Goldblade
| Goldblade | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | Punk rock, hardcore punk, art punk |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Captain Oi!, Ultimate Records |
| Website | http://www.goldblade.com/ |
| Members | John Robb Pete 'Gorgeous' Byrchmore Keith Curtis Rob Haynes Andy Taylor |
| Past members | Wayne Simmons Jay Taylor Johny Skullknuckles Martin Gray |
Goldblade are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on bass, Rob Haynes on drums and Jay Taylor on guitar.[1]
The band signed to Ultimate Records and released their first single, "Soul Power", before releasing several more singles and two albums - Home Turf (1996/97), and Goldblade Drop the Bomb (1998) before Simmons departed. In 2000, Goldblade then recruited a new percussionist, Martin Gray, into the line up and recorded two further singles "AC/DC" and "Who Was The Killa?" together with a third album Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock 'n' Roll all released in 2002 on a new label, Twenty Stone Blatt.
In 2001, Jay Taylor left the band to concentrate on his Bonebox project, and two new members Johny Skullknuckles and Pete 'Gorgeous' Byrchmore were recruited to begin work on the next album, Rebel Songs (2004). Second percussionist Gray left shortly after the recording sessions, and the album was released in 2005 on the Captain Oi! label. The band continued gigging and recording as a five-piece, with the next album Mutiny (also on Captain Oi! Records) released in 2008. Both "Rebel Songs" and "Mutiny" were also issued internationally.
Goldblade continue to tour extensively. They regularly appear at major UK music festivals, including Glastonbury Festival, Reading Festival, Wickerman Festival and Rebellion Festival, and several smaller ones (Strummercamp). They have played in St Petersburg to 25,000 people, in Serbia and, in early 2010, in Algiers (being one of only a handful of Western bands to do so).
In March 2010, Skullknuckles departed to be replaced by another guitarist Andy Taylor (not the one from Duran Duran).
Goldblade issued a compilation album, Beyond God & Elvis in China (on Kids-Union Records) in September 2010, following it with dates in Beijing.
Contents |
Early history
Goldblade formed in Manchester in the mid 1990s playing what they called "punk rock hooligan blues", and what was described in The Independent as "a shamelessly fundamentalist collision of The Ramones, James Brown and The Stooges".[2] The band toured a lot and signed to Ultimate Records. Their debut single, "Soul Power", was single of the week in the NME, and their third single "Strictly Hardcore" was a minor UK UK Singles Chart hit.[1] The band's debut album Home Turf was well received in the music press.
Home Turf
Home Turf was released in 1997 on the Ultimate Records label and was produced by Gavin Monaghan.
Drop The Bomb
With added brass, Goldblade's second album, Drop The Bomb was recorded in Brighton at The Levellers' studio, and again released on Ultimate Records. The first single from the album, "Hairstyle", received daytime radio play and BBC Radio 1's Single of The Week, and an appearance on Ant and Dec's Saturday morning show CD:UK. They also recorded a live session for Jeff Cooper's radio2XS and Hallam FM in Sheffield. The week the single was released, Ultimate Records went bankrupt and the single did not reach the UK Singles Chart.
Do You Believe in the Power of Rock 'n' Roll?
The band toured Germany previewing new songs for the album. Guitarist Jay Taylor left shortly after recording, to concentrate on his own band Bonebox. The album was released on the UK independent record label, Twenty Stone Blatt Records, but the label also went bankrupt.
Rebel Songs
Rebel Songs was released by Captain Oi! Records in 2005. The label's manager had seen Goldblade perform at the Rebellion (then Wasted) Festival. The first single release was "Psycho". On the back of the album's success, Captain Oi! released Strictly Hardcore, a compilation of the band's four albums.
Mutiny
Mutiny was released by Captain Oi! Records in September 2008. "Riot! Riot" was used on the soundtrack for Green Street 2. "Jukebox Generation" was released as a single. The name of this album was given to an all-day concert, for which Goldblade and the Stiff Little Fingers headlined at Bridlington Spa on the 16 May 2009. The band's world tour included a stadium gig in Russia and a headline show in Algeria where they were the first western rock band to play the country for 20 years.
Discography
Albums
- Home Turf (1997) Ultimate
- Drop the Bomb (1998) Ultimate
- Do U Believe in the Power of Rock 'n' Roll? (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt
- Strictly Hardcore (2002) Navena Muzik (Brazil only)
- Strictly Hardcore (2003) Thick Records (USA only)
- Rebel Songs (2005) Captain Oi!
- Punk Rockers in the Dance Hall (2006) SOS Records (US only)
- Kiss My Ass (2004) Antrop Records (Russia only)
- Mutiny (2008) Captain Oi!
Singles
- Introducing...Goldblade EP (1996) Ultimate
- "Black Elvis" (1996) Ultimate
- "Strictly Hardcore" (1997) Ultimate - UK No. 64[3]
- "Not Even Jesus" (1997) Ultimate
- "16 Tons" (1998) Ultimate
- "Hairstyle" (1998) Ultimate
- "AC/DC" (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt
- "Who Was The Killa?" (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt (limited edition)
- "Psycho" (2005) Captain Oi! Records
- "City Of Christmas Ghosts" (2008) Damaged Goods (featuring Poly Styrene)
- "Jukebox Generation" (2008) Captain Oi! (split with Argy Bargy)
DVDs
- Testify! Live (2006) Cherry Red
References
- ^ a b Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p.414-5
- ^ Price, Simon (2002) "The Breeders, Academy, Birmingham/Gold Blade, Garage, London/Le Tigre, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow", The Independent, 2 June 2002
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 230. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.