Henry Badowski | |
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Born | [ citation needed ] North Kensington, Greater London, United Kingdom | 3 October 1958
Genres | Punk rock, new wave |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, flute, bass, saxophone, keyboards |
Years active | 1977–1981 |
Labels | Deptford Fun City, A&M, I.R.S. |
Henry Badowski (born 3 October 1958)[ citation needed ] is a British multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer, who was a member of several punk rock bands in the 1970s before embarking on a solo career.
Badowski's apprenticeship started in several UK bands including Norman Hounds and the Baskervilles, Lick It Dry and the New Rockets. [1] Badowski joined his friend, guitarist James Stevenson, in Gene October's Chelsea as bassist in March 1977 despite having "barely picked up a bass guitar in [his] life". [2] [3] He moved on to play Vox Continental organ in Wreckless Eric's band, before forming the band King as vocalist and keyboard player along with Captain Sensible, who described Badowski as "a genius". [2] [4]
Badowski was invited by Sensible to join a short-lived incarnation of The Damned to replace Lemmy, at which time they went by the name The Doomed. [2] [5] He then drummed for Mark Perry's post-Alternative TV band The Good Missionaries, playing on the Fire From Heaven album in 1979, and also got some studio time to work on his first solo release, the "Baby Sign Here With Me/Making Love with My Wife" single, released by Deptford Fun City Records, one of Miles Copeland III's labels, and packaged in a gold foil sleeve. [2] [6] He also served as drummer with the Good Missionaries, an experimental band created by Mark Perry from Alternative TV.
Badowski's solo career began in the summer of 1979, with the release of "Making Love with My Wife" on Deptford Fun City label. Recorded at Pathway Studios, the track was performed completely by Badowski and displayed a strong 1960s influence, with airs of Syd Barrett and Kevin Ayers. The B-side "Baby Sign Here With Me", utilized the talents of James Stevenson (bass/guitar) from Chelsea, Alex Kolkowski (violin) and Dave Berk (drums), both from the Johnny Moped Band. He signed to A&M Records/I.R.S. Records for subsequent solo releases, including the album Life is a Grand... , from which the singles "My Face" and "Henry's in Love" were drawn. Badowski played most of the instruments on the album himself, but with contributions from Stevenson, violinist Aleksander Kolkowski, and drummer Dave Berk (of Johnny Moped). [6] Although the album met with a favourable response from critics, it proved to be his final solo release. [2]
The Damned are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977) and tour the United States. Nine of the band's singles charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.
Squeeze are an English rock band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the new wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. In the UK, their singles "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction", and "Labelled with Love" were top-ten chart hits. Though not as commercially successful in the United States, Squeeze had American hits with "Tempted", "Black Coffee in Bed", and "Hourglass", and were considered a part of the Second British Invasion.
Alternative TV are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules".
The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman, guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro, bassist Dave Schulthise and drummer Dean Sabatino.
Raymond Ian Burns, known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded the punk rock band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is known for his distinctive appearance including a red beret and sunglasses, typically with white frames. Sensible embarked on a solo career during the 1980s, achieving a UK number one hit with his version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Happy Talk" (1982) and further hits with "Wot" (1982) and "Glad It's All Over" (1984). In 2006, Sensible founded the Blah! Party. He continues to perform in the Damned.
I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave and alternative rock artists, including R.E.M., The Go-Go's, Wall of Voodoo, and Fine Young Cannibals. Currently the label is distributed by parent company Universal Music Group.
Illegal Records was an independent record label, founded in 1977 by Miles Copeland III with his younger brother Stewart Copeland and the manager of The Police, Paul Mulligan. The label released The Police's debut single, "Fall Out".
Machine Gun Etiquette is the third studio album by English punk rock band the Damned, released on 2 November 1979 by Chiswick Records.
Mark Perry is a British writer and musician, and former fanzine publisher.
Tenpole Tudor are an English punk band fronted by Edward Tudor-Pole. The band first came to prominence when Tudor-Pole appeared in the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and on three of the singles released from the soundtrack. The band then went on to have hits in their own right with songs like "Swords of a Thousand Men" and "Wünderbar". The band has been active intermittently since 1977. During 2017 whilst working and recording new versions of his old songs in Norway, Tenpole formed a Norwegian based incarnation known as the 'Tenpole Tudor Vikings' who performed two UK shows, at London's 100 club, and Milton Keynes Crawford Arms. Due to distance and travel logistics, The Vikings were short lived. Meanwhile back in England in 2020 the time felt right to put together a UK based band again to tour. The line-up consisted of husband and wife teams Chris Sutton on guitar and Juliette on keyboards, Nigel Marshall on bass and wife Jenny on backing vocal, and long time friend and collaborator Dave Twigg on drums. With a diary of dates quickly filling up, the band succumbed to the COVID outbreak. During the nation's lockdown, Ed began writing his biography due for publication in 2023. In 2022, Ed made a number of solo appearances throughout the UK at the 'Lets Rock' retro festivals.
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.
Miles Axe Copeland III is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of the Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing R.E.M., the Bangles, Berlin, the Cramps, Dead Kennedys, the Alarm, the Go-Go's, and others.
Suburban Lawns were an American post-punk band formed in Long Beach, California in 1978 by CalArts students William "Vex Billingsgate" Ranson and Sue "Su Tissue" McLane. They later recruited Richard "Frankie Ennui" Whitney, Charles "Chuck Roast" Rodriguez, and John "John Gleur" McBurney.
James Stevenson is an English punk/alternative rock guitarist, at one time a member of the Alarm, Gene Loves Jezebel, Gen X, the Cult, Holy Holy, the International Swingers and Chelsea.
Chelsea are an English punk rock band which formed in 1976. Three of the four original band members went on to found Generation X.
Life Is a Grand... is the only full-length release from multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer Henry Badowski.
Aleksander Kolkowski is a British musician and composer whose work combines instruments and machines from the pioneering era of sound recording and reproduction to make live mechanical-acoustic music. He lives and works in London, England.
Johnny Moped was an English punk rock group formed in South London in the mid-1970s, who once had Chrissie Hynde and Captain Sensible as members.
The Flys were a British punk rock band that originally formed in 1976 in Coventry, England. After the self-release of their initial EP, Bunch of Fives, they were signed by EMI Records. With EMI they released the albums Waikiki Beach Refugees and Own. In 1980 they changed labels to Parlophone but soon disbanded.