The Bolshoi were a London-based music group prominent mostly in the mid-late 1980s. They managed to stand out in the sea of post-punk UK acts vying for notability at the time.
The band formed in 1984 in Leeds. The original lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Nick Chown. (Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow.) Early gigs supported the likes of The Cult, The March Violets, and Lords of the New Church. In 1985, the band released their debut single, "Sob Story", followed by the mini-LP,
Giants. Word-of-mouth was such that the Bolshoi were able to sell out many of their early headlining performances.
The band migrated to London in 1985, and their lineup expanded to include keyboardist Paul Clark. In 1986, they released their first full-length LP, Friends, and expanded their touring schedule to to US, South America, and Poland. Friends was followed in 1987 by the album Lindy's Party, on which the sound was more pop-oriented.
Stylistically, the Bolshoi were difficult to categorize. They have been described as a proto-goth band, similar in their live act to fellow Beggar's Banquet
signees, Bauhaus. Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness.
After the release of Lindy's Party, the band recorded a fourth album, but problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded as the 1980s drew to a close. The unreleased fourth album, apparently titled Country Life, is reportedly still in the vaults at Beggar's Banquet.
Kite
Following the break-up of The Bolshoi, Trevor Tanner went on to form the band Kite in 1992. For two years the band, made up of Trevor (guitar, vocals), Then Jericho's Jasper Stainthorpe (bass) and Ian Whitehead (drums), toured around London and worked on a full-length album, which was never released.
Trevor Tanner - Solo
In the late 1990s, Trevor was still making music and planning the release of some new material. Two new tracks were included in the Beggar's Banquet "Best of..." release "A Way", but fans had to wait until 2004 for the release of the three cd box set "Bullish, Bellyache & Belch" -- so named because those were words suggested by a dictionary when "Bolshoi" came up as a misspelled word.
In 2008, Trevor released
"Eaten By The Sea"
his follow-up to "BB&B." For more information, check out Trevor's MySpace!
Rathkeltair
In addition to his solo work, Trevor has been playing in the Celtic rock band Rathkeltair, which released its second CD, the highly acclaimed "Everybody" in 2006. Trevor was also the winner of "Best Celtic Rock Singer" and Rathkeltair as "Best Celtic Rock Band" in 2006 of the 2nd Annual Celtic Music Awards. Summer of 2008 brought us the highly anticipated follow-up CD "Big White Van". Rathkeltair is currently touring extensively, and more info about the band can be found on its MySpace. Trevor also was a member of the band Celtic Soul, along with Rathkeltair's Nick Watson.
