Basement 5 were a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

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 ...

fusion band from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

founded in 1978. Their first vocalist was Winston Fergus, then Don Letts. One of their early performances was a support for

Public Image Ltd. Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and dr ...

's London debut at the

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

on Christmas Day 1978. Finally in 1979 Dennis Morris - photographer of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols, took over as creative force, lead vocalist and lyricist. He also designed the Basement 5 logo and created their image. The drums were played by

Richard Dudanski Richard "Snakehips" Dudanski, also known as Richard Nother, is an English drummer who was a member of a number of seminal British proto-punk, punk and post-punk bands, including The 101ers, The Raincoats, Public Image Ltd., Tymon Dogg and the Fo ...

, who had played in the bands 101ers,

The Raincoats The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London. Signed to the label Rough Trade, the ...

and

Their songs reflected the political situation of the time in Great Britain in the era of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

: youth unemployment, strikes, racism and the poverty of the working class. In 1980 they got signed to Island Records with vocalist Dennis Morris. The new line up played its debut gig at Clarendon Hotel in London (19 March 1980), followed by a set at Camden's Music Machine (now called KOKO) at an all night gig hosted by

ZigZag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as ...

magazines editor

Kris Needs Kris Needs (born 3 July 1954) is a British journalist and author, known for writings on music from the 1970s onwards. He became editor of proto-punk and early punk rock ''ZigZag'' magazine in August 1977 at 23 and has since written biographi ...

on 31 March 1980 along with numerous other artists such as

John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a " punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with se ...

, Killing Joke and

The Only Ones The Only Ones were an English rock band formed in London in 1976, whose original band members are Peter Perrett, Alan Mair, John Perry and Mike Kellie, they first disbanded in 1982. They were associated with punk rock, yet straddled the mus ...

also recording a Peel Session on 21 April 1980, aired on 28 April and their debut, self-produced

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Silicon Chip," on 26 May. Following this, they recorded their début

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, '' 1965-1980'', with

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Martin Hannett James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991), initially credited as Martin Zero, was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy ...

, releasing it on 11 August. On the first day of recording the album, the existing drummer known as Anthony "Bigga" Thompson walked out of the session. The band was in shock. Having just finished touring with

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

and

The Blockheads The Blockheads are an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Originally fronted by lead singer Ian Dury as Ian Dury and the Blockheads or Ian and the Blockheads, the band has continued to perform since Dury's death in 2000. Current member ...

who they became very friendly with, they then used their drummer "Gentleman" Charles Charles of the Blockheads for the album. Hannett, in an interview with Dutch music magazine ''

Oor ''OOR'' is the oldest currently published music magazine in the Netherlands. ''Oor'' is the Dutch word for ear. Until 1984 it was published as ''Muziekkrant Oor''. History The magazine was first published on 1 April 1971, being founded by Ba ...

'' in 1981, said, "You have to play it very loud to enjoy it fully. It was the most difficult production, I must say, the heaviest. It was eighteen degrees in the shade, the end of August. As I recall it has been the most physical album that I've ever done. Made me feel like I'd been carrying bricks around. Heavy work. Putting the bass lines in the right place. But it was good." The sessions also yielded dub versions of several of the main tracks, released on 31 October as ''In Dub''. "Last White Christmas" was released in time for Christmas (1 December), as a 12" and 7" (the latter in Christmas wrapping paper with a silver sticker of the band logo). The band broke up shortly thereafter, with several members forming Urban Shakedown. In October 2017, the label Play It Again Sam (PIAS) re released the two Basement 5 albums: ''1965-1980'' and ''In Dub''.

Main members

* Dennis Morris -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

*Humphrey "J.R." Murray -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

* Leo "E-Zee Kill" Williams - bass *

- drums

Other members

*Winston Fergus -

* Don Letts -

*Charley Charles - drums - uncredited but "thanked" on ''1965-1980'' *Anthony Thompson (Tony, aka "T") - drums - left August 1980 on first day of ''1965-1980'' sessions

Discography

* "Silicon Chip" / "Chip Butty" 10" (1980), Island 10WIP 6614 * "Silicon Chip" / "Chip Butty" 7" (1980), Island WIP 6614 * ''

1965–1980 ''1965–1980'' is the sole studio album by Basement 5, released in 1980 by record label Antilles. It was produced by Martin Hannett. Original drummer Tony Thompson left the band on the first day of the album sessions. Session musician Charley ...

'', LP (1980), Island ILPS 9641 * "In Dub",

Mini-LP A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A ...

(1980), Island IPR 2038 * "Last White Christmas" / "Paranoia Claustrophobia (Part 2) 12" (1980), Island 12WIP6654 * "Last White Christmas" / "Traffic: Dub" 7" (1980), Island WIP 6654 * ''1965–1980/Basement 5 In Dub'' CD (1992), IMCD 145 * “1965–1980”, LP re-issue (2017)

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

PIAS6580LP * “1965–1980 (+ “In Dub”)”, CD reissue

PIAS6580CD (2017) * “In Dub”, EP re-issue

PIAS1810LP (2017)

References

External links

Basement 5
on Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Basement 5 British reggae musical groups Black British musical groups English post-punk music groups Island Records artists Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Political music groups 1978 establishments in England