I, Ludicrous was formed in South London in 1985 by John Procter and David Rippingale ("Will Hung"). The band was influenced by punk poets such as John Cooper Clarke. The band sprang to notoriety at the end of 1987, when their debut flexi release ("Preposterous Tales") reached Number 11 in John Peel's Festive Fifty. After four albums I, Ludicrous quit in 1992 for some ten years. In 2003 they made a comeback with the album The Museum Of Installation.
I, Ludicrous are still producing music today, and play occasional live dates, primarily in London. The band members say they are "the second best band around, bettered only by The Fall".
This London anarcho-punk band was formed by pseudonymous sextet Julie Sorrell aka Miss K. Penfold (vocals), The Hon, Ruthless Savage, El Janetti Ravioli, Hasta Paul Centipede, Com. Mitch Jail Bate (aka Veg) and Mr. Chris Engelbert Funkadink. Funny? Maybe. It all started in the toilets of the Wapping Anarchy Centre, established by the efforts of seminal anarchist bands Crass and Poison Girls.
Hagar the Womb only produced two EP's. The first 'Word of the womb' in '84, the second 'Funnery in a nunnery' a year later. The bands line-up fluctuated regularly as did the band names. In 1987 four of the six original band members resurfaced under the name We Are Going To Eat You. In the four year of their existence they recorded two 12", a single and the album Everywhen. Although there was some serious major label interest, the band didn't manage to sign any 'big' deal.
They later changed their name to Melt, releasing a sole EP before splitting up.
Ex-Harvard student Dean Wareham started Galaxie 500 in the mid-80's along with Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang. The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York and they met producer Mark Kramer (ex-Butthole Surfers). First album was Today in 1987. The second album was On Fire (1989), a great piece of work which could be described as 'lo-fi psychedelia reminiscent of Jonathan Richman being backed by The Velvet Underground'. The band gained many fans in the UK.
The band split up in the spring of 1991 after a third album, This Is Our Music. Maybe they called it quits because this album failed to cut much critical ice. Wareham started solo projects like Luna and Cagney & Lacee, while Krukowski and Yang kept working together as Damon & Naomi and later on as Magic Hour.
Trivia: Some famous guests played on the Luna album Bewitched: Sterling Morrison (Velvet Underground) and Tom Verlaine (Television).
Band: Fad Gadget
Genre: avant-garde, electro, new wave
Fad Gadget was Irish born Frank Tovey. His music was an example for new wave and early industrial music. The music of Fad Gadget was characterized by a distinctive use of synthesizers in conjunction with sounds of found objects, including drills and electric razors. The lyrics were sarcastic and darkly humorous. His performances were extravagant, explicit and remarkable (he was known for plucking his pubic hair on stage!).
Fad Gadget was the first act to sign to Mute Records, releasing a debut single in 1979: Back to nature and debut album Firesite favourites in 1980.
Tovey recorded two more albums for Mute Records. After that he decided to go to Berlin to produce Gag (1984). would be the first time he used a band of musicians to record an album.
Gag was Tovey's last album as Fad Gadget. He began recording several LPs of more experimental work under his own name.
In 2001, Tovey made a comeback as Fad Gadget and supported his former colleagues and Mute label-mates, Depeche Mode, on their Exciter tour.
Tovey, who suffered from heart problems since his childhood, died of a heart attack on 3 April 2002 at the age of only 45.
Earl Brutus was a four piece band formed in 1993 by a.o. Nick Sanderson (ex-Clock DVA, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Gun Club, World of Twist) and Jamie Fry (brother of ABC's Martin Fry). Musically Earl Brutus was an effective combination of Killing Joke and The Fall, but they were also influenced by UK glam rock and electronica. The live gigs were visually entertaining and they received a good press. But the band failed to gain commercial success. They recorded only 2 albums: Your Majesty… We Are Here (1996) and Tonight You Are The Special One (1998). We are still wondering why this band didn't make it...
Sadly, Sanderson died on 9 June 2008 of lung cancer at the age of 47. The other band members reformed as The Pre New.
Band: D.A.F.
Genre: Neue Deutsche Welle/Electro punk
D.A.F. is short for Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft. This German Neue Deutsche Welle/ electro punk band was formed in 1978 by Robert Görl in Düsseldorf. D.A.F. was influenced by bands such as Suicide, Can and Kraftwerk.
The first albums featured thrashed guitars, electronic screeching, hammered drums and a screaming band member Gabriel "Gabi" Delgado-López. Later on the sound was more minimalistic.
The most famous song of D.A.F. is Der Mussolini (1981). Lyrics: "Dance the Mussolini, move your behind, clap your hands, and now the Adolf Hitler, and now the Jesus Christ"
In interviews they claimed to not target anything or anyone specific while creating lyrics to be taken as a parody of words and phrases floating around in the public media.
The band split up in 1982 and reformed in 2003. This year they released Du Bist DAF.
D.A.F. was an important band for the indie scene. Legendary radio DJ John Peel even called them the Grandfathers of Techno.
Band: Cabaret Voltaire
Genre: electro, avant-garde, punk
One of the most important bands in the indie scene is Cabaret Voltaire. This outfit from Sheffield, England was formed in 1972 by Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson. The band was named after the Parisian Dadaist performances of pre-20's France.
Their earliest performances were dada-influenced performance art. On a debut gig in 1975 they only used a backing tape of a steamhammer. The crowd was not amused. But Cabaret Voltaire later developed into one of the most prolific and important groups to blend pop with dance music, techno, dub, house and experimental electronic music.
In 1978 it was one of the first bands to sign to new label Rough Trade. A classic song is Nag Nag Nag (1979), a fusion of electro and punk. Mix-Up (October 1979) was their debut album. The band successfully toured in Europe, Japan and America.
Commercial success however came after Watson had left the band in 1983. Mallinder & Kirk decided to turn in a more commercial direction, with the more dancefloor friendly album The Crackdown. After that they released a series of lesser mid-80's albums. Both Kirk and Mallinder worked on solo projects.
But the late 80's house scene saw Cabaret Voltaire as an important band. It resulted in a rebirth of the band with remixes and stuff and also a comeback album: Groovy, Laidback and Nasty. Watch the very commercial song Keep on below! The last official album was The Conversation (1994).
American all girl punk rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987 by Kat Bjelland (lead vocals and guitar), Lori Barbero (drums) and Michelle Leon (bass), who was later replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992. Fontanelle ('92) was their most succesfull album, produced by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. After that Kat Bjelland started the band Crunt. The band returned in 1995 with the disappointing album Nemesisters, including covers of We are family and All by myself. Then Bjelland again had formed a new band: Katastrophy Wife. Babes in Toyland were history after a last gig in 2001.
Trivia: Courtney Love was member of the band for a very short while in 1987 as a bass player.
The kick off of the Punk & Indie Files of course starts with A. The band A to be precise. Great name, but you might have some problems googling this band. A is a band from Suffolk, England, that was formed in 1993 bij Jason Perry (vocals), his brothers Giles and Adam and Mark Chapman and Stevie Swindon. They have released four albums, and two live mini-albums.
The outfit is influenced by for instance Green Day and Jane's Addiction. They formed their own Tycoon label which was adopted by London records. Debut single was Five in the morning (1996). They reached the UK charts with a few songs like Foghorn (98), Nothing (2002) and Starbucks (top 20 hit in UK).
A is still touring sporadically. Jason Perry is also known als producer for acts like McFly and Kids in Glass Houses.
