The Bristol and Bath Blitz Club Meets Art School Sound - 80's Explosion

The 1980’s era literally changed how things looked – as well as sounded. The importance of the Blitz club (‘The Club That Had Changed the Eighties’) that had held sway in London is now being seen as a central factor in what was happening musically and stylistically.

There was an Art School impact explorative element too. The art school factor is acknowledged as providing a fertile setting for acts from the 1960’s and 70’s onwards. So it would be in the 80’s.

This also applied in cities like Bristol and Bath. Music curator Dave Massey had sensed these strands having an influence on local musician’s creativity and approach. In compiling the first Bristol and Bath Blitz/Club Meets Art School Sound - 80’s Explosion albums (one version on vinyl, one on CD) for Bristol Archive Records these became more apparent.

Massey looked to use songs and tracks from out west that reflect the feel, themes and actions of what was happening in that 80’s time, both locally and nationally. There was also an attempt to emulate the sheer eclecticism of a Rusty Egan DJ set list on a ‘’typical’’ Blitz club night. Previously punk and funk were certainly mixing locally in bands, as they had in the ethos of Duran Duran, a product of Birmingham clubland. The Pop Group and Glaxo Babies had already shown that and much would flow from various members as time went on. Later the emergence of Massive Attack would be very much rooted in club culture.

In these recordings there are cute as well as acute pop sensibilities in the likes of groups like Vicious Circle, Wadi Vision, Hey Belaba! Creature Beat and Big Outdoor Type, plus electronic dance driven grooves with Umo Vogue, Either/OR and the darker of the night God Bless You. By contrast it’s possible to set the utter hedonism of Nite Watch against the out of their head explorations outré, lyrical and textural of Glaxo Babies, Essential Bop and (very much multi-media) Startled Insects; the new transformation European ideals of The Escape, Distant Cousins and Europeans themselves, and the sheer film noir deliciousness of Great Naked.

Some of the musicians involved with these acts would go on to work with the likes of Tears for Fears, Talk Talk, Bros, Pet Shop Boys, Massive Attack, Roger Taylor (Queen), Robert Plant, U2, Goldfrapp, Roni Size and Reprazent and others. This body of work has real significance across the board.

That overall legacy from the 80’s lives on in other ways – in books, documentaries, blogs, exhibitions, even the launching of magazines in the spirit of Blitz, this one called Blitzed! Locally, it’s the music and the good times. This release represents a small part of it. As God Bless You put so succinctly and in the spirit of clubbers the world over – “we’ve only got this one life”.

This Explosion album gives you two shots. When you’ve played both sides of it, you can flick the disc and once again start back at the beginning. If it’s the CD – just start again.

Vinyl Track listing:

SIDE A: -
1. DISTANT COUSINS: Red Oasis
2. VICIOUS CIRCLE: Temptation
3. GREAT NAKED: Movers and Shakers
4. WADI VISION: Pictures of You
5. HEY BELABA: Cat Fight
6. BIG OUTDOOR TYPE: Winter’s Cold

SIDE B:

1. UMO VOGUE: Who’s Sorry Now
2. EITHER/OR: Learning How to Walk
3. THE ESCAPE: Truth Drug (Different Mix)
4. ESSENTIAL BOP: Kicking The Sun Around
5. GOD BLESS YOU: Sugar

CD Track Listing:

1. DISTANT COUSINS: Red Oasis
2. VICIOUS CIRCLE: Temptation
3. GREAT NAKED: Movers and Shakers
4. WADI VISION: Pictures of You
5. HEY BELABA: Cat Fight
6. NITE WATCH: Get Down (Cause I Love Your Body)
7. UMO VOGUE: Who’s Sorry Now
8. EUROPEANS: Europeans
9. EITHER/OR: Learning How to Walk
10. GLAXO BABIES: Shake The Foundations
11. THE ESCAPE: Truth Drug (BBC Mix)
12. STARTLED INSECTS: Thunk
13. WADI VISION: By The Seaside
14. BIG OUTDOOR TYPE: Winters Cold
15. EITHER/OR: Tension
16. CREATURE BEAT: Debt
17. THE ESCAPE: The Passer By
18. ESSENTIAL BOP: Kicking the Sun Around
19. GOD BLESS YOU: Sugar