Doctors of Madness

Last updated

Doctors of Madness
Doctors Of Madness.jpg
Doctors of Madness at Last Waltz, Shibuya in 2016
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Proto-punk, rock, art rock, punk rock
Years active1974–1978; 2014
Labels Polydor Records, Ozit Records
Members Richard Strange
Urban Blitz
Stoner
Peter DiLemma
Dave Vanian (1978)
Website www.richardstrange.com/music/doctors-of-madness/

Doctors of Madness were a British protopunk art rock band active as a recording and touring band from 1975 until late 1978. They found cult level acclaim and recognition in the 70s, but had little commercial success. Since then they have come to be regarded as prime movers who were forerunners of the later punk movement.

Contents

Band history

1974: Formation, band members

The Doctors of Madness were formed in 1974 in a basement in Brixton, south London, by the band's composer and lead singer/guitarist Richard Strange, known as ‘Kid’ Strange. [1]

To provide a platform for his musical ideas and compositions, which analysed urban culture neurosis and systems of control, Strange joined forces with Stoner (Colin Bentley: bass guitar, vocals), Peter DiLemma (Pete Hewes: drums, vocals), and Urban Blitz (Geoff Hickmer: electric violin, baritone violectra and lead guitar) [2] to provide a link between the early 1970s progressive rock and glam rock of David Bowie and Roxy Music and the later 1970s punk rock of the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Strange cited the Velvet Underground and writer William S. Burroughs as major influences on the band's music, which fused avant-garde hard rock with warped quasi-classical tones.[ citation needed ]

1975: Manager Bryan Morrison

In March 1975, the band started playing gigs at a pub in Twickenham, south-west London, where they were spotted by a talent scout for music manager Bryan Morrison, who had managed Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett and Marc Bolan. Morrison came to see them and was impressed. Morrison and his then partner Justin de Villeneuve launched an intensive publicity campaign to promote the band, which included an appearance on the BBC's prime time UK television The Twiggy Show. They were the opening act at the three-day Great British Music Festival at Olympia in London on 31 December 1975. [3] The band signed to Polydor Records for the UK and Europe.

The Doctors of Madness were BBC Radio DJ John Peel's featured artists on 25 November 1976, [4] and received British television exposure during 1975/76 on the Twiggy Show and the Janet Street-Porter Show.

1975-1978: Tours, theatrical style

The Doctors of Madness toured extensively in Great Britain and continental Europe, gigging in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden. Their early stage shows, in which Strange appeared with dyed-blue hair and Stoner wore skeletal-style make-up, [5] incorporated costumes, props, make-up, projected backdrop images, smoke, strobe lights, theatrical spot-lighting and taped sound effects. Stoner recalled that they had wanted to create "a really outrageous image to match the songs Richard was writing". Strange spoke of a cinematic style of song-writing, "where the images come in and out, not making much sense on a rational level, more on a sensory one ... very sleazy, underground and outrageous." [6]

Support acts during their heyday included the Sex Pistols (Middlesbrough 1976), the Jam (London Marquee on several occasions 1976), Joy Division (as "Warsaw" Manchester 1976) and Simple Minds (as "Johnny and the Self Abusers" Falkirk 1976). In 1977 Richard 'Kid' Strange was best man at the wedding of Dave Vanian of the Damned.

The band's tour manager and sound engineer was Dave 'Hobbs' Hilsden, who Strange called 'Obbsy'. Hilsden was subsequently sound engineer, road manager and crew boss for Motörhead for 30 years until his death in 2015. [7]

1975-1978: Albums

Between 1975 and 1978, the Doctors of Madness recorded three albums for Polydor records: Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms [1976], [8] produced by John Punter; Figments of Emancipation [1976], [9] recorded at Abbey Road studios with producer John Leckie; and Sons of Survival [1978], recorded at Majestic Studios in Clapham, South London in late 1977. [10] It was decided to give the band's third album a more 'punk' feel, and the tracks on Sons of Survival were mostly recorded as high-volume live performances in the studio. Dave Hilsden was credited as producer.

"Bulletin" from Sons of Survival, backed by "Waiting" from Late Night Movies, All Night Brainstorms, was released as a single in late 1977. [11]

1978: Urban Blitz, Dave Vanian, final gig

Urban Blitz left the band early in 1978, immediately after the release of Sons of Survival, because of musical and personal differences. He was briefly replaced by singer Dave Vanian of punk rock band the Damned, who had temporarily split.

The Doctors of Madness had been known informally as 'the Doctors' (or 'the Dox'). After the release of Sons of Survival Kid Strange renamed the band 'the Doctors', and Strange, Stoner and Peter DiLemma continued as a trio, minus violinist.

The Doctors disbanded later in 1978 after disappointing sales of Sons of Survival and withdrawal of record company support. They played their final gig at The Music Machine in Camden, North London, on 26 October 1978, with TV Smith of the Adverts as a guest. [12]

Later developments

1981: Release of "Revisionism"

A posthumous Doctors of Madness 'best of' compilation, Revisionism, was released by Polydor in 1981. The track listing, drawn from the band's 1975-1978 Polydor recordings, was essentially an album version of their live performances. The band's first three albums were re-released on CD by Ozit Records in 2002. [13]

2003-2006: Performances in Japan and UK

In later years, Richard Strange continued to promote and perform Doctors of Madness music while pursuing an extensive international career as a solo artist. In 2003 he performed in Japan, [14] backed by ex-Pogues multi-instrumentalist David Coulter and Sister Paul, a Japanese Doctors of Madness tribute band based in Tokyo; [15] and in Leeds and Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, [16] with bassist Stoner in 2006.

2011: Recognition

Recognition of Doctors of Madness influence on the emergence of British punk rock was documented in the book An Unauthorised Guide to Punk Rock: The Early English Scene [2011], which included the Deviants, the Doctors of Madness, David Bowie, the Sex Pistols and the Clash. [17] The band's reappraisal as an important influence in British punk rock had prompted the re-release of their albums on CD in 2002.

2014: Reunion

Doctors of Madness reunion in 2014. Doctors of Madness .jpg
Doctors of Madness reunion in 2014.

The original line-up of the Doctors of Madness - Kid Strange, Stoner, Peter DiLemma and Urban Blitz - reunited in London in October 2014 for a one-off performance at the South Bank Centre as part of Richard Strange's "Language is a Virus from Outer Space", a multi-media centenary celebration of satirical US writer William S Burroughs. [18] Joe Elliott of Def Leppard made a guest appearance, [19] duetting on "Suicide City". [20]

Bassist Stoner, who had been ill for some time with cancer, died a month after the reunion concert, and received an obituary in The Times newspaper citing his contributions to music. [21]

2017: Album re-releases

In May 2017, Cherry Red Records released a comprehensive three-CD boxed set of the entire recorded works of the Doctors of Madness remastered, entitled Perfect Past - The Complete Doctors of Madness. The box set contained numerous bonus tracks, including an early version of "Out" and an out-take of "Doctors of Madness" from Figments of Emancipation, a previously-unheard "We Don't Get Back", a rehearsal version of Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man", [22] live recordings of songs the band never attempted in the studio, including those co-written with TV Smith of the Adverts, a prospective 1978 single made with Dave Vanian of the Damned, the unheard 1976 "Frustration" and an early version of "Don't Panic England". [23]

2017-2019: Further performances and tours

The release of the Cherry Red three-CD box set was celebrated with a string of live performances by the band, featuring Richard "Kid" Strange, Urban Blitz, and the Japanese rhythm section of Susumu (bass) and Mackii (drums) from the band Sister Paul. This line-up toured in the UK and Japan.

In November 2017, Strange and Urban Blitz, joined by protest singer Lily Bud, performed an evening of "unplugged" Doctors of Madness songs in the neo-gothic chapel of The House of St Barnabas, in Soho, London. The event was filmed and released as a DVD, In the Afterglow.

Strange occasionally tours in Japan, with the Japanese power duo Sister Paul taking bass and drum duties, and has also lectured students in Japan's Otaru University, Sapporo. He toured Japan with Sister Paul in September 2019.

2019: New Doctors of Madness album

In 2019, 42 years after recording Sons of Survival, Strange returned to the studio to record another album under the name 'Doctors of Madness'. The songs on the album were written by Strange in a short period of time, and were recorded at Doghouse Studios in Oxfordshire, England, with producer John Leckie, who had worked with Strange on the band's second album, Figments of Emancipation.

The new album, entitled Dark Times, was released on 13 September 2019 on the Molecular Scream label through Cargo Records (except in North America, where it was to be released by Cherry Bomb/Mailboat Records). The "unashamedly political" album contained eight songs: "So Many Ways To Hurt You", "Make It Stop!", "Sour Hour", "Walk Of Shame", "This Kind Of Failure", "This Is How To Die", "Blood Brother" and "Dark Times".

Guest musicians who participated in the recording of Dark Times included Joe Elliott of Def Leppard (vocals on five songs) and Sarah Jane Morris of the Communards (vocals on four songs). There were also contributions from Terry Edwards (Tindersticks, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Madness), Steve 'Boltz' Bolton (Paul Young, the Who, Atomic Rooster) and young protest singer Lily Bud. The Japanese power duo Sister Paul, comprising Susumu Ukei on bass and Mackii Ukei on drums, played on all eight tracks. The critical acclaim was unanimous. The record was released in the US on Cherry Bomb Records and in Japan via Crocus Records, and featured in end-of-year 'Top Albums of 2019' roundups.

Discography

DVDs

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Television (band)</span> American rock band

Television was an American rock band from New York City, most notably active in the 1970s. The group's most prominent lineup consisted of Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd (guitar), Billy Ficca (drums), and Fred Smith (bass). An early fixture of CBGB and the 1970s New York rock scene, the band is considered influential in the development of punk and alternative rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X-Ray Spex</span> English punk rock band

X-Ray Spex was an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Romantic</span> 1970s popular culture movement originating in the UK

The New Romantic movement was an 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Adverts</span> English punk rock band

The Adverts were an English punk band who formed in 1976 and broke up in late 1979. They were one of the first punk bands to enjoy chart success in the UK; their 1977 single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart. The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music described bassist Gaye Advert as the "first female punk star".

Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Bators, rhythm guitarist Jimmy Zero, bassist Jeff Magnum, lead guitarist Cheetah Chrome, and drummer Johnny Blitz in 1975, with the later two having splintered from the band Rocket From The Tombs. The original Dead Boys released two studio albums, Young Loud and Snotty, and We Have Come for Your Children.

The Lords of the New Church were a British-American rock band. A supergroup, the line-up originally consisted of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators, guitarist Brian James, bassist Dave Tregunna and drummer Nick Turner. Launched in 1981, the band released three studio albums prior to their dissolution in 1989. During this time, they underwent several line-up changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">999 (band)</span> English punk rock band

999 are an English punk rock band, formed in London in December 1976. From 1976 to 1985, their line-up consisted of Nick Cash, Guy Days, Jon Watson and Pablo LaBritain (drums). LaBritain was temporarily replaced in 1980 by drummer Paul Edward while he recovered from a motor accident. Bassist Jon Watson left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Danny Palmer, who was succeeded by Arturo Bassick in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Vanian</span> British singer

David Vanian is an English rock musician, and lead singer of the punk rock band the Damned. Formed in 1976 in London, the Damned were the first British punk band to release a single, release an album, have a record hit the UK charts, and tour the United States. With a fluid line-up since their founding, Vanian has been the only ever-present member. Vanian's baritone singing voice, dark lyrics and vampire-themed costumes, were a major influence on the goth subculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Vibrators</span> British punk rock band

The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Strange</span> Welsh singer and pop icon (1959–2015)

Stephen John Harrington, known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer. From the late 1970s, he was a nightclub host and promoter. He became famous as the leader of the new wave synth-pop group Visage, best known for their single "Fade to Grey", and was one of the most influential figures behind the New Romantic movement of the early 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea (band)</span> English punk rock band

Chelsea are an English punk rock band which formed in 1976. Three of the four original band members went on to found Generation X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lone Star (band)</span> Welsh rock band

Lone Star was a Welsh rock and heavy metal music band formed in Cardiff in 1975. They released two albums on CBS Records before splitting up in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf School</span> English art rock/new wave band

Deaf School is an English art rock/new wave band, formed in Liverpool, England, in January 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Strange</span>

Richard "Kid" Strange is an English writer, actor, musician, and curator, who was the founder and front man of mid-1970s protopunk art rock band Doctors of Madness.

Stoner was an English rock musician, best known as the bass guitar player and vocalist with the art rock band Doctors of Madness (1974–1978), and later with the post-punk rock band Explorers, which he formed with T.V. Smith in 1980.

<i>Kingdom of Madness</i> (Magnum album) 1978 studio album by Magnum

Kingdom of Madness is the debut studio album by the English rock band Magnum. It was recorded in 1976, and was released in 1978 by Jet Records. Kingdom of Madness was awarded a 4 star review in Sounds, with writer Geoff Barton suggesting the band were capable of making a strong claim for a slice of the market occupied by the likes of Styx, Kansas and Yes.

Bruce Lynch is an electric and acoustic bassist, producer and arranger.

<i>Tell Us the Truth</i> 1978 studio album by Sham 69

Tell Us the Truth is the debut album by English punk rock band Sham 69, released in 1978. The first side of the album was recorded live in concert, while the other was recorded in the studio. Tell Us the Truth includes one of Sham 69's biggest hits, "Borstal Breakout", on the live side of the album. The album peaked at number 25 on the UK Albums Chart.

Protex are a Belfast punk band which formed in 1978. Their first records were issued on Good Vibrations records. They formed part of the first wave of Belfast punk bands along with label-mates The Undertones and Rudi (band). The original line-up was Paul Maxwell (bass/vocals), Owen McFadden (drums), David McMaster (guitar/vocals), Aidan Murtagh (guitar/vocals).

The Wanderers were a short-lived British punk rock band consisting of Stiv Bators and members of Sham 69, and active between 1980 and 1981. They recorded one album before splitting up.

References

  1. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  3. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "BBC - Radio 1 - Keeping It Peel - Doctors Of Madness". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  5. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  7. ↑ "Motorhead Pay Tribute to Late Engineer 'Hobbsy'". 2 March 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  8. ↑ "The Doctors Of Madness With Richard 'Kid' Strange "Late Might Movies, All Night Brainstorms"". Spaceritual.net. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  9. ↑ "Figments Of Emancipation". Spaceritual.net. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Sons Of Survival". Spaceritual.net. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  11. ↑ "DOCTORS OF MADNESS: Bulletin / Waiting 7' 1977". 29 September 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  12. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  13. ↑ "The Official Tractor - Ozit/Morpheus Records Home Page". Spaceritual.net. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  14. ↑ "DOCTORS OF MADNESS (2003 in TOKYO)". YouTube. 12 November 2008. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  15. ↑ "Interview with Richard Strange". 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  16. ↑ "Billy Watch Out - Doctors of Madness". YouTube. 7 March 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  17. ↑ Amazon - Unauthorized Guide to Punk Rock: The Early English Scene, including the Deviants Doctors of Madness, David Bowie Sex Pistols Clash - Juliette Hall - 洋書. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2019– via Amazon.co.jp.
  18. ↑ "Language is a Virus from Outer Space | Southbank Centre". Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  19. ↑ "Doctors of Madness, 11 October 2014". Flickr. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  20. ↑ Goggins, Ernie (12 October 2014). "27 Leggies: Cultural Overload". 27leggies.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  21. ↑ "Stoner". The Times. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  22. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness 2017" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. ↑ "Review of 'Perfect Past: the Complete Doctors of Madness.' Goldmine, May 2017: Dave Thompson" . Retrieved 7 February 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.