Benny Profane were a rock band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England that existed from 1985 until 1990. They released two albums, various singles and EPs, and recorded three

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 ...

sessions.

History

When

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split up in 1985, singer Dave Jackson and bassist Becky Stringer recruited Joe McKechnie (guitar/drums, formerly of

The Passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...

) to form Benny Profane. After recording their first demo with

Will Sergeant William Alfred Sergeant (born 12 April 1958) is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of Echo & the Bunnymen. Born in Walton Hospital, he grew up in the village of Melling and attended nearby Deyes Lane Secondary Modern. He is th ...

helping out on guitar, they were joined by Robin Surtees.Strong, Martin C.:The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, The name was taken from a character in the

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

novel, '' V.''Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music'', 1992, Guinness, p. 32, The first release was "Where is Pig?" (the title also a reference to ''V'') on Sub Pop UK (not related to the US label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

). They then signed to Leeds

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

label, Ediesta, releasing three more singles in 1987 and 1988. The band had three drummers at various times, Dave Brown, Roger Sinek and Liam Rice. The band later moved to

Dave Haslam Dave Haslam is a British writer, broadcaster and DJ who DJ'ed over 450 times at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester and has since DJ'ed worldwide. He has written for the ''New Musical Express'', ''The Guardian'', the ''London Review of Book ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

indie label, Play Hard. 1989 saw the release of the

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

produced "Skateboard To Oblivion" single and their debut album, ''Trapdoor Swing''. They then switched label again to Imaginary, for a further single and the second album, ''Dumbluck Charm'' (the CD version of which also includes the debut album). The band split up in the summer of 1990. Jackson and Stringer then formed Dust, followed by The Dead Cowboys. Dave Jackson released his first solo album on Higuera records in 2010, with ''Cathedral Mountain'' recorded and produced with John Head and Tim O'Shea.

Lineup

*Dave Jackson – Vocals *Joe McKechnie – Guitar/drums *Becky Stringer – Bass *Robin Surtees – Guitar with *Peter Baker – Organ *Dave Brown – Drums *Roger Sinek – Drums *Liam Rice – Drums *

– Guitar (on the band's first demo)

Discography

Albums

*''Trapdoor Swing'' (Ediesta, 1989) *''Dumb Luck Charm'' (

Imaginary Records Imaginary Records was an independent record label based in Heywood, Greater Manchester, England, which specialised mainly in indie rock and post-punk. It was started in 1985 by Alan Duffy, known for his lyrical contributions to Porcupine Tree's f ...

, 1990)

Singles and EPs

*"Where is Pig?" (1986, Sub Pop UK) *''Devil Laughing EP'' (1987, Ediesta) *"Parasite" (1988, Ediesta) *"Rob a Bank" (1988, Ediesta) *"Skateboard to Oblivion" (1989, Play Hard) *"Hey Waste Of Space" (1990, Imaginary Records)

References

External links

Benny Profane videos on YouTubeJoe Mckechnie's music on bandcamp
*Dave Jackson'

of the band
Video of one-off Benny Profane reunionJohn Peel Sessions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benny Profane English pop music groups Musical groups from Liverpool Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 British indie pop groups Imaginary Records artists 1985 establishments in England