The Chesterfields

Last updated
The Chesterfields
OriginYeovil, Somerset
GenresIndependent rock, indie pop
MembersSimon Barber, Andy Strickland, Helen Stickland, Rob Parry
Past membersDave Goldsworthy, Richard Chant, Mark Barber, Dominic Manns, Brendan Holden, Rodney Allen

The Chesterfields are an English indie pop band from Yeovil, Somerset, England. Hardcore fans tended to refer to them as "The Chesterf!elds", with an exclamation mark replacing the "i", following the example of the band's logo.

Contents

The band was formed in summer 1984 by Dave Goldsworthy (vocals, guitar), Simon Barber (bass, vocals), and Dominic Manns (drums), joined in 1985 by Brendan Holden (guitar). [1] Early recordings included contributions to the Golden Pathway tapes, that captured the West Country music scene of the time, such as "Stephanie Adores" and "The Boy Who Sold His Suitcase", the latter with a female lead singer, Sarah.

The first vinyl release was as one half of a flexi disc; "Nose out of Joint" shared a single side with The Shop Assistants' "Home Again", and was given away free with copies of London's Legend fanzine and future Subway Organisation boss, Martin Whitehead's own Bristol fanzine.

They signed to The Subway Organization, releasing three well-received singles, before Holden was replaced by Rodney Allen. The debut LP Kettle was released in July 1987, with a compilation of the early singles, Westward Ho! issued later the same year. Allen left to join The Blue Aeroplanes, to be replaced temporarily by Andy Strickland of The Loft/The Caretaker Race, before a more permanent replacement was found in the form of Simon Barber's brother Mark. [2]

The band then moved to their own Household label, issuing two more singles and a third album, Crocodile Tears. Manns left and was replaced by future PJ Harvey drummer Rob Ellis but when Goldsworthy departed in late 1988 the band effectively split. The Barber brothers continued as The Chesterfields for a final single, "Fool Is The Man" in 1989.

The band split - seemingly for good in the summer of 1989, Simon Barber forming Basinger, and Mark Barber formed Grape. Goldsworthy fronted several more bands, including Fürnt, Diceman and Mujer21. The Chesterfields reformed briefly in the 1990s to tour Japan after their material was re-issued there. Dave Goldsworthy (Davy Chesterfield) was killed by a hit & run driver in Oxford, UK, on 9 November 2003. [3]

The band's continuing fanbase saw much of their back-catalogue re-issued by Vinyl Japan in the 1990s.

In June 2014, to celebrate the legendary NME C86 tape, Design (fronted by Barber) along with Andy Strickland of The Loft/The Caretaker Race played a set of songs by The Chesterfields at the 92 Club in London. [4] Following the success of The Chesterfields set at the NME C86 gig, Design continued to play classic Chesterfields songs such as "Johnny Dee", "Lunchtime for the Wild Youth" and "Last Train to Yeovil" throughout 2014 and 2015.

The Chesterfields were announced as playing the NYC Popfest in New York, from 19–22 May 2016 to coincide with a new EP release. In 2019, The Chesterfields with their new line up of Simon Barber, Andy Strickland, Helen Stickland and Rob Parry, played a UK tour including The 100 Club in London. In summer of 2021 the band recorded a new album co-produced with Ben Turner and John Parish (PJ Harvey). The album was released by Mr Mellow's Music on 23 September 2022 and preceded by two singles - 'Our Songbird Has Gone' and 'Mr Wilson Goes To Norway'. The band set out on a short UK tour in October 2022.

Discography

Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart. [5]

Albums

Singles

Related Research Articles

Orange Juice were a Scottish jangle pop band founded in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. They became Orange Juice in 1979, and took inspiration by contemporary punk bands including Subway Sect, Television, and Buzzcocks but also 1960s acts, most notably the Byrds and the Velvet Underground. Musically, the band brought together styles and genres that often appeared incongruous, for example, country, disco and punk.

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

The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scene in Glasgow. The group have had a number of members, but currently consists of Stephen McRobbie, Katrina Mitchell, Tom Crossley, John Hogarty, Alison Mitchell and Suse Bear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indie pop</span> Genre of alternative pop music

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snuff (British band)</span> British punk rock band

Snuff are a British punk rock band formed in Hendon in 1986. The original line-up was Duncan Redmonds on drums and vocals, Simon Wells on guitar and vocals and Andy Crighton on bass, with Dave Redmonds being added to the line-up on trombone before the release of Flibbiddydibbiddydob.

14 Iced Bears are a British indie pop band associated with the C86 music scene. Formed in Brighton in 1985, by Robert Sekula and Nick Emery the band featured a shifting line-up of musicians across their seven-year existence, centred on songwriter and vocalist Rob Sekula and guitarist/songwriter Kevin Canham. Their jangly indie pop was characterised by a fuzzy protopunk-influenced guitar sound, and saw them receive modest critical acclaim in Britain's music press as well as prompting disc jockey John Peel to recruit them to record a couple of sessions for his programme on BBC radio. The group released a handful of singles, including "Come Get Me" on the influential Sarah label, and two full-length albums: the eponymous 14 Iced Bears (1988), and Wonder (1991).

Fat Tulips were an indie pop band from Nottingham, England, who released one album, on the Vinyl Japan label, and over 10 singles on the band's own Heaven Records and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hit Parade (group)</span>

The Hit Parade is a music group from London that has released eight LPs and fourteen 7" vinyl records. The group has been described as "the very definition of twee Eighties style indie".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Po!</span>

Po! are an indie rock band formed in Leicester, England in 1987, with releases dating up to 1998 on Rutland Records, Sunday Records in the US and Elefant Records in Spain.

Razorcuts were an indie pop band formed in 1984 in London. The group centred on Gregory Webster and Tim Vass, with various musicians including Peter Momtchiloff of Heavenly and Talulah Gosh, Angus Stevenson, and New Zealand drummer David Swift. Early releases on the Subway Organisation label, including the debut "Big Pink Cake", led to a deal with Creation Records, for whom they released two albums.

Mighty Mighty are a British indie band formed in Birmingham, England, in the mid-1980s.

The Waltones were a British indie band from Manchester, England, who re-formed in September 2017.

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

The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb, Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums). Critchley soon left, with Robb and Tilton taking on vocals, and Kelly moving to keyboards, with "Coofy Sid" (Coulthart) taking over on drums.

Velvet Crush is an American power pop band from Providence, Rhode Island, United States, that achieved prominence in indie-rock circles in the early- and mid-1990s. The band broke up in 1996 but re-formed in 1998 and have continued to record, releasing their most recent album in 2004. Vocalist/bassist Paul Chastain and drummer Ric Menck are the band's core members, having previously worked together as Choo Choo Train, Bag-O-Shells, and The Springfields, and they share singing and songwriting duties. Guitarist Jeffrey Underhill played on the band's first three albums, In the Presence of Greatness, Teenage Symphonies to God, and Heavy Changes. In the Presence of Greatness was produced by Matthew Sweet, while the second and third albums were produced by Mitch Easter.

BOB were an indie pop band from North London, England, formed in 1986.

The Sea Urchins were an indie pop band from West Bromwich, England formed in 1986. They were the first band to release a single on Sarah Records.

Formed in the mid-1980s by two brothers, Martin and Paul Kelly, East Village were an indie pop band from Princes Risborough, England.

<i>CD86</i> (album) 2006 compilation album

CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop is a compilation album of artists from the original C86 era, released in 2006 by Sanctuary Records. It is compiled by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne.

The Subway Organization was a British independent record label founded in 1985 in Bristol by Martin Whitehead.

<i>C86</i> 1986 compilation album by various artists

C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. In its time, it became a pejorative term for its associations with so-called "shambling" and underachievement. The C86 scene is now recognized as a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK, as was recognized in the subtitle of the compilation's 2006 CD issue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop. In 2014, the original compilation was reissued in a 3CD expanded edition from Cherry Red Records; the 2014 box-set came with an 11,500-word book of sleevenotes by one of the tape's original curators, former NME journalist Neil Taylor.

References

  1. ↑ Larkin, Colin: The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music, 1992, Guinness, p. 58, ISBN   0-85112-579-4
  2. ↑ Strong, Martin C.: The Great Alternative & Indie Discography, 1999, Canongate, ISBN   0-86241-913-1
  3. ↑ "No solution to death mystery". Oxford Mail . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  4. ↑ "C86 launch gig with Wedding Present, Membranes A Witness and others : live review". Louderthanwar.com. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. Cherry Red Books. ISBN   0-9517206-9-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.