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Bad Manners
Bad Manners performing at Bodega in Wellington, New Zealand, 2015
After becoming popular in their native London, Bad Manners signed a recording contract with Magnet Records in 1980, and became regular guests on television shows such as Tiswas. The band also appeared on The British Music Awards (1981) and Cheggers Plays Pop. In 1985, they also appeared on The Time of Your Life, hosted by Noel Edmonds. Being closely associated with the 2 Tone movement (though never signed to 2 Tone Records itself), they were one of six bands featured in the 1981 documentary film Dance Craze.[1]
One of the main reasons for their notoriety was their outlandish huge-tongued and shaven-headed frontman, Buster Bloodvessel. His manic exploits got them banned from the BritishBBC TV chart show Top of the Pops, for painting his head red.[5] The band was also banned from ItalianTV after Bloodvessel mooned a concert audience on live television at the 1983 Sanremo Music Festival,[6] after being told that the Pope was watching on TV.[5][6]
Bad Manners had spent 111 weeks in the UK Singles Chart between 1980 and 1983,[4] however, Bad Manners left Magnet Records in 1983, and joined Telstar Records releasing a compilation album, The Height of Bad Manners, which reached number 23 in the UK Albums Chart.[4] The album was assisted with a television advertisement, and it brought the band back to the attention of the media and the British public – but no further chart hits.
The group then went on to sign a contract with Portrait Records in the United States and Mental Notes was released in 1985. For two years the band toured continuously all over the world but decided to disband in 1987.
After Bad Manners disbanded for a brief spell after their deal with Portrait Records ended, Buster Bloodvessel formed a new outfit called Buster's Allstars in 1987, which enabled him and a few of his friends to continue performing in and around London. The capital's venues were often packed to capacity and this prompted the then 20 stone vocalist to reform Bad Manners with his fellow original members Louis Alphonso, Martin Stewart, Winston Bazoomies and Chris Kane. During 1988, the revamped Bad Manners band line-up started to play a number of shows at universities and at scooter rallies and they licensed the name and logo of Blue Beat Records, setting up office inside a 50-foot (15m)barge called the Blood Vessel in the back garden of Buster Bloodvessel's former home in London.[citation needed] After Blue Beat became defunct in 1990, Bad Manners were without a recording contract, but continued to tour. In 1992, they signed a deal with Pork Pie Records and Fat Sound was released in Europe. The album was originally intended to be released in the UK on Blue Beat.
In 1996, Buster Bloodvessel moved to Margate and opened a hotel on the seafront called Fatty Towers, which catered for people with huge appetites.[6] While living in Margate, he was a regular spectator at Margate F.C., and Bad Manners sponsored the club for one season. Fatty Towers closed in 1998 and did not re-open despite a facelift. After its closure, Buster Bloodvessel moved back to London.[citation needed]
After five years without releasing any new material, Bad Manners issued their Heavy Petting album in 1997. Six years later, Buster set up another record label and the band released Stupidity on Bad Records in 2003.
In 2004, Bad Manners appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in the Christmas Special, performing festive songs to the contestants which included Phill Jupitus and Noddy Holder (Jupitus is a fan of the band, and Buster Bloodvessel had appeared as a panellist on the show earlier that year).[7]
Buster Bloodvessel is the only original member to remain in Bad Manners, but the harmonica player, Winston Bazoomies, was an 'honorary member' of the band. Bazoomies had a Facebook fanpage set up in his honour and lived in North London.
Martin Stewart left Bad Manners in 1991, and performed and recorded with the Selecter for fifteen years. He now lives a quiet life in Middlesex with his family, and most recently played the keyboards in a band called the Skatalysts. Louis Alphonso lives in Paris and released his A Noir solo studio album on the French Fries record label in 2015, while his fellow musician, David Farren, left in 1987 after the band's contract with Portrait Records ended. Farren designed the original band logo, and painted the front cover of the album Gosh It's ... Bad Manners (1981). He currently performs in a tribute outfit called the Rollin' Stoned. Chris Kane is a session musician. He left his longtime London home in 2015 and moved to Cambridgeshire. He became a music teacher during the 1990s and also performed with the Jordanaires after leaving Bad Manners. He also enjoys visiting Sweden during his spare time but he can still be seen playing his saxophone with numerous outfits. Brian Tuitt also left the band in 1987 and lives in Kent. The drummer has been performing with Ben Russell & the Charmers in recent times while also working with the Barry White Unlimited Love Tour at various venues in the UK, while Andrew Marson, who also left the group the same year, has worked as a carpenter in and around London and also enjoys performing in a country and western outfit called the Drawbacks. Paul Hyman, another original member who left the band in the late 1980s, lives in Enfield and works in the London Stock Exchange, a job he has had since leaving Bad Manners.[citation needed]
Bad Manners headlined their own annual music festival known as Bad Fest in 2005 and 2006 at RAF Twinwood Farm. This festival featured ska, mod-related and punk rock bands from the 1980s to the present.
In 2011, Cherry Red Records released the band's first four studio albums, Ska 'n' B (1980), Loonee Tunes! (1980), Gosh It's ... Bad Manners (1981) and Forging Ahead (1982) on CD for the first time with added bonus tracks. The albums were issued on their sister label, Pressure Drop.
In December 2012, the band released their first single in thirteen years. "What Simon Says" was released via download just before the festive season, and the music video featured Bad Manners fans from across the world but none of the band members themselves. The song hints at the power Simon Cowell has within the UK music industry.[8]
In December 2012, founding members of the band met for the first time in decades at the Ship public house in Soho, London. Paul Hyman, Martin Stewart, Brian Tuitt and Chris Kane met with band historian and harmonica player David Turner, and Christopher 'Dell' Wardell, a music writer and promoter from Darlington. On 18 July 2013, seven of the original nine members reunited at The Brownswood public house, near Finsbury Park, that is within striking distance of their old school, Woodbery Down Comprehensive. The 'Bad Manners Originals' who attended the reunion were Andy Marson (alto sax), Paul Hyman (trumpet), Winston Bazoomies (Alan Sayag) (harmonicas), Chris Kane (tenor sax), David Farren (bass), Martin Stewart (keyboards) and Brian Tuitt (drums). The meetings were arranged after Wardell's 'Where Are They Now?' article was published in The Northern Echo in 2012, providing details on the current whereabouts of all of the original band members.[citation needed]
During 2016, Bad Manners toured the United Kingdom to celebrate their 40th Anniversary.[9]
Original member Winston Bazoomies died on 1 December 2022, at the age of 63.[3]
The band are still touring the United Kingdom in 2024.[10]
The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.
The Bodysnatchers were a seven-piece all-female band involved in the British 2 Tone ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Beat are an English band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.
Douglas Steven Trendle, better known as Buster Bloodvessel, is an English singer who has been the frontman of the two-tone band Bad Manners since forming the band in 1976. He took his stage name from the bus conductor played by Ivor Cutler in the Beatles' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour.
Blue Beat Records is an English record label that released Jamaican rhythm and blues (R&B) and ska music in the 1960s and later decades. Its reputation led to the use of the word bluebeat as a generic term to describe all styles of early Jamaican pop music, including music by artists not associated with the record label.
"Lip Up Fatty" is a single released by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners in June 1980, which reached No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart. It is one of a number of songs by Bad Manners about 'being fat',. According to Bloodvessel "Lip Up Fatty" was an expression used at his school "to tell people to shut up". Its signature melodic lines were a simple but careful blend of brass instruments and lead harmonica theme, played by Alan Sayag.
Ska'n'B is the first album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners from the year 1980. It reached number 34 on the UK album chart.
Loonee Tunes! is the second album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners, from the year 1980. In keeping with the format of their first album, the first track is an instrumental. It reached number 36 on the UK album chart. The album opens with "Echo 4-2" which became the band's cult instrumental introduction number at all live gigs. The album's name is a reference to the popular Looney Tunes cartoon series.
Gosh It's ... Bad Manners is the third album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners from the year 1981 and their most popular and successful album, peaking at number 18 on the UK album chart. The band had originally formed in 1976 while the members were together at Woodberry Down Comprehensive School, North London. They commemorated the 1981 closure of the school on the back sleeve of the album.
Forging Ahead is the fourth album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners from the year 1982. It was the group's last album on Magnet Records. The picture sleeve to the right, is of the American edition of the album that was released two years later in 1984, with a slightly different track list to the official UK issue.
The Australian ska scene has existed since the mid-1980s, when it started enjoying the same sort of interest as it did in the United Kingdom, following the success of UK 2 Tone bands such as The Specials, The Beat and Madness.
Mental Notes is the fifth studio album by English 2 tone and ska band Bad Manners, released in 1985 by Portrait Records.
Return of the Ugly is the sixth studio album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners released in 1989. It was the band's first release on an independent label and their first album release without David Farren, Brian Tuitt, Andy Marson and Paul Hyman.
Stupidity is the ninth and final studio album by British 2 Tone and ska band Bad Manners, released on 17 June 2003.
Rhoda Dakar is a British singer and musician, best known as the lead singer of The Bodysnatchers, who were signed to the 2 Tone record label. She also worked with The Specials/Special AKA, and also other 2-Tone artists.
Woodberry Down Comprehensive School was a secondary school located off the Seven Sisters Road in the Manor House area of North London. The now defunct school verges on three London boroughs: Hackney, Haringey and Islington. The school was opened in 1955, and closed in 1981 when it was amalgamated with Clissold School and renamed Stoke Newington School. The new school was founded in 1982 in the building of the former Clissold School.
The Happy Album is the third studio album by British ska band The Selecter, and their first following their reformation in 1990, released in 1994 on Demon Music in the UK and Triple X in the US. Their first album of new material in thirteen years, The Happy Album follows their successful live reunion tour of 1991 and its respective live album document, Out in the Streets (1992). Founding member Neol Davies left the band after Out in the Streets while fellow original member Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson rejoined the band. The new line-up recorded The Happy Album with production from Aswad guitarist Jimmy "Seyna" Haynes
"Special Brew" is a song by British 2-tone and ska band Bad Manners, released in September 1980 and was the third single from their first album Ska 'n' B. It was the band's joint biggest hit in the UK, reaching number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, where it stayed for two weeks. The song takes its inspiration from the Carlsberg lager Special Brew and is about someone who loves it like a significant other.
"Can Can" is a song by British 2-tone/ska band Bad Manners, released in June 1981 as the first single from their third album Gosh It's ... Bad Manners. It is an instrumental song, based on the music "Galop infernal" written by French composer Jacques Offenbach which was later adopted as the music for the dance the can-can. The arrangement was credited to Bad Manners. It peaked at number 3 for four weeks on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's joint biggest hit with "Special Brew".
"Walking in the Sunshine" is a song by British 2-tone/ska band Bad Manners, released in September 1981 as the second single from their third album Gosh It's... Bad Manners. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
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