Big Flame (often rendered bIG*fLAME) were a

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 ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

three piece band, based in

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 ...

, England, and active from 1983 to 1986. The members were Alan Brown (bass, vocals), Greg Keeffe (guitar) and Dil Green (drums). After a debut EP ("Sink") on their own Laughing Gun label, they joined the

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. Se ...

roster for a series of mid-1980s singles as well as an appearance on the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

's ''

C86 ''C86'' is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine ''NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music gen ...

'' compilation. On the reverse of the "Two Kan Guru" compilation, it was jokingly stated that Green and Brown played in the original line-up of

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

with

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

and

Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham!. Early life Ridgeley was born in Windlesham, Surrey, England, to parents ...

. In addition to releasing five singles and a compilation EP, Big Flame also recorded four sessions for the

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 ...

Show. Big Flame were a major influence on

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

. In a 1991 interview, Richey Edwards stated "The 80s, for us, was the biggest non-event ever, like C86. All we had was Big Flame. Big Flame was the most perfect band. But we couldn't play their records 'cos they were too avant garde".Gabriel, Clive (1991) "Art is just short for Arthur", Lime Lizard, October 1991, Lime Lizard Ltd., ISSN 0961-8104 The group also operated beyond the confines of the band itself. Keeffe and Green hosted a night at Manchester's Man Alive club which they christened "The Wilde Club" providing a useful venue for groups other than their own. This spirit was also reflected in Ugly Noise Undercurrents which was a band-swap concept conceived by Brown, to provide emerging groups with a facility for securing gigs in towns and cities beyond their home base. The Allez Ugly newsletter was the primary driver for this. After the band split in 1986, Brown joined Ron Johnson labelmates

A Witness A Witness are an English post-punk/indie rock band, who were originally active in the mid-1980s alternative music scene. Their first EP ''Loudhailer Songs'' and début album ''I am John's Pancreas'' brought them to the attention of BBC Radio 1 d ...

on drums, touring the UK and Europe and appearing on several records (the 12-inch EP 'One Foot in the Groove' and Strange Fruit Double Peel Sessions) and three sessions for BBC Radio One DJ John Peel. He left A Witness in 1988 to form solo project

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. CCP Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to reconstruc ...

, while Keeffe joined Meatmouth (with Mark Whittam and

Nicholas Blincoe Nicholas Blincoe is an English author, critic and screenwriter. He is the author of six novels: ''Acid Casuals'' (1995), ''Jello Salad'' (1997), ''Manchester Slingback'' (1998), ''The Dope Priest'' (1999), ''White Mice'' (2002), and ''Burning P ...

) who released "Meatmouth is Murder" on

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...

, FAC 196. After a break from music, Alan Brown teamed up with Daren Garratt (of Pram) and Vince Hunt (of

) in the band Marshall Smith, releasing an album ''Colours'' in 2006 on the Euphonium label. In 2007, Alan Brown joined Sarandon as bass player, and performed with a reformed

in 2014. Since 2008 he revived

The Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward (Second Five Year Plan) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was an economic and social campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1958 to 1962. Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP Chairman Mao Ze ...

and continues to release albums on a sporadic basis. Greg Keeffe was professor of sustainable architecture at

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

, Leeds until May 2012, and is now Professor of Architecture at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. Dil Green is now an architect based in London.

Discography

*"Sink"/"Illness"/"Sometimes" - 7-inch EP, Laughing Gun Records (own label), 1984 *"Rigour" - 7-inch EP, Ron Johnson Records, 1985 *"Tough" - 7-inch EP, Ron Johnson Records, 1985 *"Two Kan Guru" (compilation) - 10-inch EP, Ron Johnson Records, 1985 *"Why Popstars Can't Dance" - 7-inch EP, Ron Johnson Records, 1986 *"Cubist Pop Manifesto" - 7-inch EP, Ron Johnson Records, 1986 *"Cubist Pop Manifesto" - 12-inch EP, Constrictor Records, 1987 *''Rigour'' - CD

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of all the above, Drag City Records, 1996

Tracks released on other complications

*"New Way (Quick Wash And Brush Up With Liberation Theology)" on cassette NME C86 1986 *"Debra" on "Commercially Unfriendly" CD Gott Discs 2005 *"¡Cuba!" on "Death To Trad Rock" CD Cherry Red Records 2009 *"Debra" on "Scared To Get Happy" CD Cherry Red Records 2013 *"New Way (Quick Wash And Brush Up With Liberation Theology)" on CD NME C86 Cherry Red Records 2014 *"Why PopStars Can't Dance" on Manchester North Of England CD Cherry Red Records 2017

References

External links

Fan site with good information on Ron Johnson Records listings of John Peel Sessions bIG fLAME recorded live at John Peel ICA rock week 4 October 1984
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Flame English indie rock groups Musical groups from Manchester