Bamboo
fringe formed in 1981 by Gerry Garland (vocals, sax, keyboards, former Berlin, Fun, Victims or
Romance) Jimmy Badel (guitars, bass) and Gary Mazier (keyboards, tapes). In
Merseysound that’s how Badel described the band:
‘When Jerry
and I met Gary, we’d been mucking around with
tapes and things, we got Gary
in on synthesisers, which seemed like a good idea at the time. This comes
across as sounding rather predictable I suppose, because, because there seems
to be a lot of bands who are douing and saying the same thins, but it did seem
like a good vehicle for some of the ideas that gerry and I had at that
particular time, having gone through the usual format of Drums, Bass, that kind
of group. […] The idea of using tapes is to have a smaller nucleus in the band,
when you have tyo accommodate four or five egos in a band it gets to be a bit
of a pain after a while, working with tapes you can pre-record the rhythm track
which leaves the musicians free to play things over the top at a gig’
(Merseysound #20, December 1981)
In March
1982 the band was portrayed as follows in the Bobey Magazine:
‘To see
thee Bamboo Fringe in a live environment is to experience a unique event, fro
every show is different. Singer, Garland,
may be playing the role of intimidating frontman − daring the crowd to like him
− or more recently playing the smooth sophisticated torch-singer, and wooing
the crowd − daring them to dislike him. Badel guitar work ranges from the manic
neck wringing feedback of Hendrix to the driving rhythm guitar of David Byrne,
whilst Maziers stage presence remains constant − the elegant teenager − his
diverse synthesiser frippery washes over and through the songs while his tapes
link the songs thus removing the necessity for band to audience banter. […] On
completion of their recording contract the band will expand their multi-media
ideas but for the moment their major exploits will be in the confines of the
recording studio. ‘We are aiming at being the only true Dadaist group of the eighties,’
Badel insists’ (Bobey Magazine, March 1982)
In 1982
Mazier was replaced by Gary Davey and later the same year Badel left his place
to James Mealy (Garland’s fellow member of Berlin, Fun, Victims or
Romance, and session musician with White and Torch), first, and then to Jim Eden.
This
line-up recorded the band’s first single in June 1983:
Dorian Gray
(1983)
- Dorian
Gray
- How Do I
Dance To This Music?
(Thnaks to
our freind fade2grey)
Originally Old Ma Cuxsom & The Soapchoppers (formerly
John Noakes & His Amazing Waxy Cuticles) was a St. Helens pop group
form in winter 1983 by Hugh Umbidaligo (vocals), Troy Steele (bass),
Marcus Gossage (guitars), Colin Smith (keyboards), and Mikey Babbs
(drums). Besides the number featured on Elegance, Charme and Deadly Dangers (Don't Cry Darling (Daddy Had to Drown The Cat)) the band also
released one official single in 1986: 
Don't Scare Me (1986)
