Steve Garvey | |
---|---|
Birth name | Stephen Garvey |
Born | Manchester, England | 8 January 1958
Genres | Punk rock, new wave, post-punk |
Occupation(s) | Musician, record producer, impresario, carpenter |
Instrument | Bass guitar |
Years active | 1977–1992 |
Labels | United Artists Records, Virgin Records, New Hope Sound & Vision |
Website |
Stephen Garvey (born 8 January 1958) [1] [2] is an English musician who is known for being the bass guitarist of the punk band Buzzcocks, forming part of the classic line-up of the group, from 1977 to 1981, and, again, from 1989 to 1992.
Garvey was born in Manchester, England. After working in a petrol station, [3] he joined Buzzcocks as bass guitarist in late 1977, replacing erstwhile bassist Garth Smith shortly after the release of the Orgasm Addict single. He was with Buzzcocks for their first three albums: Another Music in a Different Kitchen , Love Bites and A Different Kind of Tension , and his work features on the majority of the compilation Singles Going Steady . The group disbanded in 1981.
From 1978 to 1980, in parallel with Buzzcocks, he was a member of The Teardrops, which was mostly his school band, along with The Fall's Karl Burns, Martin Bramah and Tony Friel, who released two EPs in 1978, In and out of Fashion and Leave Me No Choice, and a 7" single in 1979, Seeing Double, as well as an album called Final Vinyl in 1980. [4] [5] Shortly after the release of the album, it seems the band changed their name to Bok Bok, and consisted of Garvey, Burns and a singer and guitarist called Dave Price. They then released a 7" single, Come Back To Me backed with "Misfit", which made single of the week in the Record Mirror. [6] [7]
After Buzzcocks split up in 1981, he continued working with his ex-Buzzcocks bandmates; with lead vocalist and guitarist Pete Shelley on his Homosapien album; [8] and with guitarist Steve Diggle, on the 50 Years of Comparative Wealth EP (1981). [9]
By 1981, he formed a band called Motivation, along Dave Price (vocals), Dave Rowbotham (guitar) (previously in The Durutti Column, and then in The Mothmen) and Snuff (drums) (Later in Distant Cousins). [10] [11] This band was forced to change their name to Shy Talk and was signed to Columbia Records in the U.S. releasing one album, but by this time Garvey was no longer involved "they turned us into a Duran Duran clone, I rejected what it became" he was quoted as saying, although he is thanked in the album credits.[ citation needed ]
During his last years living in England, he joined post-punk band Blue Orchids, playing bass while they were playing alongside Velvet Underground's Nico. [12]
He produced power pop band Private Sector's "Just Wanna Stay Free" single, in 1979, [13] and some works of Night Visitors at Graveyard Studios, in Prestwich. [14]
Buzzcocks reunited in 1989. However, Garvey left the band in 1992 due to health problems, one of them being a non-lethal cancerous tumor on his cheek.
Since around 1993, when he left Buzzcocks, he has lived in New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. [15] Previously, he was living in an apartment in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York. [16]
In the 2000s, he founded a label/production company called "New Hope Sound and Vision" and has produced several local acts notably James Seward (musician), Damn River, Inbred, Behn Wolfe, Less Pain Forever, Pete Chambers, as well as videos with his son Kyle.
In 2008, he was panelist of the Howl Festival Punk Panel, at Bowery Poetry Club, during the Howl Fest, in East Village, New York. Other panellists included Richard Lloyd (Television), Ari Up (Slits), Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), Judy Nylon (Snatch), Walter Lure (The Heartbreakers) and Arturo Vega ( designer of the Ramones logo). [17]
In 2012, he played with Buzzcocks at their "Back To Front" tour in Manchester 02 Academy on 25 May and London's O2 Academy Brixton the following day. These gigs consisted of three different line-ups of Buzzcocks.
His cousin is Tony McGuinness, the former bass player of Irish band Aslan. [18]
He is married to Debra, with whom he has two sons, Kyle (born c. 1990) and Ian (born c. 1987). [19]
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976.During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
Howard Devoto is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went solo and later formed indie band Luxuria.
Pete Shelley was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 when Devoto left. The group released their biggest hit "Ever Fallen in Love " in 1978. The band broke up in 1981 and reformed at the end of the decade. Shelley also had a solo career; his song "Homosapien" charted in Australasia and Canada in 1981 and 1982.
Penetration is a punk rock band from County Durham, England formed in 1976. They re-formed in 2001 with several new members. Their debut single, "Don't Dictate", is now acknowledged as a classic punk rock single and their debut album, Moving Targets (1978), is still widely admired.
Another Music in a Different Kitchen is the first studio album by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in March 1978 by the United Artists record label. This was the third line-up of Buzzcocks, with the guitarist Pete Shelley singing following the departure of the original vocalist Howard Devoto and then the firing of the bass guitarist Garth Smith. The album includes the single "I Don't Mind", which reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1978.
Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band recorded for Rough Trade and acted as backing band for the Velvet Underground's Nico before a 25-year period of intermittent activity and fluctuating line-ups.
Karl Burns is a British musician best known as the drummer for the Fall, featuring in many incarnations of the band between 1977 and 1998.
All Set is the fifth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After standardising their line-up of vocalists and guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker for the band's previous album Trade Test Transmissions (1993), the band's first record since their reunion in 1989, the band toured relentlessly which inspired the band–especially Shelley–to create a new album. Hiring longtime punk rock producer Neill King to produce and engineer All Set, the band recorded in Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, a studio where then-huge pop punk bands like Green Day, to whom Buzzcocks had been a big influence, had recently recorded music engineered by King.
Modern is the sixth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After the critical success of the band's previous album All Set (1996), the band became disillusioned with trying to be a rock band and set out to become more "modern," thus birthing the project. Recording the album in Chipping Barnet with the band's bassist Tony Barber producing, Modern sees a strong electronic music influence, with electronic instruments and drum machines featuring on the songs, especially those written by Steve Diggle, who wrote five of the album's songs whilst Pete Shelley wrote the other eight songs.
Stephen E Diggle is an English musician best known as a guitarist and later lead vocalist in the punk band Buzzcocks.
Love Bites is the second studio album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released on 22 September 1978, through United Artists Records.
A Different Kind of Tension is the third studio album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in September 1979 by record label United Artists.
Operators Manual: Buzzcocks Best is a compilation album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in 1991 by I.R.S. Records.
The Teardrops were an English punk/new wave band formed in Manchester, England, in 1978. The founders and always the core of this band were Trevor Wain, John Key and Jimmy Donnelly with various good friends from the Prestwich music scene:- Buzzcocks bassist Steve Garvey, members of The Fall; Martin Bramah, Karl Burns and Tony Friel and former member of V2 Ian Nance, as well as occasional contributions from Dave Brisbane, Helen Harbrook, Dave Price and Rick Goldstraw.
John Maher is a British musician who was part of the punk and new wave scenes in Manchester, England, most notably as the drummer with Buzzcocks.
In and Out of Fashion is the debut recording and the first EP and 12" single of new wave band the Teardrops, released by Bent Records, in 1978. The band was formed by then Buzzcocks bass guitarist Steve Garvey, among others. Shortly after the release of the EP, Karl Burns and Tony Friel, both from the Fall joined the band, until their disbanding in 1981.
Final Vinyl is the only album released by English new wave band the Teardrops. It was released in January 1980, shortly before the band dissolved.
Motivation was a short-lived band formed in Manchester, England by bassist and probably leader Steve Garvey, guitarist Dave Rowbotham, drummer Snuff and vocalist Dave Price. Garvey was a former Buzzcocks, Teardrops and Bok Bok member, while Rowbotham was previously in The Durutti Column and then in The Mothmen.
The Best of Steve Diggle and Flag of Convenience – The Secret Public Years 1981–1989 is a CD compilation of Buzzcocks' Steve Diggle's first solo days and his subsequent band, Flag of Convenience, which compiles his post-Buzzcocks songs from 1981 to 1989, during the years Buzzcocks remained disbanded. It was released in 1994 in the UK on Anagram Records.
50 Years of Comparative Wealth E.P. was a 1981 7-inch EP released by Steve Diggle of Buzzcocks. This was his first disc released in his solo career and without Buzzcocks, who by those days were disbanding. Shortly afterwards Garvey dedicated to his proper projects, with his band Motivation, while Diggle and Maher formed punk band Flag of Convenience, but Maher also left Diggle after some releases.
At the time of his illness, Garvey was working with a band from Bucks County called Brother Eye, and he became intrigued by the area on his trips down from New York. Itching to get his family out of their cramped Greenwich Village apartment, he convinced Debra to take the trip down to Bucks and she fell for the tranquility and the space