Blow Up were a British
indie pop/
indie rock band active between 1986 and 1991.
History
The band was formed in
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
,
England in 1986 by former
14 Iced Bears
14 Iced Bears are a British indie pop band associated with the C86 music scene. Formed in Brighton in 1985, by Robert Sekula and Nick Emery the band featured a shifting line-up of musicians across their seven-year existence, centred on songwrite ...
member Nick Roughley (vocals), along with Alan Stirner (guitar), Whirl frontman Trevor Elliott on Bass, and The Milk Sisters Drummer Chris Window (drums).
[Strong, Martin C.: ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', 1999, Canongate, ][Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music'', 1992, Guinness Publishing, p. 38, ] Signing to
Creation Records at their first gig by an awe-struck
Alan McGee they gained exposure with two singles on the label, 1987's 1966-Nuggets-style "Good For Me" and the epic "Pool Valley" (the latter taking its name from Brighton's bus station and featuring new bassist Aziz Hashmi).
A BBC
Janice Long live session at the legendary BBC Abbey Road studios in 1987 brought the outfit well needed publicity with the help of Dave Nimmo on percussion. A tour of the
Netherlands and
Belgium was followed by their early recordings being collected on the ''Rollercoaster'' compilation issued on
Megadisc in 1988. After two further EP's, the
Pixies-influenced first album proper, ''In Watermelon Sugar'', was issued in 1990. This line-up featured Justin Spear, son of Roger Ruskin Spear of the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and 'Paul' Reeves, who as
Billy Reeves formed
theaudience with
Sophie Ellis-Bextor in 1997. An ambitious further album, ''Amazon Eyegasm'' (featuring the former 14 Iced Bear Will Taylor on guitar and 'Red Ed' on drums) followed in 1991.
Blow-Up were described as 'the best band I ever signed, and the worst band I ever signed' by
Alan McGee.
Discography
Singles/EPs
*"Good For Me" (1987, Creation Records) (
UK Indie No. 37)
*"Pool Valley" (1987, Creation Records)
*"Forever Holiday" (1988, Ediesta)
*"Forever Holiday" (1989, Cherry Red)
*"Own World Waiting" (1990, Cherry Red)
*"World" (1991, Cherry Red)
Albums
* ''Rollercoaster'' (1988, Megadisc)
* ''In Watermelon Sugar'' (1990, Cherry Red)
* ''Amazon Eyegasm'' (1991, Cherry Red)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blow Up
English indie rock groups
Creation Records artists
Musical groups established in 1986
Musical groups disestablished in 1991
1986 establishments in the United Kingdom