 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2013) |
Medium Medium | |
|---|---|
 Medium Medium in 2004 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Nottingham, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1978–1983, 2004– |
| Labels | Cherry Red Records |
| Members | John Rees Lewis Alan Turton Andy Ryder Steve Harvey |
| Past members | Nigel Stone Graham Spink Leslie Joachim Barrett Julie Wood |
| Website | http://www.mediummedium.com |
Medium Medium was a post-punk band from Nottingham, England, initially active between 1978 and 1983.
Emerging in 1978 out of the Nottingham punk/rhythm & blues band The Press, [1] Medium Medium's first single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in 1980 to appear in the UK Independent Chart. [2] [3] The second single, "Hungry, So Angry", was released in February 1981 on Cherry Red Records. One of the first records to introduce slap bass - a technique borrowed from black funk music - to a generally white audience, "Hungry, So Angry" reached #48 in the Billboard Disco chart - the single and the album were released in 1981 on the New York-based indie label Cachalot Records - and has appeared on over a dozen compilations over the years.
The band released one studio album, The Glitterhouse, in late 1981. Its stark, stripped-down dub and dance rhythms and chiming, funk guitar with occasional saxophone and other sounds, failed to attract a large following.
John Rees Lewis, the lead singer and saxophone player, left at the start of 1982 to form C Cat Trance with the original drummer Nigel Stone, who had left shortly before the release of "Hungry, So Angry". The remaining members, Andy Ryder (guitar/vocals), Alan Turton (bass guitar), Graham Spink (offstage special sounds) and the replacement drummer Steve Harvey, continued to tour and were later augmented by, first, Leslie Joachim Barrett (guitar/keyboards), then Julie Wood (keyboards). Forays into a fuller, more produced sound failed to earn the band a new record deal and Medium Medium split up in late 1983.
Inspired by a Cherry Red retrospective CD release in 2001 and the subsequent dance-punk revival, Medium Medium reformed in late 2004 for several live shows, including a showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York. No longer a full-time venture, the band has stated plans to continue to write, record and perform.
In 2010, Medium Medium released a split-LP with Kommissar Hjuler on the German label Der Schoene-Hjuler-Memorial-Fond, containing tracks from their concert at Part Time Punks Festival USA, followed by a second split-LP in 2011.
The band's "The Glitterhouse" was reissued in expanded form as a triple vinyl edition in 2016 by Optic Nerve Recordings.
Nightingales are a British post-punk/alternative rock band, formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England, by four members of Birmingham's punk group The Prefects. They had been part of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour', recorded a couple of Peel Sessions, released a 45 on Rough Trade and, years after splitting up, had a retrospective CD released by US indie label Acute Records.
The Partisans are a Welsh punk rock band formed in Bridgend, South Wales, in early 1978, when all four members were in their early teens. They continued until 1984, having several hits on the UK Indie Chart. The band re-formed in the late 1990s.
Girls at Our Best! were an English post-punk band, founded in Leeds, England in 1979 under the name The Butterflies. They had several UK Independent Singles Chart hits during their three-year existence.
Sad Lovers and Giants are an English rock band from Watford, Hertfordshire, England, which formed in 1980. Their sound blends post-punk, atmospheric keyboards and psychedelia.
The Nihilist Spasm Band (NSB) is a Canadian noise band formed in 1965 in London, Ontario. The band was founded by Hugh McIntyre, John Clement, John Boyle, Bill Exley, Murray Favro, Archie Leitch, Art Pratten, and Greg Curnoe. Leitch has since retired, Curnoe was killed in a bicycle accident in 1992, and McIntyre died of heart failure in 2004. The band members are mostly local artists. They were one of the artists named on the Nurse with Wound list. They have also been cited as an influence on Sonic Youth, Negativland and Einstürzende Neubauten.
Eyeless In Gaza is an English musical duo of Martyn Bates and Peter Becker, based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. They have described their music as "veer[ing] crazily from filmic ambiance to rock and pop, industrial funk to avant-folk styles." Formed in 1980, the group went into hiatus in 1987, re-emerging in 1993.
The Business were an English punk band formed in 1979 in Lewisham, South London, England. The band lasted for four decades until their frontman Micky Fitz died from cancer in December 2016.
Patrik Fitzgerald is an English singer-songwriter and an originator of folk punk. The son of working-class Irish immigrant parents, he began recording and performing during the punk rock movement in 1977, after working briefly as an actor.
Artery are a British post-punk band from Sheffield, that was founded in 1978. They were commonly known and often confused as 'The'. In 1985, they split up after several changes in the line-up and the release of a total of four albums. They reformed in 2007 after being invited by Jarvis Cocker to perform at the Meltdown Festival.
Chron Gen are a British punk band, formed in January 1978 in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England.
Yeah Yeah Noh are an "unpop" group formed in Leicester, England in 1983. Originally a product of the DIY post-punk era, their sound was labelled 'Calor-gas psychedelia' by Mojo magazine in 2012. They released two albums and five singles while still together in the 1980s, and have had two compilation albums issued since they initially split up in 1986.
Chaos UK is an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They emerged as part of the anarcho-punk scene, developing a fast and aggressive hardcore punk style. The band recorded two EPs and a full LP for Riot City Records. In the process, they, along with fellow Bristolians Disorder and Stoke's Discharge, revolutionized the hardcore punk scene. In particular, the Japanese '80s hardcore punk bands were heavily influenced by Chaos UK and Disorder's brutal take on punk. Chaos UK's debut LP was notable in the fact that the band's label claimed it was the "fastest, noisiest LP in the cosmos" in the short-lived "Punk Lives" magazine. Vocal duties on this recording were also handled by bassist Chaos.
The Fits were a punk rock band from Blackpool, Lancashire, England, who were active between 1979 and 1985, having several hits on the UK Indie Chart. They reformed in 2011.
The Outcasts are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 1977.
Recreational Records was a British record label set up in 1981 by the Bristol record shop and distributor Revolver Records. Originally formed as an independent record label with its own distribution as part of the Cartel.
Red Alert are аn English punk/oi!-band, formed in Sunderland, England, in May 1979. The group released five EPs and a studio album, and appeared on numerous compilations, including Punk And Disorderly and Carry On Oi!. Three of the band's releases reached the Top 30 in the UK Indie Chart. Red Alert broke up in 1984, reformed five years later and continued touring and recording.
C Cat Trance were a post-punk band from Nottingham, England, formed by John Rees Lewis after his departure from Medium Medium. They released five albums before splitting up in the mid-1990s.
Family Fodder is an English post-punk group revolving around songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer/producer, and guitarist/keyboard player Alig Fodder. Formed in London in the 1970s, it has had a sporadic existence ever since, disbanding in the 1980s then reforming. NME described their song "Dinosaur Sex" as a "forgotten post-punk classic".
The Glitterhouse is the sole studio album by English post-punk band Medium Medium, released in 1981 by record label Cherry Red. "Hungry So Angry" was released as a single.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
