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Toxik Ephex is a Scottish anarcho-punk band, who was first formed in 1979 as The Abductors by founding member Fred "Inspector Blake" Wilkinson. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Abductors were formed by Gary 'Wee Eck' Dawson on vocals, Keith Thomson on drums, Steve 'Stepe' Dempster on bass and Fred 'Inspector Blake' Wilkinson on guitar. Members came and went, such as Jimmy Sim on Drums and 'Trouper' on bass. By September 1980, the band's noxious reputation, combined with tragic, unconnected events elsewhere in Aberdeen, precipitated a change of name. Blakey found the name in a medical book whilst working as a pharmacy technician.
Toxik's first recording was a live recording made at the 62 Club in Aberdeen. They cut the track "Police Brutality" to tape which was later included on the compilation record Bullshit Detector Vol.2 on Crass Records. [5]
The line up changed again in 1982 with Mikey "Gloo Pimp" Smith joining on bass guitar and "Chiz the Whizz" joining on drums. In September 1985, Dod Copland replaced Dawson on vocals with Frank Benzie joining on guitar soon after, thus forming the classic (and most familiar) Toxik Ephex line-up.
In 1987, the band recorded their first single, "Punk As Fuck", at Pier House studios in Edinburgh, after the recommendation from fellow punk rockers Oi Polloi. Wilkinson started his own record label Green Vomit Records to distribute the record. [5] The first press, released with hand made covers sold out very quickly, and a repress was made with properly printed covers.
In 1988, the band joined forces with Oi Polloi to release a split album. [5] Toxik's side (titled Mad as Fuck) started with their punk rock take of "Wild Side of Life".
In 1989, they released another split record, this time with Welsh punk band Shrapnel. A full-length release followed in 1991, funded by 1-up Records from Aberdeen. The full length would be their "final epitaph" as the band would split up soon after with the members going in different directions.
Toxik's sound is unique and has inspired many other Scottish punk bands such as Ex-Cathedra. Wilkinson is interested and involved in folk music, and Copland (an accomplished piper in his own right) often started gigs playing his bagpipes which won over the crowds in Europe. This fusion of Scottish folk and bagpipes combined with punk can now be heard in various bands such as Dropkick Murphys and The Real McKenzies. Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys rates Toxik Ephex as the best ever Scottish punk band.[ citation needed ]
The band reformed originally in 1999 with Frank Benzie being replaced on guitar. The band embarked on a mini tour on Scotland with The Men They Couldn't Hang as well as returning to their second home, Shetland. This reformation soon fizzled out with Wilkinson leaving. A completely new line-up was put together with only Copland, Chiz and Benzie remaining from the earlier line-up. This incarnation played their comeback gig with the Dead Kennedys in Aberdeen. The band soon split again, but were to reform with Wilkinson and Smith again for their 25th anniversary. The band now regularly host one-off gigs.
In 2006, Runnin Feart fanzine released Toxik Ephex's first new recording in over 15 years, the 7" single "Civilised". Topplers Records from Scotland have gone on to reissue most of their back catalogue, with plans afoot to re-released everything on a double CD set.
Chumbawamba were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", "Enough Is Enough", "Timebomb", "Top of the World ", and "Add Me". The band drew on genres such as punk rock, pop, and folk. Their anarcho-communist political leanings led them to have an irreverent attitude toward authority, and to espouse a variety of political and social causes including animal rights and pacifism and later regarding class struggle, Marxism, feminism, gay liberation, pop culture, and anti-fascism.
Bullshit Detector was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their Crass Records label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band. The sound quality of the Bullshit Detector series was mixed, and was often very basic or poor as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point of the DIY punk ethic:
Oi Polloi are a punk rock band from Scotland that formed around 1981. Starting as an Oi! band, they are now generally more associated with the anarcho-punk genre. The band has become notable for their contributions to the Scottish Gaelic punk subgenre. The name comes from the Greek expression "οἱ πολλοί", Anglicized hoi polloi, meaning "the masses" or "the common people".
Anthrax are an English anarcho-punk band formed in Gravesend, Kent, England, in 1980. They recorded their first demo in 1981 and went on to release two 7" EPs on Crass Records and Small Wonder Records. They appeared on compilations released by Crass Records, Mortarhate Records and Fightback Records. They toured outside the UK twice in the Netherlands with Dutch band The Ex.
The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981, and their debut EP, Army Life, and debut album, Punks Not Dead, were both released that year. The band maintained a large cult following in the 1980s among a hardcore working class punk and skinhead audience. Originally a street punk band, the Exploited eventually became a crossover thrash band with the release of their album Death Before Dishonour in 1987.
Zounds are an English anarcho punk/post-punk band from Reading, Berkshire, England, formed in 1977. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the Fuck Off Records label, and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene. The name of the band is derived from the old English minced oath "zounds", a contraction of "God's wounds", referring to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, formerly used as a mildly blasphemous oath.
Kronstadt Uprising were an anarcho-punk band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK during the 1980s.
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Toxic Waste was an anarcho-punk band from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The Bus Station Loonies are a British cabaret punk band from Plymouth, England. They have been described as a cross between Splodgenessabounds and Crass. Original Loonies Tony Popkids (drums) and Chris "Felcher" Wheelchair, sharing a mutual love of such U.S. punk outfits such as The Dickies, still continue with the band today, having recruited approximately 30 other band members over 18 years.
Special Duties are a British punk rock band from Colchester, Essex.
Scottish Gaelic punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which bands sing some or all of their music in Scottish Gaelic. The Gaelic punk scene is, in part, an affirmation of the value of minority languages and cultures. Gaelic punk bands express political views, particularly those related to anarchism and environmentalism.
Mill a h-Uile Rud is a Seattle-based band who sing in Scottish Gaelic.
Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, advocating direct action, animal rights, feminism, anti-fascism, and environmentalism. The band used and advocated a DIY ethic approach to its albums, sound collages, leaflets, and films.
Omnicide.... is an anarcho-punk 7-inch EP, by the band Oi Polloi. It was released in 1991 by Words of Warning Records. The initial run of the record sold out and was never re-released. It has been commented by the band that they were not happy with the way this record turned out, which led to the re-recording of "Victims of a Gas Attack", and the tracks "Dealer in Death" and "Die for B.P." being rewritten as "John Major, Fuck You!" and "Let the Boots Do the Talking" respectively. These tracks can also be found on the "Six of the Best" compilation CD.
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Icon A.D. were an English anarcho-punk band formed in Leeds in 1979. They were included on Crass' 1980 compilation album Bullshit Detector and in 1982 recorded a Peel session for BBC Radio 1. Their debut EP Don't Feed Us Shit reach number twenty on the UK Independent chart. Steve Lamacq cited their second EP Let The Vultures Fly... as one his favourite U.K. punk records of all time.
