The Bandits

Last updated

The Bandits
Origin Liverpool, England
Genres Alternative rock
Years active2001–2004
LabelsCentro Del Blanco, B-Unique
Past membersJohn Robinson
Gary Murphy
Scott Dulson
Tony Dunn
Neil Crosby
Dave Sweeney
Ritchie Taylor

The Bandits were an English blues rock band from Liverpool. They are most notable for the singles "Take it and Run" and "2 Step Rock", which both reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles Chart. [1]

Contents

History

The band's first appeared on the Honey Records' 2001 "Beatin Planks" compilation album, which featured early versions of two songs: "Take It An Run" and "Free Me Rain". [2] The line up at the time consisted of John, Gary, Scott and Tony, with Neil Crosbie on drums. Scott Dulson and Tony Dunne had previously been in Tramp Attack with future Zutons frontman Dave McCabe. [3] The band then brought in Swee on drums, and throughout 2002 auditioned for a lead guitarist and recruited Ritchie, who lived in Wallasey at the time.

The Bandits signed a record deal with Warners and released a succession of singles throughout 2002 and 2003, before releasing their only album 'And They Walked Away'.

The Bandits also ran their own club night in Liverpool, The Bandwagon, which became relatively popular and helped launched the careers of The Coral, The Zutons, The Hokum Clones, The Stands, Tramp Attack and the band themselves. [4] The club night was known for its wild west style posters and stickers, designed by Scott. Bandwagon nights, usually held at The Zanzibar Club on Seel Street often sold out, and featured some of the days' most prominent bands, including The Libertines and others.

Following months of rumours, the band's split was confirmed in July 2004, with rhythm guitarist Gary stating "I really do believe that we'll record something again in the future. We're all just doing different things at the moment". [5]

Post-split

John Robinson, Gary Murphy and Scott Dulson played a handful of gigs, doing reggae covers as The Bum Notes with Nick Miniski (ex-The La's, later of Free Peace) on drums. Robinson, Dulson and Miniski then went on to form The Pedantics with Stu Gimblett (also later of Free Peace with Edgar Jones and Miniski) [6] Tony Dunne went on to play a few gigs with The Sweetcorns, he later rejoined Tramp Attack in 2007 following a break from performing.

John Robinson co-wrote and played on the song "I Am the Rain" from Pete Doherty's solo album Grace/Wastelands (2008) and Robinson and Murphy joined Doherty on stage during his solo tour in 2008-9, most notably during Doherty's Glastonbury festival slot.

Gary Murphy went on to work at Starwood Management (home to The Kooks and The Ordinary Boys and run by former Mansun and Cast manager Rob Swerdlow), [7] and was involved in the early career of Candie Payne. [8] In 2011, Gary Murphy played a series of stripped back shows with Lee Mavers of The La's, with Murphy accompanying on bass. Murphy now manages Liverpool groups The Stamp & Queen Zee and The Sasstones

During John Robinson's solo acoustic show in Liverpool in March 2014 at The Baltic Social, he was joined by guitarist Gary Murphy to perform 'Take It and Run' and '2 Step Rock' accompanied by Pedantics drummer Nick Miniski.

Members

Discography

Albums

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positions
UK [9]
2002"The Warning"-
"Once upon a Time"-
2003"Take It and Run"32
"2 Step Rock"35

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Robinson (singer)</span> American musician

Christopher Mark Robinson is an American musician. He founded the rock band The Black Crowes, then known as Mr. Crowe's Garden, with his brother Rich Robinson in 1984. Chris is the lead singer of The Black Crowes, and he and his brother are the only continuous members of the Crowes. He was the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, which toured and recorded from 2011 through 2019. The band broke up after the death of guitarist, Neal Casal, and the Crowes’ return from hiatus, respectively. Robinson is noted for his high tenor vocal range and bluesy vocal runs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Level 42</span> English jazz-funk band

Level 42 are an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Moore</span> Northern Irish musician (1952–2011)

Robert William Gary Moore was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal and jazz fusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Green (musician)</span> English singer-songwriter and guitarist (1946–2020)

Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 after a stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and quickly established the new band as a popular live act in addition to a successful recording act, before departing in 1970. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi " and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The La's</span> English rock band

The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1983 and Mavers joined the next year, although for most of the group's history, the frequently changing line-up revolved around the core duo of Lee Mavers and John Power along with numerous other guitarists and drummers including Paul Hemmings, John "Timmo" Timson, Peter "Cammy" Cammell, Iain Templeton, John "Boo" Byrne, Chris Sharrock, and Neil Mavers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cast (band)</span> English rock band, Liverpool

Cast is an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split. Following early line-ups with different guitarists and drummers, Liam "Skin" Tyson (guitar) and Keith O'Neill (drums) joined Cast in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clem Burke</span> American musician (born 1954)

Clement Burke is an American musician who is best known as the drummer for the band Blondie from 1975, shortly after the band formed, throughout the band's entire career. He also played drums for the Ramones for a brief time in 1987, under the name Elvis Ramone.

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

The Zutons are an English indie rock band, formed in 2001 in Liverpool. The band are currently composed of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dave McCabe, drummer Sean Payne, and saxophonist Abi Harding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Gary Beers</span> Australian musician

Garry William Beers, known as Garry Gary Beers, is an Australian musician and was the bass guitarist for the rock group INXS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly Hatchet</span> American Southern rock band

Molly Hatchet is an American rock band formed by guitarist Dave Hlubek in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1971. They experienced popularity and commercial success during the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s amongst southern rock and hard rock communities and listeners. The band released six studio albums on Epic Records between 1978 and 1984, including the platinum-selling hit records Molly Hatchet (1978), Flirtin' with Disaster (1979), and Beatin' the Odds (1980). They also had charting singles on the US Billboard charts, including "Flirtin' with Disaster", "The Rambler", "Bloody Reunion" and "Satisfied Man". Molly Hatchet has released many more studio albums since their split with Epic Records in 1985, although none have been as successful as their early albums, nor have charted in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Mavers</span> Musical artist

Lee Anthony Mavers is an English musician. Mavers was the songwriter, singer and rhythm guitarist in The La's and is best known for the song "There She Goes" from October 1988.

The Stands were an English alternative rock band, formed in 2002 in Liverpool. The band was composed of singer-songwriter Howie Payne, guitarist Luke Thomson, bassist Dean Ravera and drummer Steve Pilgrim.

<i>Who Killed the Zutons?</i> 2004 studio album by the Zutons

Who Killed...... The Zutons? is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Zutons, released via Deltasonic on 19 April 2004. The album's last known sales are that of 581,088 as of July 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tramp Attack</span> English rock band

Tramp Attack are an English rock band from Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candie Payne</span> English singer and songwriter

Candice "Candie" Payne is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, I Wish I Could Have Loved You More, on Deltasonic in May 2007. She is the sister of singer/songwriter Howie Payne, former frontman of band the Stands, and Sean Payne, the drummer of the Zutons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Jones (musician)</span> Musical artist

Edgar William Jones, also known as Edgar Summertyme, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Jones was originally the bass player and singer-songwriter for the Stairs and has since formed and fronted the Isrites, The Big Kids, Edgar Jones & the Joneses and Free Peace. He has also played as a session musician for several artists including Ian McCulloch, Paul Weller, Saint Etienne and Ocean Colour Scene.

The Bandwagon was a club night held on the first Saturday of every month at the Zanzibar club on Seel Street, Liverpool from 2001 to 2005. The Bandwagon night was run by John Robinson and Gary Murphy, members of the now defunct Liverpool band the Bandits.

<i>You Can Do Anything</i> 2008 studio album by the Zutons

You Can Do Anything is the third studio album by English rock band the Zutons. It was produced by Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with producer George Drakoulias and was released on Monday 2 June 2008 in the United Kingdom. You Can Do Anything was released after the departure of original lead guitarist Boyan Chowdhury, and is the first album to feature the band's new lead guitarist Paul Molloy.

The Troubadours are an English rock band comprising members from Liverpool, Runcorn and Wigan. The band was originally formed by Mark Frith and Johnny Molyneux in 2005, and they split in late 2009 but reformed in late 2011. Their debut single, "Gimme Love" was released in 2007, and reached Number 20 on the Radio 1 Indie Chart in November. Their second single, "(I'm Not) Superstitious" was released in June 2008 reaching Number 8 in the UK Indie Singles Chart. Their album The Troubadours was never released in the UK but was successful in Japan securing a top ten chart placing and single "Gimme Love" spent three months on top of the MTV Japan video chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Lewis (musician)</span> Musician from Liverpool

James "Jay" Lewis is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Huyton, Liverpool. He is best known as the frontman of Liverpool band Cracatilla and current guitarist with the Zutons also bassist for the band Cast, and as lead guitarist during comeback shows for seminal Liverpool group The La's.

References

  1. "Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  2. "HR009 Beatin Planks - An Acoustic Compilation Album, MonthlyMusic.com UK store presents Fender Footwear, Fender Clothing & Timberland Footwear". Monthlymusic.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  3. "Old Fashioned Tramp Attack | Gratis muziek, tourneedata, foto's, video's". Myspace.com. 21 September 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  4. "Bandits On The Run | News". Nme.Com. 14 August 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  5. "Time Up For The Bandits | News". Nme.Com. 8 July 2004. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  6. Archived 10 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Go beyond Go Create's Blog". Gobeyondgocreate.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  8. Archived 11 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. 1 2 "Chart Log UK: Darren B - David Byrne". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 2 May 2012.