band and after much deliberation and Pils quaffing in The Kensington, became The Electric Guitars.

The house was a pigsty, the basement a rehearsal room and the kitchen a health and safety hazard. (Why Gary Clail broke in and nicked our baked beans is a mystery to this day.) Proverbially ‘starving in their garret’ these boys produced a new genre of music and stage presence that took Bristol by storm.

At some point the innovative Video Bar, down the Dug Out was Rockfords Restaurant and who better to staff it than Bristols wannabes. Amongst others Mandy Joseph (Art Objects Muse) Mandy Stewart (Scream and Dance), Mike Smith, (Joe Public, Circus Circus) and Ian Mullard (Circus Circus) cooked and waited between gigs. Yours truly not content with the decks downstairs, and the griddle upstairs promoted bands on Wednesday nights, Pete Brandt’s -Slow Twitch Fibres amongst them. We cooked and partied, Green Rooms, The Stonehouse and later Carwardines. Out of towners came proving we were with the groove Echo And The Bunnymen, Paul Young’s Q Tips, U2 at Redland Teacher Training College. Sometime along the way I DJ’d at Trinity Hall, supporting the likes of The Cramps and The Thompson Twins.

Wavelength metamorphisised into The Bristol Recorder, brainchild of Martin Elbourne, Jonathan Arthur and Thos Brooman (sometime drummer, now WOMAD overlord).

Where other Independents had failed trying to promote more than one up-and-coming band at a time, a clever gimmick (then) of incorporating an ad filled magazine between the covers, aimed to fund this compilation album of local bands.

The high quality music became staple diet at my Monday night Dug Out slot, returning the compliment, Recorder 2 mentioned the Dug Out to be ‘excellent with Jill at the controls.’(Spelling forgiven). By the time Recorder 3 appeared, the eighties had begun to take hold and with it a crisis of confidence in the local scene. Major record companies ate ‘indies’ for breakfast, the recorder used The Thompson Twins to boost sales and potential Bristol Sounds were swallowed by way of Tax loss. Pigbag made Top of the Pops, but that didn’t have the knock on effect that Massive Attack has had today.

I moved to London and partied with Shane McGowan, The Higsons and tried to set up an Independent record company with Speedy Keen (Thunderclap Newman), our showcase act Cold Fish dumping us for the first Major that made them an offer, never to be heard of again..(Pete Howard re-emerged with Nick Shepherd in The Clash, who incidentally have a lot to thank me for, I was obviously the catalyst!)

Returning to Bristol with big city ideas. I promoted new bands (Brilliant Corners) at the new function bar Upstairs (above the Dug Out), tried the ‘Club one nighter, ‘The Dug Down Too Far’ ahead of my time, band management (Tootin’ Crocodiles) and gradually gave up DJ’ing. No way was I getting into that scratching business and ruining my vinyl. (Anyway some geezers calling themselves The Wild Bunch seemed to have that all sewn up).

When the lights went on that night at The Tabernacle, the 80’s survivors were revealed and in the corner was a forty year old woman beating herself over the head for giving up DJ’ing at a giddy peak of eight quid a night.

( GILL LOATS )

Tracklisting:

1. GLAXOBABIES – THIS IS YOUR LIFE
2. GARDEZ DARKX – BLISS
3. THE SPICS – YOU AND ME
4. THE NUMBERS – ALTERNATIVE SUICIDE
5. ELECTRIC GUITARS – CONTINENTAL SHELF
6. APARTMENT – THE CAR
7. SHOES FOR INDUSTRY – THE INVASION OF THE FRENCH BOYFRIENDS
8. ESSENTIAL BOP – RAIDERS BLUES
9. FISHFOOD – THE MODERN DANCE CRAZE
10. ART OBJECTS – HARD OBJECTS
11. VARIOUS ARTISTS – TIME OF MY LIFE
12. TALISMAN – DOLE AGE (EXTENDED VERSION)

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