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Punk/Mod/New Wave/Indie.......Easter ’92 - Brothers David and Colin Benmore decide to form a band. They enlist friends Pat Gallagher (lead vocals) and Mark Griffiths (bass) and the Technical Itch was born. June ’93 saw heir first gig in a pub in Burnley - a few months later a three track demo of original material was produced. 12th June ’94 - After taking a shine to the demo Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69 booked them to support him at The Mill in Preston. July ’94 - Jimmy Pursey invited the guys to his studio to record a new track ’Wigan To Brighton.’ This track was later to be Reproduced by Rex Seargent(producer of some of New Order’s tracks). September ’95 - A deal was struck with Detour records and ’Wigan To Brighton’ was released under the bands new name ’The Itch.’ It became radio 1’s John Peel favourite, so much so, he rang Dave the bands drummer to say how much he liked it. May ’97 sees the release of their debut album - Avenue Parade on Detour records. Friday 2nd January ’98 - The Itch headline at The 100 club, London and were joined on stage by Chris Pope(of The Chords, fame). Feb ’99 Chris Pope produced a couple of demo tracks for the band. The Itch did a remake of Secret Affair’s - Time for Action (with Ian Page ..boards and adding some vocals) and release it own their own record label ’Mod Inc’. April ’99 - Ian Page joins The Itch again for the launch of the single and performs Time for Action’ with them in front of a sell out crowd at Rishton, Lancs. 2000 - The Itch perform at Mods Mayday event in Clacton and at Isle of Wight scooter fesival. Singer Pat Gallagher decided to call it a day just over 4/5 years ago, and the band’s future hung in the balance. After and unsuccessful search for a replacement, bassist Mark Griffiths took on th extra duties, giving the outfit a new lease of life. Still popular on the live circuit the band returned to the studios earlier last year with Ian Page (of Secret Affair fame) assisting on production to record a new single ’Kiss You’ written by the band. With help from Phil Hendriks (The Stiffs) on production, 2 more tracks ’Upside Down,’ and ’Different Faces,’ have been added to a single entitled ’Still Scratchin’ OUT NOW..... 2006- The band, headlined at King Georges Hall, Blackburn to a 500 strong crowd. And had further dates with Casbah Club (suport band to The Who). Over the past few years The itch have supported the likes of:- Stiff Little Fingers afew times, Sham 69, Bad Manners, The Affair (ex-Secret Affair), Buzzcocks, Steve Diggle band(ex-Buzzcocks) and Edwin Starr to name a few
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Cast your minds back, oh dedicated mature reader, to the late seventies. Lady Thatcher was about to rise to power, nobody knew who Madonna was and Michael Jackson had an afro. Out of the ashes of so called rock and roll of the time, like Elton John and Simon and Garfunkle (i kid ye not, they were classed as rock and roll!) rose the phoenix of punk music. The look was defined. The hairstyles were rather large and pointy, the clothes were ripped and dirty and every face had more holes than a mistreated colander. If you're too young to remember the times, look up 'The Young Ones' on Youtube! You'll soon get the idea. Anyway, the music was fresh and new, injecting some much needed va va voom into the flailing British scene. Bands like The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones led the way for an army of under-appreciated teens who wanted to be heard.
And so punk music was born. The energy this created in the British youth made way for a reinvention of the pre-punk mod movement and the two genres fused together. Led by the likes of The Jam and The Chords, 'punk-mod' music was a widely loved genre, giving voice to the new generation. There were little rules to this new form of music, the bands having free roam of provoking lyrics and wailing guitar chord sequences. But to lable the music as uninventive and careless would be inaccurate. It's all well and good making a noise, but making a noise that people want to listen to is a whole different ball game.
And that's exactly what Accrington based band The itch do. They make music that lots of people want to listen to and have been doing since the early nineties. Founded by brothers David and Colin Benmore in 1992, The itch (or at that time Technical itch) aimed to fill the gap in the market that had been left gaping open when the music scene moved on into Brit-pop territory and everyone got caught up in Oasis and Blur. They enlisted Pat Gallagher and Mark Griffiths and started to write and perform locally. They recorded a few tracks which caught the attention of legendary Radio One presenter John Peel, prompting him to call David and express how fonf he was of their music. 1997 saw the release of their first album and after enjoying success on the mod festivals scene, vocalist Pat decided he was going to call it a day, leaving the future of the band hanging. They decided to continue as a trio with bassist Mark taking over lead vocals job and they have enjoyed great success ever since. They are one of the most well known names on the local scene, and they regularly support mainstream acts like The Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers and Bad Manners etc.
Although their music is based on a foundation which was typical of a certain period in time, it would be wrong to assume that the music is dated and stale. It is anything but. Their writing is fresh and innovative, manipulating the sound so that it is as relevant and modern as any other local bands. They are expessive and imaginative with their structural work, from complex bass riffs to inventive drum lines and happy, bouncing guitar work. The live presentation is tight and worthy of being recorded and presented alongside their studio work and more importantly, they fill venues, ensuring that the crowd buzz with the atmosphere that is created by this well oiled and experienced group of musicians, proving that there is still a demand for politically and culturally inspired music.
And i really hope The itch continue to give the people what they want. If you are too young to remember it the first time round, give it a try this time and go see The itch.
They perform Locally fairly often, so take the opportunities. A list of their upcoming gigs can be found on their Myspace site at www.myspace.com/theitchaccringtonengland or check out their Facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/people/Theitch_Biz/1192832390 or for more details their website at www.theitch.biz
Many thanks goes out to Martin Cooper at THE BIG GIG, in the March 19th-25th, 2008 issue of The Darrener, as most of the above was taken from an article wrote by Martin in that issue.
Dave, Col and Mark - 'The itch'.
Just stopping by to say hi and give you some news. The award winning album 'Welcome To Murraysville' from Phil Murray and the Boys From Bury is available worldwide from CD Baby and directly from the merchandise page of the official website. You can also get the album from Apple iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon and many more.
Listen to Batching It's debut album "Homage" in it's entirety before it is released! CD out in January 2010! Featuring songs by NOFX, Skankin' Pickle, Swingin' Utters, Pearl Jam, Rancid, Lagwagon, Metallica, Sublime, No Use For a Name, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, No Doubt, The Descendents, Less Than Jake and Operation Ivy!
Upload your latest songs to www.topoftheox.co.uk and you could win a record deal as well as get loads of other real opportunities. This week the top artists will win an acoustic guitar and massive promotion at www.topoftheox.co.uk
THE LAST GREAT ACT OF DEFIANCE SCOOTER CLUB REUNION. SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER 2009 - COPTHORNE SOCIAL CLUB, COPTHORNE BANK, COPTHORNE (NEAR CRAWLEY), WEST SUSSEX
THIS IS "OFFICIALLY" AN ALL-TICKET EVENT AND ALL ARE WELCOME. TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST SO ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW TO BE SURE
Just checking in to let you know The Shambolic will be playing at the N.E.C. Birmingham at Music Live - The UK's Biggest and Best Music Making Event 7-8th November.
Join us in The Surface Unsigned Bar on 8th November when we will will be playing acoustic.
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