APB is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

, formed in 1979, that blended

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat, with a biographer sta ...

, punk rock and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

. The group had only modest success during its brief run, yet their influence can be heard in the sound of such current bands as

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. F ...

The Rapture The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the c ...

, and

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

History

1979–1982

APB formed in the small rural town of

Ellon Ellon may refer to: *Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland *Ellon, Calvados Ellon () is a commune in the Calvados department and Normandy region of north-western France. Population See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Scotland, and consisted of singer/bassist Iain Slater, guitarist Glenn Roberts, and drummer George Cheyne. Though living in a remote area, they took inspiration from the "DIY" spirit of the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

scene, sounding like bands as Liquid Liquid, adopting a hard-working approach to writing, rehearsing and performing. Meanwhile, in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, a small independent record company called Oily had started to release records and they were impressed enough by the band's live shows to release a single in 1981. The song was "Chain Reaction", which had long been a favourite at gigs. It was basically a two and a half minute punk/pop song with fuzzy distorted guitar and Scottish inflected vocals, but already the band was evolving with a sparser and more rhythmical sound.

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

, George Clinton,

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

ESG ESG may refer to : Groups * Election Support Group, an internationally sponsored organization analyzing and supporting the electoral process in Pakistan * ES Guelma, an Algerian football club based in Guelma * Escuela Superior de Guerra (Argenti ...

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

, and

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

were all filtered through three teenagers from Aberdeenshire to create a catchy, rhythmic sound. A change in their sound first became evident with their second single for Oily, "I'd Like To Shoot You Down" (1981). The single did well and sold out its first pressing, with some copies finding their way to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Soon it was regularly played at most of NYC's underground dance clubs. Adam Horovitz described the song in 'Beastie Boy Book' as 'a punk dance-floor classic. I love it.' Unaware of the popularity of 'Shoot You Down' in the United States the band and Oily were busy pushing their third seven-inch, "Palace Filled With Love" (1982). This is when the

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

sessions began.

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

and David Kid Jensen (and lastly Peter Powell) were playing the tunes nightly and offering sessions despite the lack of a major record deal. After recording several BBC sessions, APB had some success in Europe. Their next release was "Rainy Day" in 1982. Around this time Nick Jones joined as percussionist. The last release with Oily Records was "One Day" in 1983. Nick Jones left at this time and was replaced by Mickey Craighead.

1983–1991

The band did a small tour of the East Coast of America. "What Kind of Girl" followed up in 1984. The seventh and eighth singles "Summer Love" and "Something to Believe In" came out in 1985. In between USA trips, the band travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to record their first

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

session for

. He was full of enthusiasm for the band and gave their next single, "Rainy Day" (1982), loads of plays. Nick Jones joined in 1982 playing percussion (Later to be replaced by Mikey Craighead), adding another dimension to the proceedings. The band then went to NYC to record another single at PlazaSound on the seventh floor of Radio City. The autumn of the same year Mark Beaven of AAM, New York City made contact with Oily to enquire about the availability of APB for a small tour of the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

of America. When they arrived in New York they heard their tracks played on college radio and in clubs such as

Danceteria Danceteria was a nightclub that operated in New York City from 1979 until 1986 and in the Hamptons until 1995. The club operated in various locations over the years, a total of three in New York City and four in the Hamptons. The most famous locati ...

, Berlin and the

Mudd Club The Mudd Club was a nightclub located at 77 White Street in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It operated from 1978 to 1983 as a venue for underground music and counterculture events. It was opened by Steve Maas, Die ...

. This was encouraging, and the tour was a great success. With the backing of Mark Beaven, this turned out to be the first of 12 visits over the next seven years. The band's sixth single "What Kind of Girl" (1984) came out on Albion in the UK and "Sleeping Bag Records" in the USA. It was recorded at Unique in Manhattan, home of the electro/hip-hop producers Arthur Baker and

John Robie John Robie is a musician, producer and songwriter who has produced and/or written for a wildly diverse array of artists such as Chaka Khan, New Order, UB40, Cabaret Voltaire, Soulsonic Force, Boy George, C Bank, Planet Patrol, Quadrant 6, Lau ...

. The track received much radio play, especially on WLIR/WDRE on Long Island. During this time US tours were becoming more extensive and audiences were increasing with the Ritz in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

being a regular high point in the proceedings. APB's seventh release was "Summer Love" (1985) on their own Red River Label, quickly followed by "Something to Believe In" (1985). By now, the band had released eight singles, many of which were hard to find and were only available on import in the USA. At this point Link (NYC) released the much sought after compilation of the singles as a first LP release simply called "Something to Believe In" (1985). After this, "Cure for the Blues" was released as the first full album Then, "Open your eyes," "When I feel this way" and "Funk invective" were all released as 12 inch singles. The final release on Link records was the CD version of "Something to believe in." During the 1980s, APB was one of the most popular underground alternative bands in the New York Tri-State area. Thanks to constant radio play on

WLIR WLIR was a radio station that played a new music/modern rock format on the frequencies 92.7 FM, 98.5 FM, and 107.1 FM from the 1980s into the 2000s. Bob Wilson, longtime WLIR employee and historian, created the website WDARE (Dare FM), which m ...

92.7 FM on Long Island and New York college radio, the Scottish band made its mark with funky bass. In 1985, ''Something to Believe In'', their first LP with Link Records, was released. They toured and opened for

and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

and eventually headlined at various New York clubs including NYC's The Ritz, Irving Plaza and Long Island's now defunct Club Malibu. The following year in 1986 "Cure for the Blues", was released. A four-song EP, "Missing You Already", also came out that same year. The group continued to play on and off during the mid-1980s and early 1990s, releasing the anthemic ''Funk Invective'' and playing one of shows to fund a new edgier ensemble called "Loveless" releasing the "Nappy" ep in 1993. Iain Slater went on to play in Poptones act Pablo whilst working as the live engineer for acts such as Space, Keane, Regular Fries and more recently Pete Doherty. The band reverted to its original line up of Iain, Glenn, and George playing one-off shows in NY and Aberdeen in 2006.

1990–present

Not long after issuing the CDs, Link Records went out of business. There was a demand for APB's music in CD format but no supply. Fans searched in vain for downloads or CDs of the band's music, but to no avail as they were out of print. In February 2006, Young American Recordings made the decision to reissue APB's debut, ''Something to Believe In: 20th Anniversary Edition'' which includes a second CD with live and studio material that has never been available before. In March 2006, ''The Radio 1 Sessions'', the complete BBC recordings was also reissued by Young American Recordings.

Band members

*George Cheyne - drums *Glenn Roberts - guitar *Iain Slater - bass, vocals *Nick Jones - percussionist (1982–1983) *Mickey Craighead - percussionist *Neil Innes - keyboard *Bruce Clark - bass guitar *Del Guapo - guitar/bass/percussion *Stuart Brown - guitar

Discography

Singles

*"Chain Reaction", 1981, Oily Records *"I'd Like To Shoot You Down", 1981, Oily Records K-Indie No. 6/nowiki> *"Palace Filled with Love", 1982, Oily Records *"Rainy Day", 1982, Oily Records *"One Day", 1983, Oily Records *"What Kind of Girl", 1984, Sleeping Bag Records *"Summer Love", 1985, Red River Records *"Something to Believe In", 1985, Red River Records *"Open Your Eyes", 1986, Red River Records

EP releases

*''Danceability'' (Albion Records 1984) K-Indie No. 25/nowiki> *''Missing You Already'' (Red River 1986) *''When I Feel This Way'' (Link records 1987) *''Funk Invective'' (Link records 1988)

Major albums

*''Something to Believe In'' (Link Records 1985) *''Cure for the Blues'' (Link Records 1986) *''Something to Believe In: 20th Anniversary Edition'' (Young American Recordings 2006) *''The Radio 1 Sessions'' (Young American Recordings 2006) *''Three'' (Red River Records 2007)

References

External links

APB's official websiteYoung American Recording's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:APB Scottish rock music groups Scottish new wave musical groups Scottish post-punk music groups