The Bamboo Fringe - The Life and Times of... (1985)

By mid-1984 The Bamboo Fronge had been ‘trimmed down to a two-piece, then a one-piece. the sole survivor was singer Gerry Garland. With the help from friends he recorded six wonderfully idiosyncratic Bambs classics’ (Skysaw PR info, 1985). Among this friends-fellow musicians who helped Garland complete the recording are Steve Torch (bass, guitars, keyboards, former Victims of Romance, White & Torch), Gary McGuiness (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Glen Winskill (synthesizers, bass), Pete Cummins (keyboards), Howie ‘Minns’ D’Minnzo (drums, ex Cherry Boys). With such a band Garland recorded and released the Bamboo Fringe much awaited first (mini) LP in 1985:

The Life And Times Of...

- The Hands Of Time             

- Turn On The Lights             

- Happy In Our Home            

- Under Attack                       

- All Too Safe                        

- Life And Times                      

Jamming (June 1985) wrote: ‘So far more promised than delivered, but Mini-LP on Skysaw contains hints of a brighter future.’

You can find the MLP here.

(Thanks to our friend to fade2gray)

The Bamboo Fringe - Dorian Gray (1983)

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?

You may find it here

(Thnaks to our freind fade2grey)

Passion Polka (1982-84)

Passion Polka was a pop duo formed in 1984 by Steve Cottier (vocals, guitars, former Scope, Xionics, Kinetics later Peep Show, He Thinks He’s Me) and Keith Leary (keyboards, later Peep Show). Siobhan Maher (later Peep Show, River City People) helped out on vocals on some demos and augmented the abnd’s line-up for live appearances, together with a drummer and a guitarist (Tim Speed, former Beat That Drum).

Passion Polka released one single in 1983:

Obsession (1983)

- Obsession

- Juliet

Later on, the live session musicians − namely Siobhan Maher and Stan Trickle (drums) − became fully fledged band members, together with Dave Shell (guitar) and this line-up in 1985 changed name to Peep Show. In 1986 Peep Show disbanded and Maher and Shell went on to form River City People.

ppolka

Windows - Uppers on Downers (1981)

In September 1981 the Windows (Roddie Gilliard plus session musicians) released their first and only LP on Skeleton Records:

Uppers on Downers (1981):

- Immortal

- Toolbox Guitar

- Electric Cowboy

- Creation Rebel (aka Creation Dub)

- Prime Evil Scream

- Tenement Girl

- When the Music’s Over

The band gigged around the Liverpool area to promote the release. Here is how Merseysound (#18, September 1981) reviews the band’s gig at Kirklands:

‘Wondered how they would come over in Kirklands, but after brief nerves (on my part) I needn’t have worried. After the first song (back to the psychedelia boys) they continued strongly and atmospherically with a zippy rendition of Immortal followed by another newie about grass and trees. Other favourites from the album followed on with a familiar strains of My Guitar though I did think that sawing a piece of wood was a bad move especially not appreciated at Kirklands.

‘Despite a few drunk hecklers, a good number stayed enthralled. On stage Roddy and Steve came over as honest blokes, modest almost to the point of being shy, thus letting their music take your attention. I had reluctantly to tear myself away after Tenament Girl which seemed very different from the LP version. I left feeling pleaded and hoping that their live performance was a promise of good things to come’

In late 1981 Windows were history, and Roddie Gilliard would resurface in 1985 with the Munchies.

uod

Windows - Re-arrange (1981)

Windows were formed in 1980 by Roddie Gilliard (guitars, keyboards, voice, percussion, former Afraid of Mice), basically a solo project carried out through the aid of session musicians. The first release by the band − this time with Madtrax the Tank-driver on drums and Omega the Rainmaker on sax − was a rendition of When the Music’s Over for the compilation A Trip to the Dentist in May 1980. Almost a year later the band released their first fully fledged single, with Steve Cockrill (keyboards, guitar, vocals, from Geisha Girls) and Dave Morton (bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals), in August 1981:

Re-Arrange (18981)

- Re-Arrange

- Over Dub

Roger Hill’s review of the single reads as follows:

‘Watch out, ‘Ghost Town1’ This is spooky, has character, is bound to be hated by anybody who is allergic to ‘created’ sound, but has an A-side to compel the rest, whatever they make out of the typical Windows fuzzy-dub-without-the-reggae on the other side. I had hopes of this signle and wasn’t disappointed’ (Merseysound #17, August 1981).

re-arrange

Second to None (1982-1983)

Sefton band formed in late 1981. Three of the original members − Paul Masters (aka. Paul Marsters, guitar, vocals, former Shwerlemont & The Bad Spadges), Steve Swinnerton (guitars, former Frets, Harmonics, Fourmers, Between The Lines) and Mick Clarke (drums, former Frets, later Shell Collectors, Jenny Lind, Fallen People, Western Promise) − were together in the mod band Forgotten Image (1981-1982). When the act split Swinnerton and Clark played for a short time in Suspect Greenhouse (1982), before getting back together with Masters and bass-player Dave Deevey (bass) with a new band, Second to None. The band released one single in April 192:

Stop Thinking (1982)

- Stop Thinking

- I Don’t understand

Second to None disbanded in 1983. Clarke joined Western Promise, and Masters went on to form Blueprint.

secondtonone

Liverpool Rock Photography (Francesco Mellina)