Grebo (music)

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Grebo (or grebo rock) [1] was a short-lived subgenre of alternative rock [2] that incorporated influences from punk rock, electronic dance music, hip hop and psychedelia. The scene occupied the period in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the United Kingdom before the popularisation of Britpop and grunge. [3] The genre and its attributes were largely absorbed into industrial rock, which would emerge after the sub-genre's demise in the late 1980s, which then led to the development of industrial metal in the 1990s.

Contents

History and etymology

The word grebo was originally used as a slang term for bikers and rock music fans with long hair. [4] [5] The word was re-fashioned by the group Pop Will Eat Itself that represented a brand of United Kingdom subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, largely based in the English Midlands. [6] [7] [5] The scene particularly was centred on Birmingham. [8]

Influential bands in the scene were Pop Will Eat Itself (who had songs titled, "Oh Grebo I Think I Love You" [6] [9] and "Grebo Guru"), the Wonder Stuff, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, along with London band Carter USM and Leicester bands Crazyhead, the Bomb Party, the Hunters Club, Scum Pups and Gaye Bykers on Acid. [10] [11] The term has also been used to describe Jesus Jones, who enjoyed success in both the United Kingdom and the United States. [1] [12]

Although short-lived, the movement was a success and influenced several later bands. To a certain extent it was a music press invention, much like positive punk, a scene and style named by British indie magazines NME and the Melody Maker . [10] The music genre has declined rapidly since its popularity in the '90s, so the genre is only found in the underground scene.

Characteristics

Grebo bands drew influences from a diverse array of genres, including dance-rock, psychedelia, [13] pop, hip hop, [7] punk rock and electronica. [14] Pop Will Eat Itself adopted an industrial alternative rock style [15] that combined "heavy metal and hard rock guitar riffs, electro-dance rhythms, samples and rap vocals." [16] While Gaye Bykers on Acid's use of hip-hop and dance beats was considered as "a major innovation in mid-'80s alternative rock," [17] Ned's Atomic Dustbin focused on "the hyper punk aspect" of the movement, relying on "catchy hooks and a dual-bass sound." [18]

Grebo artists and fans sported long hair, dreadlocks and baggy shorts. [8] [13]

Related Research Articles

Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels, by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced.

Twee pop is a subgenre of indie pop that originates from the 1986 NME compilation C86. It is an offshoot of the Twee movement, characterized by its simplicity and perceived innocence, some of its defining features are boy–girl harmonies, catchy melodies, and lyrics about love. For many years, prominent independent record labels associated with twee pop were Sarah Records and K Records.

Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoegaze, another noise-based genre that developed in the 1980s, drew from noise pop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pop Will Eat Itself</span> English alternative rock band

Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorporate sample-driven indie and industrial rock. Graham Crabb describes their sound as "electronic, punk, alternative hip-hop, hybrid music for fucking, fighting & smoking cigars". Their highest-charting single was the 1993 top-ten hit "Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!". After initially disbanding in 1996, and having a brief reformation in 2005, they issued their first release in more than five years in 2010.

<i>God Fodder</i> 1991 studio album by Neds Atomic Dustbin

God Fodder is the debut studio album by English rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin, released on 1 April 1991 by Columbia Records. After creating their own imprint following the success of several prior independent singles, the band recorded the album from December 1990 to January 1991 in London. Musically, God Fodder takes large influence from grebo, shoegaze, noise pop, and dance music, characterized by noisy guitars, complex drum beats, and its usage of two bass players, with Matt Cheslin playing regular bass lines and Alex Griffin playing harmonic bass lines. Lyrically, the album features communal efforts written by all the band.

Indie pop is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and subsequently generated a thriving fanzine, label, and club and gig circuit. Compared to its counterpart, indie rock, the genre is more melodic, less abrasive, and relatively angst-free. In later years, the definition of indie pop has bifurcated to also mean bands from unrelated DIY scenes/movements with pop leanings. Subgenres include chamber pop and twee pop.

<i>Are You Normal?</i> 1992 studio album by Neds Atomic Dustbin

Are You Normal? is the second studio album by English rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin, released on 3 November 1992 by Columbia Records. It features the band's biggest American hit "Not Sleeping Around", which hit the top of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miles Hunt</span> Musical artist

Miles Stephen Hunt is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He fronts the alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff.

Gaye Bykers on Acid (GBOA) are an English psychedelic rock band from Leicester, and one of the founder members of the grebo music scene. They later released both thrash punk and dance music albums under various aliases.

Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop success but is typically explored within alternative rock scenes. It initially developed as an outgrowth of the British post-punk scene, where it was also known as acid punk. After post-punk, neo-psychedelia flourished into a more widespread and international movement of artists who applied the spirit of psychedelic rock to new sounds and techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crazyhead</span> English band

Crazyhead are an English garage punk band from Leicester, England. Though lumped in with the largely media-created grebo scene, they were more influenced by the garage rock of the late 1960s, as well as bands like the Ramones, The Stooges and Captain Beefheart. They have often described themselves as an "urban bastard blues band", and their songs range in theme from trenchant social commentary to the surreal, but always with an underlying vein of black humour.

Psychedelic music is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as 5-MeO-DMT, DMT, LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin mushrooms, to experience synesthesia and altered states of consciousness. Psychedelic music may also aim to enhance the experience of using these drugs and has been found to have a significant influence on psychedelic therapy.

Caligula are a band from Sydney, Australia, who produced electro rock music in the early 1990s. They're best known for their 1994 album, Rubenesque, which peaked at number 13 on the ARIA charts and became a household name with their hit version of Smokey Robinson’s Tears Of A Clown . They spent a big chunk of the 90’s touring with acts like Depeche Mode, Pop Will Eat Itself, Neds Atomic Dustbin, Ride, Headless Chickens and many more . The band reformed in 2017 and started recording and releasing new material in 2021. 3 new singles have been released to critical acclaim and the band has fast become a popular touring act again, sharing festival stages with the cream of the crop of success 90’s Aussie bands.

Soulscraper were an Australian alternative electronic-rock band based in Melbourne. The band formed circa 1991 by ex-members of an alternative / industrial influenced band called The Prostitutes.

<i>Brainbloodvolume</i> 1995 studio album by Neds Atomic Dustbin

Brainbloodvolume is the third and final album from English rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin with their original line-up. It was released in the United States on 21 March 1995 but did not appear in the United Kingdom until July of that year.

Ian Garfield Hoxley, known by his stage name Mary Byker is an English singer, record producer and DJ known for his work as the lead singer of Gaye Bykers on Acid, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pigface and Apollo 440.

<i>Drill Your Own Hole</i> 1987 studio album by Gaye Bykers on Acid

Drill Your Own Hole is the debut album by British grebo and psychedelic rock band Gaye Bykers on Acid, released in 1987 on Virgin Records, becoming their first release for the label after signing to them in late 1986. After building up momentum through a couple of EPs in 1986, the band recorded Drill Your Own Hole with producer Alex Fergusson, mostly in South London. Seven of the songs on the album were also featured in an accompanying film, also called Drill Your Own Hole, that the band released alongside the album. The film was a parody of themselves and the music industry.

Ben Harding is an English lead and rhythm guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from London, best known for performing in the punk/rock bands Senseless Things, 3 Colours Red and Thee Faction. Louder Than War called him "one of the UK's finest rock guitarists."

References

  1. 1 2 Kim, Jae-Ha (12 January 1992). "'Grebo rock,' as synthesized by Ned's Atomic Dustbin". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  2. ↑ Bernstein, Jonathan (2012). Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang. Canongate. ISBN   978-0857869456.
  3. ↑ Roach, Martin; Snowball, Ian; McKenna, Peter (2015). Tribe - A Personal History of British Subculture. John Blake. ISBN   978-1784188979.
  4. ↑ Warbrook, Colette (15 May 2015). "The Way We Were: Bikers met at the Windy Ridge Cafe in the 60s". The Sentinel.
  5. 1 2 Robb, John (2010). The Charlatans We Are Rock. Random House. ISBN   978-1409034391.
  6. 1 2 Rogers, Jude (25 February 2010). "From mod to emo: why pop tribes are still making a scene". The Guardian . Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  7. 1 2 Vladimir Bogdanov (editor), All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide To Electronic Music, page 404 (Backbeat Books, 2001). ISBN   0-87930-628-9. Quote: "Honing a fusion of rock, pop, and rap which they dubbed 'grebo', the Poppies kickstarted a small revolution."
  8. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (3 May 2002). "The way we listen now". The Guardian . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  9. ↑ Wuelfing, Howard Jr. (February 1988). "Pop Will Eat Itself - Now For a Feast!". Spin . 3 (9): 33.
  10. 1 2 Strong, Martin C. (1999). The Great Alternative & Indie Discography . Canongate. pp.  169, 711. ISBN   0-86241-913-1. Lumped in with the media created "Grebo" scene along with Pop Will Eat Itself, Gaye Bykers on Acid and the early Wonder Stuff, Crazyhead.../[Wonder Stuff] initially lumped in with contemporaries like Pop Will Eat Itself and Crazyhead under the music-press created 'grebo' banner/etc..
  11. ↑ Larkin, Colin (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music. Guinness Publishing. pp. 73–74. ISBN   0-85112-579-4. In common with Gaye Bikers on Acid (sic), Bomb Party, and Pop Will Eat Itself, [Crazyhead] were linked with the media-fuelled 'biker' or 'grebo' rock genre.
  12. ↑ Greene, Jo-Ann. "Jesus Jones - Live at the Marquee". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  13. 1 2 Modell, Josh (13 October 2014). "Dudes on 'ludes: 15 bands named after drugs that aren't weed". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh. "Ned's Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  15. ↑ McCormick, Neil (3 June 2011). "Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past by Simon Reynolds: review". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  16. ↑ Popson, Tom (29 September 1989). "Pwei: From Grebo Pop To Raucous Rock". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  17. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Gaye Bykers on Acid". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  18. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh. "Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Are You Normal?". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 April 2017.

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