The A Band are a British musical collective formed in Nottingham in the late 1980s. In 2005, The Wire stated that "the importance of The A-Band to the UK rock underground is commensurate with the explosive impact that groups like AMM, SME or The People Band had on the free jazz and Improv set. An ever-fluctuating group of artists, dole boys, punk conceptualists and record collectors, they were the first UK ensemble to anchor a free drone music in the muscle and scorch of the most high-energy rock, while keeping it as untutored as the most elemental folk." ^[1]

The line-up of the group has never been fixed with the following people all credited on various A Band releases as participants. Many are known only by single or nicknames:

Stream Angel, Tim Barker, Neil Campbell, Jean-Emmanuel Dubois, Vince Earimal, Andrea Fletcher, Andrew Fletcher, Sticky Foster, Ginge, Stewart Greenwood, Dave Higginson, Mick Horton, Billy MacLennan Irvine, David Large, Neil Lent (a/k/a Lenty), Niggle, Neal Pates, Jim Plaistow, Barry Rothery, Sarah, Isabel Scott-Plumber, Stewart Walden, Dave Walters, Sharen Woodward, Richard Youngs.

History

Some of the early A Band members had previously recorded material in the 1980s as Well Crucial, a group scattered across the UK and, in some cases, collaborating by post. A core of members was based in Kettering, Northamptonshire around Neil Campbell, Stewart Keith and Stream Angel, with other contributions by Youngs. However, by 1990 these members had moved to Nottingham and the focus shifted there, with Well Crucial effectively ceasing to be.

The A Band itself was founded at the behest of saxophonist Vince Earimal, who required a backing band, and the unit quickly became an ever-changing, freeform improvisation unit, able to play without Earimal. Richard Youngs joined upon moving to Nottingham and he recalled in The Wire (also issue 259) that Jim Plaistow and Neil Campbell were the only constantly present members. They could number up to 18 on any given occasion. The original collective came to a halt around 1994.

The group never performed under the name A Band or any obvious permutation thereof (they are occasionally listed as The A-Band). Instead, the group used a different name for each performance, all of which began with the letter "a". These included Anusol, Arachnid, Arse-over-tit, Awkward, Anaglypta, Artex, AC/DC, Ack Ack, Anglegrinder and Advent, the latter in commemoration of the then-recently released Richard Youngs LP - in fact, it was at this show that Youngs' spoken word record 171 Used Train Tickets (released 2004) was recorded. However, the releases were almost always credited to "A Band" and these included several cassette releases, an LP on Siltbreeze and a 7" single. Some archive recordings later saw daylight; a CD of recordings from 1991 was issued in 1997 and live activity, also from 1991, was given a vinyl release in 2002, the material being edited by Youngs with artwork from Campbell and Plaistow.

Reformation

In April 2007, the group were announced as performers at the 4th Festival Of Improvised Music at the Pyramid in Warrington, which took place on June 16th. http://www.pyramidparrhall.com/whatson/events/Music/improvmusicfest.asp#0. Billed as "Afterclap", the line up included many original participants; the full group was consisted of Walden (who has since changed his name to Stewart Keith), Campbell, Lent, Higginson, Foster, Woodward, Jon Lander, Fletcher, Fletcher Jr. (1st appearance - accordion), Dylan Bates, Pascal Nichols (1st appearance - percussion) and Joincey (1st appearance - mouth noise).

The next performance, as "American Evil" (an anagram of "Vince Earimal"), was on 19 August in Shoreditch, London. On this occasion Stewart Keith and Sharen Woodward were the only regulars of nine players to perform; the seven debutants were John Aziz, Martin Bizarro, Zoe Darling, Philip Julian (of Cheapmachines), Simon Murphy, Phil Todd (of Ashtray Navigations) and Karl Waugh.

Since this they have performed several gigs in Nottingham/ Leeds/ Salford and Newcastle with a variety of old and new members and have been recording for a forthcoming double album.

A film documenting the genesis and growth of the A Band is said to be in development.

Discography

This listing may be incomplete - there are probably other cassette releases extant.

• Anusol - cassette (self-released, a compilation of the earliest live recordings, given away at the Anusol performance, limited to 10 copies, 1990).
• Untitled - 7" single (Any Old Records, recorded and released 1991)
• Anusol - cassette (Chocolate Monk recorded 1990, released 1992 - this is a recording of the performance listed above rather than a reissue of the previous tape)
• Zene/Salivating Regina 7" (Baby Huey BABY-007, US, 1992)
• Artex / A Lot - LP (Siltbreeze SB018 LP, US, 1993, rec. 1990 and 1991)
• April Twelfth Nineteen-NinetyTwo cassette of studio recordings (self-released, recorded on the titular date)
• Alarms - C46 cassette (self-released, 1993)
• Live @ 7th Annual Neil Young Convention - cassette (Union Pole, c.1996, recorded July 1994)
• A Band - CD (self-released, issued by Plaistow and Campbell, recorded 1991, released 1997)
• Live In Greece 1992 - cassette (label unknown, recorded 1992, released c.1999/2000)
• A Band - LP (Qbico 12, LP, Italy, 2003, rec. 1991)
• TV Set For Winter - CDR (Qbico, recorded 1991, issued 2003, only available with the first 26 copies of the above LP on the same label - disc reads TV Sets From Winter - this is an error)

Compilations, etc.:

• Vince Taylor Is Dead - on compilation CD Church Of The Subgenius (recorded 1991, released 1992)
• Salivating Regina - split 7? with Simon Wickham-Smith / Richard Youngs track on other side (Baby Huey, 1992)
• Martian Love Call - on compilation CD The Arbitrary Nature Of Meaning, credit reads Simon Wickham-Smith & A Band (Isomorphic, 1994)

References

1. ↑ The Wire issue 259

External links

• Myspace page, run by regular member Stewart Keith
• Youtube page
• The A Band's website
• A Band photo group on Flickr