On THE PORLOCK FACTOR: Psych Dreams and Other Schemes 1985-1990
The nucleus of the original band– Dan, Rob and Charlie– reconvened in the summer of 1985. Unfinished business. Work to be done. Legacy's to be undermined. Baggage to be discarded. Punk's year zero ethos had proved untenable. Everyone had moved on. As Mark E. Smith said in only slightly different circumstances, "are you still doing what you?did two years ago? Well don't make a career out of it." No danger of that. Although geographically dispersed, Dan in Bristol, Rob in Brigstock, Northants, Charlie in London, there was common purpose, uniformity of intent. Charlie was a part-owner/shareholder of Cold Storage Studios in Brixton and the majority of the tracks here were recorded in down time in SW9. On select evenings we'd be sneaking in on the night shift as assorted ex-members of Henry Cow, Quiet Sun, et al were coming out. Robert Wyatt was recording Old Rotting Hat there at the same time. We'd nod and touch forelocks to our spiritual forefathers and go in and make neo-psych pop funk that nobody wanted to release. We carried on regardless. Long nights on the nightshift. Sometimes augmented. Sometimes just the three of us. Sometimes inspired. Sometimes dispirited. Tap tapping away at the 88 pre-sets on the latest piece of state-of-the-art synthware from Crapatronics of Tokyo. Deeming them all useless except for the settings for Sitar, Cello, and Harpsichord. As you will hear.[continue reading]
see also:
the Pop Group
Maximum Joy
Transmitters
GLAXO PRESS. "The Glaxo Babies were a post-punk band based in Bristol, England. The foursome was initially vocalist Rob Chapman, guitarist/vocalist Dan Catsis (ex-Pop Group), drummer Geoff Aslopp, and bassist Tom Nichols. They released the This Is Your Life EP in 1979; by the time of the Christine Keeler single months later, a few changes to the lineup were made. Most significantly, Charles Llewelyn took over for Aslopp on drums and Tony Wrafter (another ex-Pop Group member) added saxophone. Chapmen then left, and the remaining members recorded the entirety of 1980's Nine Months to the Disco, their debut LP for Heartbeat, within the span of a single day. For the following Limited Entertainment EP (also released in 1980), the Glaxo Babies temporarily hooked up with the Y label. And finally, Put Me on the Guest List, yet another 1980 release, collected demos of the band's Chapman era. They apparently broke up at some point after its release; Catsis and Wrafter became part of Maximum Joy; Chapman became the singer for the Transmitters." [Andy Kellman, All Music Guide]
"After making its debut with four Wire-y/Pere Ubuesque jagged pop songs on the 12-inch This Is Your Life, Bristol's Glaxo Babies went through some personnel changes and veered off in a Residential direction. The resulting album uses all manner of noises to intrigue, confound, aggravate and entertain. Except for three song-like tracks that actually resemble rock music, Nine Minutes to the Disco consists mainly of formless sonic experiments, piling up seemingly unrelated sounds into an electronic jungle full of disjointed voices. Somehow, there's a pleasing quality to these random adventures into low-budget ambient insanity. The second longplayer, a rarities compilation which overlaps the EP, consists of pre-Nine Months recordings. There's a lot of variety ? from disarmingly fragile pop to lightweight Public Image meanderings with glimpses of Pere Ubu, Modern Lovers, Television and even the Cramps filling the spaces in between. As musical sketches for a group in progress, the tracks offer an interesting pastiche; taken as a proper album, what it lacks in consistency it makes up in unpredictability." [Ira Robbins, Trouser Press]
"At the end of the ..70s the Glaxo Babies, together with Rip, Rig + Panic, The Pop Group and Pigbag, were one of the most significant bands in Bristol. As Gerard Langley from the Blue Aeroplanes recalls: ..I think the key to the whole set-up at the time is comprehending the importance of the Glaxo Babies. The Glaxo Babies.. performance at the 1978 Ashton Court Festival has lived long in many people..s memory. The intensity! The dyed-blond hair! The guitar played with a vibrator! Subsequent journalistic takes have seen The Pop Group placed at the centre of that era but I remember it differently. For me, the Glaxos were the cornerstone of the whole Bristol scene. Both sophisticated and primitive, they were basically pre post-punk punk. The Gang Of Four didn..t come as the shock of the new round here, mate. I had read that Iggy Pop cut himself with a glass, but it was different seeing Rob Chapman do it immediately in front of you at the Stonehouse pub. They were real, man, and I loved them......until, that is, reality caught up with them in 1981 when the pharmaceutical company Glaxo forced them to part with their name. Which they did, and re-formed as Maximum Joy." [Crippled Dick Hot Wax records]
"Taking their inspiration from the likes of William Burroughs, Captain Beefheart, and Krautrock, it wasn't long before [Glaxo Babies] were in the vanguard of the new Bristol music scene. They sat along side Wire and the Gang of Four .. nobody else sounded anything like them, songs like "Who Killed Bruce Lee?", "This is your Life", and the legendary "Christine Keeler". John Peel quickly got hooked offering sessions and a even rare chance to play at one of his much lamented road shows. Within a few gigs they were supporting The Only Ones, Adam and the Ants and the Cure. Those who experienced the savage intensity of their live performances, saw Dan Catsis playing guitar with a vibrator and Rob Chapman cutting himself with a glass....a hard act to follow. They released two albums on the Bristol based Heartbeat Records, both which made the Top 20 of the Independent charts in 1980. They were pre punk, post-punk, and not punk - Listening to bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Kaiser Chiefs? take note, we've heard it all before .. 27 years ago." [Darla Records]
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