Brum Beat

Last updated

Brum Beat
EditorSteve Morris
Former editorsJim Simpson
CategoriesMusic
FrequencyMonthly
PublisherSteve Morris
Year founded1970
Country England
Based in Birmingham
Website roots-and-branches.com

Brum Beat was a monthly magazine about the music of Birmingham, England, [1] and the neighbouring towns. The magazine was started in 1970 [1] as Midlands Beat by promoter and band-manager Jim Simpson, who sold it to its latter editor, Steve Morris, [2] who in turn relaunched it in newspaper format as The Beat, before converting it into a website. [3]

It took its original name from the term coined in the late 1950s to collectively describe the City's music scene, in the manner of the Mersey sound.

It has been suggested that The Moody Blues, formed in May 1964, were the first of the "Brum Beat" bands to become internationally famous. [4] other bands such as the Spencer Davis Group were members of the Brum Beat scene.

Related Research Articles

Jeff Lynne British rock musician; songwriter, singer, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist

Jeffrey Lynne is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who co-founded the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). The group formed in 1970 as an offshoot of the Move, of which Lynne was also a member. Previously, Lynne had been involved with the Idle Race as a founding member and principal songwriter. Following the departure of Roy Wood in 1972, Lynne assumed sole leadership of ELO and wrote, arranged, and produced virtually all of its subsequent records.

Hardcore punk Subgenre of punk rock

Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington D.C. and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically-charged lyrics."

The Moody Blues English band

The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge, and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to prominence playing rhythm and blues. They made some changes in musicians but settled on a line-up of Pinder, Thomas, Edge, guitarist Justin Hayward, and bassist John Lodge, who stayed together for most of the band's "classic era" into the early 1970s. Edge was the group’s sole continuous member throughout their entire history.

<i>NME</i> British music journalism website and former magazine

New Musical Express (NME) is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a free publication, before becoming an online brand which includes its website and radio stations.

Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre.

Steve Winwood English recording artist; musician, singer, songwriter

Stephen Lawrence Winwood is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock and pop rock. Though primarily a vocalist and keyboard player, Winwood plays other instruments proficiently, including drums, mandolin, guitars, bass and saxophone.

New Romantic 1970s pop culture movement originating in the UK

The New Romantic movement was a underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New Romantic movement was characterised by flamboyant, eccentric fashion inspired by fashion boutiques such as Kahn and Bell in Birmingham and PX in London. Early adherents of the movement were often referred to by the press by such names as Blitz Kids, New Dandies and Romantic Rebels.

Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a popular music genre, influenced by rock and roll, skiffle, and traditional pop music, that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Initially centered in and around Liverpool, the genre's popularity expanded to the rest of the UK beginning in 1963, and reached the United States by 1964. The beat style had a significant impact on popular music and youth culture, immediately evident from 1960s movements such as garage rock, folk rock and psychedelic music to 1970s punk rock and 1990s Britpop.

Handsworth, West Midlands Human settlement in England

Handsworth is a suburban town and also an inner-city, urban area of northwest Birmingham in the West Midlands. Historically in Staffordshire, Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre.

Mothers (music venue) Music venue in Erdington, Birmingham

Mothers was a club in the Erdington district of Birmingham, West Midlands, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It opened above an old furniture store in Erdington High Street on 9 August 1968. The club, run by John 'Spud' Taylor and promoter Phil Myatt, closed its doors on 3 January 1971. Between those dates more than 400 acts performed there, many of whom went on to great success.

Steve Gibbons (musician) Musical artist

Steve Gibbons is an English singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and record producer. Gibbons' music career spans more than 50 years.

Steve Albini American record engineer and rock musician

Steve Albini is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal engineer of Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

John Lodge (musician) British musician; bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of The Moody Blues

John Charles Lodge is an English musician, best known as bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of the longstanding rock band the Moody Blues. He has also worked as a record producer and has collaborated with other musicians outside the band. In 2018, Lodge was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues.

Juicy Lucy was a British blues rock band officially formed on 1 October 1969. After the demise of The Misunderstood, Juicy Lucy was formed by steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell, and prolific Blackburn saxophonist Chris Mercer. The group later recruited vocalist Ray Owen, guitarist Neil Hubbard, bassist Keith Ellis, and drummer Pete Dobson.

The Birmingham Science Fiction Group (BSFG), also known as the "Brum Group", held its first meeting on 25 June 1971. It runs regular meetings in Birmingham, England, where SF fans can meet one another and professionals in the field in a friendly environment, and has organised the annual SF convention Novacon since 1972.

Bassline is a music genre related to UK garage that originated in Yorkshire and the Midlands in the early 2000s. Stylistically it comprises a four-to-the-floor rhythm normally at around 135–142 beats per minute and a strong emphasis on bass, similar to that of its precursor speed garage, with chopped up vocal samples and a pop music aesthetic.

Rich Batsford Musical artist

Richard William Batsford is an English pianist, composer and singer-songwriter. He is a recording artist and a frequent performer, initially in and around his birthplace in Birmingham, England, and more recently in Adelaide, Australia, presenting concerts featuring original solo piano music with a classical influence.

Birmingham's culture of popular music first developed in the mid-1950s. By the early 1960s the city's music scene had emerged as one of the largest and most vibrant in the country; a "seething cauldron of musical activity", with over 500 bands constantly exchanging members and performing regularly across a well-developed network of venues and promoters. By 1963 the city's music was also already becoming recognised for what would become its defining characteristic: the refusal of its musicians to conform to any single style or genre. Birmingham's tradition of combining a highly collaborative culture with an open acceptance of individualism and experimentation dates back as far back as the 18th century, and musically this has expressed itself in the wide variety of music produced within the city, often by closely related groups of musicians, from the "rampant eclecticism" of the Brum beat era, to the city's "infamously fragmented" post-punk scene, to the "astonishing range" of distinctive and radical electronic music produced in the city from the 1980s to the early 21st century.

Banditos (band)

Banditos is an American six-piece rock and roll band led by singers Corey Parsons, Stephen Pierce, and Mary Beth Richardson with honky tonk, country, soul and garage rock influences. The band originally hails from Birmingham, Alabama, but is currently based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Formed in 2010, Banditos toured the United States for four years before they signed to Bloodshot Records.

Grosvenor Road Studios

Grosvenor Road Studios (GRS), formerly known as Hollick and Taylor Studios, is a suite of recording studios in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. It is the oldest extant recording studio in the city.

References

  1. 1 2 "1980: A great day in Birmingham - But where are they now?". Visit Birmingham. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  2. "About Steve Morris". Wolverhampton City Radio. Retrieved 31 May 2010.[ dead link ]
  3. "Brum Beat website" . Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  4. Moody Brum Beat