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Big Flame were a post punk/Indie rock three piece band, based in Manchester, England and active from 1983 to 1986. The members were Alan Brown, Greg Keeffe (guitar) and Dil Green (drums). After a debut single (Sink) on their own Laughing Gun label, they joined the Ron Johnson roster for a series of mid-eighties singles as well as an appearance on the NME's C86 compilation.
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. Despite a variety of long-term and recurring band members, singer David Thomas is the only constant. They released their debut album The Modern Dance in 1978 and followed with several more LPs before disbanding in 1982. Thomas reformed the group in 1987, continuing to record and tour.
Miracle Legion is an American college rock band formed in 1983 in New Haven, Connecticut. They earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region, but also in the UK, where they were feted by music media such as NME and Melody Maker.
The Wolfhounds are an English indie pop/noise pop band formed in Romford, Essex in 1985 by Dave Callahan, Paul Clark, Andy Golding, Andy Bolton and Frank Stebbing, and originally active until 1990. The band reformed in 2005 and continues to write, record and play live, releasing new albums in 2014 and 2016.
Shelleyan Orphan were a British alternative music group that peaked during the 1980s and early 1990s.
McCarthy were a British indie pop band, formed in Barking, Greater London, England in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden and Tim Gane with John Williamson and Gary Baker (drums). Lætitia Sadier later joined the band on vocals for their final studio album.
Stump were an Anglo-Irish indie/experimental/rock group featuring former Microdisney members Mick Lynch (vocals) and Rob McKahey (drums), along with Kev Hopper (bass) and Chris Salmon (guitar). They formed in London in 1983. The original vocalist was Nick Hobbs, who left early on to form The Shrubs.
A Witness are an English post-punk/indie rock band, who were originally active in the mid-1980s alternative music scene. Their first EP Loudhailer Songs and début album I am John's Pancreas brought them to the attention of BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel, for whom they recorded four sessions. Their career was brought to a halt with the death of guitarist Rick Aitken in 1989. Founder member and songwriter Vince Hunt revived the band with a new line-up for a series of UK-wide dates in 2014 marking the 25th anniversary of Aitken's death, and the band continues to play live.
The Creepers were an English rock music group, formed in Manchester in 1982, originally as Marc Riley and the Creepers. After being dismissed from The Fall by Mark E. Smith, Marc Riley formed his own record label (In-Tape) with Jim Khambatta, and his own band. The first single "Favourite Sister" was followed up with "Jumper Clown", which poked fun at his previous band's singer. A Peel Session was the source of the next release in 1984, with a compilation of these early releases, Cull, following the same year. First album proper, Gross Out, appeared in June 1984. 1985 saw the release of second album Fancy Meeting God as well as a swansong live album Warts 'n' All towards the end of the year.
Age of Chance were a British alternative rock-dance crossover band from Leeds, England active from 1983 to 1991. They were perhaps most known for their mutant metallic cover of Prince's "Kiss" which topped the UK Indie Chart in 1986, and peaked at No. 50 in the UK Singles Chart in January the following year. Despite signing for major label Virgin, and being favourites with the UK music press, they never enjoyed a major hit in the UK, although "Don't Get Mad… Get Even" reached No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart.
Ron Johnson Records was a UK independent record label based in Long Eaton operating between 1983 and 1988. The label contributed five tracks to the NME's C86 compilation. Run by Dave Parsons, the label released records by artists such as Big Flame, The Shrubs, A Witness, The Great Leap Forward, Stump, The Mackenzies, Twang and The Ex. Despite the press attention and critical acclaim for the label's bands and releases, sales were insufficient to make the label profitable and financial difficulties brought it to an end in 1988.
The Mackenzies were an indie band from Glasgow active around 1986/87, releasing two singles of jagged indie-funk on Ron Johnson Records and contributing the track Big Jim to the NME's C86 compilation. They also recorded two sessions for John Peel, the first of which was repeated seven times, such was Peel's high regard for it. When the band split up, the drummer Paul Turnbull resurfaced in The Secret Goldfish.
That's All Very Well But... is a best of compilation of the band McCarthy.
King of the Slums are a British alternative rock band. Formed in Greater Manchester in the mid-1980s, the band specialised in a kind of electric violin and guitar-driven rock music, and released their debut single in 1986. Whilst the band earned some critical acclaim from the UK music press, commercial success eluded them and the group disbanded in the early 1990s following the release of their second studio album, Blowzy Weirdos (1991). An album of new material plus some older songs appeared in 2009 credited to both King of the Slums and Slum Cathedral User, which was the original name of the group. Two more albums followed, Manco Diablo (2017) and Artgod Dogs (2018).
Bob were an indie pop band from North London, England, formed in 1985.
The Siddeleys were a London-based indie pop band, active during the late 1980s. Although they were relatively short-lived, they were influential.
Twang were an indie band from Manchester/Preston, England, signed to Ron Johnson Records. Their first release was a flexi-disc, "What's The Rub" in 1985 distributed with Debris magazine. Debut single proper, "Sharp" was released on the Stet label, and later released by Ron Johnson, reaching number 19 on the UK Indie Chart in 1986. This was followed by "Kick and Complain", which reached number 35. A final 12-inch release, "Snap Back", was issued late in 1987. The band were bracketed with other indie acts as part of the 'shambling' genre. However the band and similar hard edged label mates Big Flame and The MacKenzies somewhat disliked what they saw as lazy journalism.
Kev Hopper is an English bass guitarist.
Sudden Sway were a pop group from Peterborough, England, formed in 1980. They recorded two sessions for John Peel and released three albums before splitting up in the early 1990s.
The Noseflutes were an unorthodox, late-eighties band based in Birmingham. They released three EPs and three albums, recorded four sessions for Radio 1's John Peel, and received generally favourable reviews from the contemporary music press. Their second album, Zib Zob and His Kib Kob, made The People newspaper's list of The 101 Most Awful Album Titles of All Time. During their existence they became "the house band for Birmingham".
References
- 1 2 3 4 Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 503
- 1 2 3 4 Robb, John (2009) "The Shrubs", in Death to Trad Rock, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 978-1-901447-36-1, p. 273-8
- ↑ The Shrubs at the BBC's Keeping it Peel site
