The Steppes (band)

Last updated
The Steppes
Genres neo-psychedelic rock band
Member ofJohn
David Fallon
Eddie Gryzb

The Steppes were an Irish American guitar based neo-psychedelic rock band that emerged in the mid-1980s.

Contents

History

In late 1982 singer-songwriter brothers John and David Fallon got together with Eddie Gryzb and recorded (and self-released 200 copies of) a five-track 7-inch EP under the moniker 'The Blue Macs.' They mailed the bulk of the pressed EPs to record labels and magazines, and were quickly featured in Melody Maker in March 1983 with a positive review of said EP, noting their evident influences: ..."think of Weller, think of Dylan, Think of Lennon..." [1]

In 1983 the band expanded the lineup to four members (adding guitarist Tim Gilman and replacing drummer Eddie Gryzb with Dante), changed its name to The Steppes, and demoed songs that would be released as a self-titled debut album on Mystic Records in 1984. The record found its way onto college radio in the US and imported copies spread throughout Europe.

The next few years saw The Steppes playing several shows in southern California, as well as demoing many songs with their new drummer Jim Bailey. The band then signed to Greg Shaw's Voxx label who would put out several of the band's records, starting with 1986s 'Drop of The Creature,' recorded in west LA. The album received critical acclaim and includes fan favorites such as "A Play on Wordsworth" and "Holding Up Well."

The band began to be occasionally miscategorized as being part of the Paisley Underground neo-psychedelic revival, apparently because during this period they sometimes performed with some of those L.A.-based bands.

1988 saw the band release the album 'Stewdio', which was produced by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. They embarked on their first tour of Europe which was lauded as a success with stops in Greece having 1,000+ people in attendance. [2] In November '88 they began work on their next album 'Enquire Within.'

Recorded over a four-week period at Goldust Studios in Bromley, UK, 'Enquire,' is the band's third release on Voxx records and saw a progression in the sound of The Steppes as well as an increase in press exposure, with the then-new Q Magazine calling the record "a strange, but rather fascinating brew." Released in 1989, the album includes fan favorites such as "Master James" and "In Your Prime." [3] By 1990 The Steppes were residing in different parts of the world(USA, Germany, Ireland) but still managed to record what many regard as their career defining album, "Harps & Hammers." Like the albums preceding it, "Harps" accumulated expanded positive press and continued to finely hone the band's developing sound. [4] Soon after the release of "Harps & Hammers" the band dissolved. This has been historically attributed to complications involved with getting the band all on the same continent. [5] A live album 'Alive Alive, Oh' was released posthumously on Voxx records in 1991.

In September 1991 John Fallon recorded a solo album in London. It was released in 1992 by Voxx records, initially being credited to The Steppes, erroneously. It was eventually re-released with proper crediting going to John Fallon.

Each of the respective band members remain largely inactive musically, although Delerium Records owned by Richard Allen (who also managed the band from 1989 - 1991) persuaded the Steppes to reconvene in June 1995 and write and record a new one-off studio album, 'Gods, Men and Ghosts.' The album was produced and recorded in Milwaukee by John Frankovic of the band Plasticland and released by Delerium in 1997. A rarities album was also released on Delerium in 1997 along with sonically improved CD editions of 'Drop Of The Creature' and 'Stewdio'(also including the band's first EP).

In 2011 John Fallon re-activated his musical career by recording and releasing a 7-inch single on vinyl, "Picture Yourself Today" backed with "Theme For Steve McQueen," as well as returning to performing live.

Legacy and Recent News

2013 saw the release of a two-disc compendium by Cherry Red Records spanning the entire recorded output of The Steppes from 1983 to 1997. Entitled 'Green Velvet Electric' the set includes 41 songs and was released on October 28 in the UK and November 5 in the U.S.A. In 2016 the Italian label Teen Sound Records reissued The Steppes' "Drop Of The Creature" in a gatefold vinyl edition with two bonus cuts, liner notes, lyrics and unseen pictures of the band [6]

Musical Style/Influences

The Steppes' influences include: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Kinks, Bob Dylan, The Byrds, Neil Young, Donovan, Chicago Chess Records blues, Vivaldi, Handel, Irish folk music, and loads more. [7]

Discography

Studio Releases

Live Releases

Compilation Releases

Primary Band Members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siouxsie and the Banshees</span> British rock band

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delerium</span> Canadian band

Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a broad range, including dark ethereal ambient trance, voiceless industrial soundscapes, and electronic pop music. They are best known for their worldwide hit "Silence". The band is known to feature female guest vocalists on their albums since their 1994 album Semantic Spaces.

Ross Robinson is an American record producer who discovered acts such as Korn, Glassjaw, The Blood Brothers, Slipknot, and Limp Bizkit. Robinson has also worked with Tech N9ne, The Cure, Sepultura, and many others.

Pallas are a Scottish progressive rock band from Aberdeen. They were one of the bands at the vanguard of what was termed neo-prog during progressive rock's second-wave revival in the early 1980s. Other major UK acts included Marillion, IQ, Twelfth Night, Pendragon and Solstice.

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

The Creatures were an English band formed in 1981 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie of the group Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Creatures released their first EP Wild Things in 1981. They recorded four studio albums: Feast in 1983, Boomerang in 1989, Anima Animus in 1999 and Hái! in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slowdive</span> British shoegaze band

Slowdive are an English rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell, Neil Halstead, Christian Savill (guitars), Nick Chaplin (bass), and Simon Scott, all of whom played on the band's early records. Halstead is the band's primary songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Udo Dirkschneider</span> German heavy metal singer

Udo Dirkschneider is a German singer who first rose to fame with the heavy metal band Accept. After leaving the band in 1987, he formed the band U.D.O., in which he has also enjoyed commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Barbieri</span> English musician

Richard Barbieri is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan, more recently he is known as the keyboard player in the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, which he joined in 1993. Aside from the founder Steven Wilson, he is the longest tenured member of Porcupine Tree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pandoras</span> American female garage punk band

The Pandoras were an American all-female garage punk band from Los Angeles, California, active from 1982 to 1991. The band is among the first handful of all-female rock bands to ever be signed. From the beginning, the band found a strong following in the Hollywood garage rock and Paisley Underground scene, making the gossip pages almost weekly. The Pandoras enjoyed strong radio support from DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. The band graduated from the garage rock sound to a more contemporary, hard rock style in later years, spawning the off-shoot band The Muffs. The Pandoras founder/singer/guitarist/songwriter, Paula Pierce, died of a brain aneurysm on August 10, 1991, at the age of 31. The Muffs frontwoman/founder Kim Shattuck, who played bass in the Pandoras from 1985 to 1990, appeared as lead singer/guitarist of the reunited Pandoras until she died of complications from ALS on October 2, 2019, aged 56.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretty Maids</span> Danish hard rock band

Pretty Maids is a Danish hard rock/heavy metal band from Horsens. Formed in 1981 by Ken Hammer, and completed with Ronnie Atkins in 1982, their sound and music can be described as classic guitar-laden heavy rock with a strong emphasis on melody.

<i>Up the Downstair</i> 1993 studio album by Porcupine Tree

Up the Downstair is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in June 1993. It was originally intended to be a double album set including the song "Voyage 34", which was instead released as a single in 1992, and other material that ended up on the Staircase Infinities EP (1994). In 2005, it was partially re-recorded, fully re-mixed, remastered and re-released along with the Staircase Infinities EP as a double album. The re-release contains a re-mix by Steven Wilson incorporating newly recorded drums by Gavin Harrison that replace the electronic drums of the original version. Another re-release on double vinyl was pressed on 14 August 2008 on Kscope records. This is identical to the 2005 release, except it is printed on coloured vinyl and the Staircase Infinities disc contains the song "Phantoms".

The Barracudas are an English surf rock band formed in late 1978. The band's original line-up consisted of Jeremy Gluck (vocals), Robin Wills, Starkie Phillips and Adam Phillips (drums). Before the band recorded its first single, Starkie and Adam Phillips left the band.

<i>Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome</i> 1997 live album by Porcupine Tree

Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome or just Coma Divine, is a live album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in October 1997. It was expanded to a double album in 2003, adding the three tracks from the promotional single Coma Divine II (1999), and one more previously unreleased outtake. The expanded edition was also released on vinyl containing 3 LPs, plus a bonus 7 inch single with two demo versions of the song "Disappear" . The album was finally revamped in digipack through Snapper label in 2004.

Skyscraper were a British-based rock band active between 1992 and 1998. They released three singles on Food Records and two albums and one single on their own Dynosupreme Records, also touring the UK extensively and appearing on MTV and British national radio. The band were favourites of the UK rock press, with Metal Hammer magazine calling Skyscraper's 1995 album Superstate "... the best debut by far of any British rock band in recent years".

"Right Now" is an uptempo 1962 jazz/pop song with music by Herbie Mann and lyrics by Carl Sigman. As a jazz instrumental, it was the title track of Right Now, a 1962 bossa nova-style album by Mann. Later that same year, with lyrics by Sigman, the song was popularized by jazz singer Mel Tormé on his album Comin' Home Baby!, and was the B-side of the single featuring the title track.

<i>Feast</i> (The Creatures album) 1983 studio album by the Creatures

Feast is the debut studio album by British duo the Creatures, composed of Siouxsie Sioux and musician Budgie, then-members of the band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It reached No. 17 in the UK Albums Chart and the single "Miss the Girl" peaked at No. 21. With their first album, the band embraced exotica, including "waves crashing on beaches", "found-sound effects from nature" and local Hawaiian chanters. Critic Ned Raggett described it as "a lush, tropical experience".

<i>Drop Out with The Barracudas</i> 1981 studio album by The Barracudas

Drop Out with The Barracudas is the debut studio album by English rock band The Barracudas, released in 1981 by record label Zonophone. The US version released on Voxx Records with an alternative cover features a revised track listing, replacing "Campus Tramp" with "Surfers Are Back".

<i>1978–1990</i> (Go-Betweens album) 1990 compilation album by The Go-Betweens

1978–1990 is a 1990 compilation album by Australian band The Go-Betweens. The album draws together music spanning the band's career from their beginnings in Brisbane to their 1989 breakup, including singles, B-sides, songs recorded for broadcast and previously unreleased material.

<i>Moonloop</i> 1994 EP by Porcupine Tree

Moonloop is an EP released by British psychedelic rock and progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, prior to the release of their third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways. It was released on vinyl and CD in the UK by Delerium Records.

Jon & The Nightriders was an American instrumental surf music band known formed in Southern California in 1979. Fundamentally consisting of guitarist/songwriter John Blair, the band is credited for ushering in a renewed interest in the instrumental surf music genre, which had fallen out of popular favor since the popularity of The Beatles. The band name comes from a combination of the name of the Dick Dale song "Night Rider" and an alternate spelling of Blair's first name.

References

  1. ↑ Worrall, Frank (5 March 1983). "Playback". Melody Maker.
  2. ↑ Gluck, Jeremy (1 Aug 2013). "When Worlds Collude". Shindig! (34): 40.
  3. ↑ "The Steppes Discography". AllMusic . Retrieved 9 Feb 2014.
  4. ↑ Gluck, Jeremy (1 Aug 2013). "When Worlds Collude". Shindig! (34): 40.
  5. ↑ "This Week's Essential New Releases". The Sunday Times. 23 November 1997.
  6. ↑ Rathbone, Oregano. "Record Collector Magazine" . Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  7. ↑ Worrall, Frank (5 March 1983). "Playback". Melody Maker.
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.