 | |
 Cover of BoB #81 (Summer/Autumn 2013) | |
| Editor | Nick West Terry Hermon |
|---|---|
| Categories | Music |
| Founder | Nigel Cross |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Based in | London |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
Bucketfull of Brains (also known as BoB) was a London-based music magazine, founded in 1979 and published until 2015 . An associated record label was launched in 2010.
Bucketfull of Brains was founded by Nigel Cross in 1979, and was published in the UK continuously, on an irregular schedule, until 2015. Nigel Cross edited the first ten issues. Jon Storey took over in 1984 and edited the magazine from BoB#11 to BoB#45. In 1996, the magazine passed to an editorial board comprising Nick West, Joss Hutton, Joe Presedo and Terry Hermon. Joss Hutton and Joe Presedo both resigned in 1999, leaving an editorial team of West and Hermon from BoB#55 until the magazine's closure with BoB#83 in 2015. [1]
Editorial interest, over the years, has included "an affection for songs with guitars and thus bands like the Barracudas, the Flamin' Groovies, the Dream Syndicate, the Long Ryders and the Green Pajamas hold a special place in its affections." [1]
Bucketfull of Brains has been acknowledged by Trouser Press as a source of "essential discographical and background information." [2] According to American music writer John M. Borack, the magazine has earned a reputation as a "quality, focused publication" in both Great Britain and the United States by "championing worthy artists big and small". [3]
In 1989, founder and editor Nigel Cross received an unusual honour from members of the band R.E.M. [4] During R.E.M.'s 1989 tour for their album Green (1988), members of R.E.M. combined with Robyn Hitchcock and Peter Holsapple to form a band that they called Nigel and the Crosses, which played two concerts during periods between R.E.M.'s shows. [4] [5] Nigel and the Crosses debuted on 8 March 1989 with a show in Minneapolis, and in London on 28 May 1989, Nigel and the Crosses played a 90-minute show in Soho at the Borderline Club, which BoB reviewer Jon Storey called "enough fine music ... to satisfy anyone." [6] Nigel and the Crosses also recorded a version of the song "Wild Mountain Thyme" for the 1989 album Time Between – A Tribute to The Byrds , [7] and a live 7" single that was distributed with BoB #34. [8]
In addition to publishing the magazine and associated blogs, in 2010 Bucketfull of Brains launched a record label, which is distributed by Proper Music Distribution. [9] Its recording artists include Benjamin Folke Thomas, Trent Miller and John Murry. [9]
Power pop is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and cheerful sounding music underpinned by a sense of yearning, longing, despair, or self-empowerment. The sound is primarily rooted in pop and rock traditions of the early to mid-1960s, although some artists have occasionally drawn from later styles such as punk, new wave, glam rock, pub rock, college rock, and neo-psychedelia.
Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic (Supersnazz) and Kama Sutra, Loney left the band in 1971. He was replaced as co-leader by Chris Wilson, and the band's emphasis shifted more toward British Invasion power pop.
Game Theory was an American power pop band, founded in 1982 by singer/songwriter Scott Miller, combining melodic jangle pop with dense experimental production and hyperliterate lyrics. MTV described their sound as "still visceral and vital" in 2013, with records "full of sweetly psychedelic-tinged, appealingly idiosyncratic gems" that continued "influencing a new generation of indie artists." Between 1982 and 1990, Game Theory released five studio albums and two EPs, which had long been out of print until 2014, when Omnivore Recordings began a series of remastered reissues of the entire Game Theory catalog. Miller's posthumously completed Game Theory album, Supercalifragile, was released in August 2017 in a limited first pressing.
The Barracudas are an English surf rock band formed in late 1978. The band's original line-up consisted of Jeremy Gluck (vocals), Robin Wills, Starkie Phillips and Adam Phillips (drums). Before the band recorded its first single, Starkie and Adam Phillips left the band.
Sex Clark Five is an underground indie rock band formed in the early 1980s in Huntsville, Alabama. Calling their inventive, sawed-off power pop songs "strum and drum", SC5 released several albums that featured the jangly Rickenbacker guitar sound characteristic of Southern college rock bands of the time, including R.E.M. Guitarists James Butler and Rick Storey and drummer Trick McKaha were all friends from Huntsville High School. After stints in Kinks cover and pseudo punk bands, the three recruited bassist Joy Johnson.
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press". Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by Rolling Stone sister publication Record, which itself folded in 1985. Trouser Press has continued to exist in various formats.
Feedtime is an Australian noise rock band from Sydney, New South Wales, that was initially formed as a duo in 1979 by Rick Johnson on guitar and vocals and Allen Larkin on bass guitar and vocals. They soon became a trio with various drummers until 1982, when they were joined by Tom Sturm. This line-up issued four albums, Feedtime, Shovel, Cooper-S and Suction, before disbanding in February 1989. They reunited in 1995 with Johnson and Larkin joined by the latter's younger brother, John Larkin, on drums for another album, Billy, before disbanding again in 1997. The Rick-Al-Tom line up reunited again, in 2011.
Donnette Thayer is a vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter most active in the 1980s and early 1990s indie rock scenes of Northern California. Thayer was a member of the band Game Theory, and later formed Hex with Steve Kilbey of The Church.
Michael Quercio is an American musician. He is the founder, bassist and lead singer of The Three O'Clock, and coined the term Paisley Underground as the name of a musical subgenre.
Phonography is the first official album by American multi-instrumentalist R. Stevie Moore, released in 1976 on the artist's private Vital Records "label". Its initial vinyl pressing was limited to 100 copies. The album mostly consists of selections from his self-released albums Stevie Moore Often (1975) and Stevie Moore Returns (1976), all recorded on 1/4 track 7½ ips reel-to-reel stereo tape decks. A 7-inch EP was issued in 1977 called Four from Phonography, which was the debut release by Moore's uncle Harry Palmer's H.P. Music label.
Big Dipper are an American indie rock band who formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1985 by former members of Volcano Suns and the Embarrassment. They released four studio albums between 1987 and 1990, before splitting up. The band reunited in 2008. They were described in a New York Times article as "musical contortionists: they love to toy with extremes, juxtaposing ferocious guitar noise with celestial vocal harmonies or planting a delicate melody in jagged rhythm".
The Sneetches were an American indie pop/power pop band formed in San Francisco, California, United States, in 1985, who released several albums before splitting up in the mid-1990s. The band was described by Trouser Press as "one of the most tasteful, consistently tuneful pop bands on the American scene". In 2017, All Music described The Sneetches as "one of the best classic guitar pop bands in the late '80s/early '90s."
"Never Had a Lot to Lose" is a song by the American rock band Cheap Trick, which was released in 1989 as the fifth and final single from their tenth studio album Lap of Luxury (1988). It was written by lead vocalist Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson, and produced by Richie Zito. The song reached No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Distortion of Glory is a 1993 compilation album from the band Game Theory, a California power pop band fronted by guitarist and singer-songwriter Scott Miller. Issued on CD by Alias Records, it anthologizes the band's debut album, most of the songs from two subsequent EPs, and one rare single.
Afoot is the debut six-song EP by the American indie rock band Let's Active, first released in 1983 by I.R.S. Records.
The Other Kids was an American alternative pop band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1985 by Steve Watson, Allyn Watson, and Chris Fink. One of the most popular Madison rock bands of the mid-to-late 80s, The Other Kids disbanded in 1992, just as the alternative pop sound they were known for began to break into the commercial mainstream. The Milwaukee Shepherd called The Other Kids "probably Wisconsin's best classic pop-rock band, working those Alex Chiltonesque melodies together with empathetic intelligent lyrics, edgy guitars and a solid beat." The band's sound was a melodic mixture of power chords influenced by classic bands like The Who and the pure, guitar pop of The Hollies.
George Gilbert "Gil" Ray was an American rock drummer, guitarist, and vocalist, best known for his recordings in the 1980s and 1990s as a member of the bands Game Theory and The Loud Family. In late 2012, he joined Rain Parade as drummer for a series of reunion performances.
Thomas Howard Stevens was an American bassist, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, often associated with the Paisley Underground and alternative country movements as bassist for roots rock band the Long Ryders. He was a member of Magi and Danny & Dusty, and recorded as a solo artist. In his solo work, Stevens incorporated elements of folk rock, country, psychedelia and garage rock into his music, and released what music reviewer Stewart Lee calls "fascinatingly different solo albums." Stevens was based in Los Angeles in the 1980s, but later returned to his native Indiana.