C86 : THE ULTIMATE SERIES (Parts 15, 16 and 17 of 114)

The Groove Farm were from Bristol, active and prolific between 1986 and 1990 across a number of labels and their songs have appeared on loads of subsequent compilations released during the 21st century. Despite not appearing on the C86 cassette, they will feature twice across this series.

mp3: Captain Fantastic (demo) – The Groove Farm

Track 17, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.

The next two paras are lifted from the website, Bristol Archive Records

The Groove Farm were a noisy guitar pop band that came to life in 1986, with the release of their first 7″ EP ‘Sore Heads And Happy Hearts’ it was a self released effort, cheaply recorded, with cheaply made sleeves, and hand coloured labels to save money. Only now people describe it as lo-fi, at the time it was ‘DIY’. The band were instantly picked up on and became fanzine favourites with the then booming ‘C86’, ‘shambling’ ‘anorak’ ‘twee’ pop scene that was sweeping England.

The Groove Farm live were never ‘twee’ and they never wore anoraks. They at times, could shamble though! They could also be fantastic, and powerful, pop with the honest and true spirit of punk. Soon they signed to Subway records, but the results of recording in a ‘better’ studio under the orders from the label, were to soften the harsh trebly garage sound, and the band weren’t happy with the records,  Things turned sour with Subway, after money owed, failed to arrive. The last few years found the band back on their own Raving Pop Blast! label, and again recording on 8 track.

The studio version of Captain Fantastic would appear on the magnificently named EP Only The Most Ignorant Gutless Sheep-brained Poltroon Can Deny Them Now, which came out in 1987 on Raving Pop Blast!  The band called it a day in 1990 after, if Discogs is accurate, eleven singles/EPs/flexidiscs and two albums.

McCarthy.   A band that I’ve long intended to give some space to on the blog but failed miserably.  A few years ago, I picked up a 3xCD collection of their albums, singles and BBC sessions from which I planned to come up with an ICA….maybe one day.  They came from Barking, Essex (just east of London) and were active between 1985 and 1990.  There had been a self-financed debut single, In Purgatory in 1985, prior to them being asked to contribute to the C86 cassette:-

mp3: Celestial City – McCarthy

Track 9 on side 2 of the C86 cassette; Track 20, Disc One of C86 The Deluxe 3CD Edition.

This song was only ever made available on the C86 cassette (and subsequent vinyl and CD re-releases)

McCarthy, very much a left-wing band when it came to politics, next released two singles on The Pink Label in 1986/87.  After that label closed down, they switched to September Records, which was owned and run by Paul Sutton, who had been part of the management team at The Pink Label.   There would be three singles and an album on September Records in 1987/88 before the label was sold to Midnight Music, on which there would be three singles and two albums in 1989/90.

When McCarthy came to an end in 1990, lead guitarist Malcolm Gane formed a new band, which saw his girlfriend Laetitia Sadler taking on vocal duties. That band was called Stereolab…..

As mentioned above, all the studio recording, along with BBC sessions, was compiled by Cherry Red Records on a 3xCD compilation, released in 2014.

14 Iced Bears were from Brighton and were active between 1985 and 1992, before reforming for a short time in 2010. They initially signed to Frank Records, based in Hertford just north of London, but by 1988 they had been asked by Sarah Records to record what proved to a rather splendid and catchy single as the fourth 45 issued by the label.

mp3: Come Get Me – 14 Iced Bears

Track 5, Disc 2 of CD86.

It proved to be their only release for Sarah, and like many other singles on the label, it is now quite valuable.  The band were never really tied to any one label during their existence, and they were also more than happy to be on shared releases with other bands, often on flexidiscs.  As far as I can work out, there were ten singles and two albums.

All three of today’s featured bands will return at some point in this series.

 

JC