Formed in 1979 by Fritz Catlin, Johnny Turnbull and Sam Mills, and later augmented by Alex Turnbull and Tom Heslop, 23 Skidoo had interests in martial arts, Burundi and Kodo drumming, Fela Kuti, The Last Poets, William Burroughs, as well as the emerging confluence of industrial, post-punk and funk, heard in artists such as A Certain Ratio, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, The Pop Group and This Heat.
Their first 7", "Ethics" was released in 1980, followed by the "Last Words" 7", produced by Stephen Mallinder and Richard H. Kirk from Cabaret Voltaire. A Peel Session was recorded on September 16, 1981 that included Richard. Their debut album, Seven Songs, was released in 1982 and is said to evoke the claustrophobic humidity of an African forest. The Tearing Up The Plans EP followed, with the absence on the Turnbull brothers, who were traveling through Indonesia. Guitarist Sam Mills and vocalist Tom Heslop left the band soon after, and with the arrival of slap-bassist David "Sketch" Martin following the break-up of Linx, the lineup remained the same until their disintegration in 2003.
With the Turnbull brothers back from Indonesia where they were exposed to Gamelan, the band recruited Aswad's horn section for the "Coup" 12", which featured samples from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. It has been alleged that The Chemical Brothers stole the bass line for their "Block Rockin' Beats" track. The Culling Is Coming (1983 - noted for featuring the band live at the first WOMAD Festival) and Urban Gamelan (1984) followed, criticized at the time for their shift towards more abstract sounds. After having been evicted from their rehearsal space at Genesis P-Orridge's 'Death Factory' the band shifted their focus towards hip hop and released a few singles and a compilation album Just Like Everybody in 1987.
In 1989 the Turnbull brothers formed the Ronin label, and released material by Deckwrecka, Roots Manuva, and Rodney P amongst others. They signed to Virgin Records in 1991 and were able to build a new studio with their advance. In 2000 they released a self-titled LP, which featured contributions from Pharoah Sanders and Roots Manuva. This was followed by a compilation of singles, The Gospel Comes To New Guinea in 2002, and for the first time on CD, reissues of Seven Songs and Urban Gamelan. In 2003 the Turnbull brothers liquidated the company. Fritz Catlin has a new project called Skintologists which you can preview at www.myspace.com/hashashan
Group named after a mysterious Illuminati phrase that appeared in the work of Aleister Crowley, William Burroughs and filmmaker Julian Biggs.
Group Members:
-Alex Turnbull (Bass, Percussion, Trumpet, Drums, Chant)
-Johnny Turnbull (Bass, Clarinet, Guitar, Percussion, Conga, Horn, Vocals, Chant, Tapes, Tibetan Trumpet)
-Fritz Catlin (Bass, Violin, Drums, Vocals, Tapes)
-Sketch (Bass)
Bio
Ethics 7" 1981
A Ethics 3:36
AA Another Baby's Face 4:41
Recorded in October 1980.
Run out grooves:
A1 (Ethics): WELCOMES YOU ABOARD.
AA (Another Baby's Face): CAPTAIN CLARK.
Peel Sessions 16/09/1981
Retain Control
Macaw Gungah
View From Here
Four Note Bass
Coup 12" 1983
A Coup
B Version (In The Palace)
The Chemical Brothers ripped it off alright but ended up having to pay for it. They were both signed to the same label at the time so an appropriate payoff was arranged.
or not! (see comments)
Seven Songs
A1 Kundalini
A2 Vegas El Bandito
A3 Mary's Operation
A4 Lock Groove
B1 New Testament
B2 IY
B3 Porno Base
B4 Quiet Pillage
B5 Untitled
Produced pseudonymously by Peter Christopherson and Genesis P-Orridge. Engineered by K. Thomas. Recorded and mixed at Jacobs Studios, 23–25 November, 1981. Originally released on Fetish Records in 1982.
The Culling Is Coming CD (2003 RE)
A Winter Ritual
1 G-2 Contemplation 7:35
2 S-Matrix 3:56
3 G-3 Insemination 3:53
4 Shrine 3:16
5 Mahakala 4:19
A Summer Rite
6 Banishing 4:38
7 Invocation 2:51
8 Flashing 4:50
9 Stifling 1:35
10 Healing (For The Strong) 11:59
An Autumn Journey
11 Move Back - Bite Harder 26:53
Tracks 1 to 5 recorded at Dartington Music College 23/10/1982 using traditional Balinese gamelan instruments.
Tracks 6 to 10 recorded live at W.O.M.A.D. 11.23 AM 17/07/1982.
Track 11 recorded live at Tielt, Belgium on 08/10/82
Initial recordings by Street Level Recording Mobile
Originally released Operation Twilight, OPT 23 (1983)
Language 12" 1984
A Language
B Language Dub
23 Skidoo Vs. The Assassins With Soul 1986 12"
A T.O.Y. (Thoughts Of You)
Vocals - Danny Ricketts
Written-By - Häaman*
B1 Assassin
Mixed By - Assassins With Soul
B2 Ooze
Urban Gamelan (RM 2008)
1 F.U.G.I.
2 Fire
3 Misr Wakening
4 Jalan Jalan
5 Urban Gamelan (Pt 1)
6 Sirens
7 Helicopterz
8 Kongo-Do
9 Language (Dub)
10 Drunken Reprisal
11 Coup De Grace
12 Coup (12")
13 Coup (In The Palace)
14 Language (12")
15 Language (12" Dub)
Originally released by Illuminated Records in 1984.
23 Skidoo 2000
1
Freeze Frame 5:46
2
Dirty Lo 4:51
3
Interzonal 6:38
4
Kendang 7:43
5
Catch 23 5:27
6
Crossfire 6:10
7
Where You At 5:29
8
Atmosfear 5:17
9
Dawning 6:08
10
Meltdown 5:52
11
Dusk To Dawn 5:46
12
Ayu 8:17
Recorded in Roninscope at Precinct 23. Pharoah Sanders recorded at Cottonbelly Studios, NYC. Roots Manuva appears courtesy of Big Dada. Major appears courtesy of Disco Volante Ltd. The Deckwrecka appears courtesy of Ronin Records Ltd. Licensed from Ronin Records
(23 Skidoo's own label).
Just Like Everybody Part Two 2002
1 Roninstep 2:37
2 Meltdown 5:03
3 What Y'All Gon' Do 3:32
4 Eye Spy 3:04
5 23 Break 0:28
6 100 Dark 2:43
7 Lightening Beats 2:27
8 Cushite 3:28
9 The Best 5:41
10 Suspense 2:47
11 Mr. Lee, Are You Ready? 2:30
12 Clan Break 2:13
13 Elephants 1:55
14 Reachin' Break 1:58
15 Liquid Noise 1:08
16 Return Of The Dragon 2:34
17 Recoup 4:52
Live Futurama 3 New Bingley Hall Stafford 1981-09-05
Retford Porterhouse 1982
Live in Berlin 1982-04-11
23 Skidoo_1982.06.16_The Venue_Victoria_London
Live Aorta Amsterdam 1984
Wiki
9 comments:
Thanks for the Urban Gamelan upload, my vinyl copies of that stuff are totally knackered...
P.S. Just noticed that you've posted the Peel session - I never, never, NEVER thought I was ever gonna get to hear that! Many thanks... x
Christ on a bike, that's a muthaload and a half, thank you very much !
As mentioned above, the Peel Sessions are the holy grail here.
I actually spoke to Fritz recently about the ChenBros ripp off and was told that a 'musicologist' had deemed there to be no similarity, and therefore NO money changed hands!]
Regards/
Awesome shares! I have much of this on vinyl, but no longer have access to play them.
As always this blog is fantastic. One of the best online.
Thank you!
Thanks especially for the Peel Session. Good stuff.
I always thought "Block Rocking Beats" sounded much more like Pink Floyd ("Let There Be More Light") than "Coup" tbh...?
odlično svaka čast
Will you Please put the Retford, Porterhouse 1982 gig back up.
Post a Comment