The Ballistics were a
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
band from
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Formed in 2002, they have built up a healthy following across the UK and have garnered airplay in the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. The band's first
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''
Go Ballistic'', was released in 2003 in a limited run and sold out quickly. A first full-length album, ''
Allow Me To Demonstrate'', was released in 2005. A second album, ''
The Spirit Of Kelso Cochrane'', was released late 2006. In early July 2009, The Ballistics announced they were splitting up. They played their final show on 12 September that year.
History
The original line-up included former
Red Flag 77
Red Flag 77 are an English punk rock band from Ipswich, England, that formed in 1990. The band recorded their first album, ''Punk not Dread'', after playing just three gigs. Since then, they have released many 7" singles and three albums - ''A ...
member, Glenn McCarthy, on vocals. He was joined by Mike Claydon (ex-Screaming Holocaust) on bass, Steve Pipe (ex-Stuntchild) on drums, Daz Hewitt on keyboards and Rich on guitar. This line-up recorded ''Go Ballistic'' in November 2003. Rich left for
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
at this time, and was replaced by Martyn Peck (aka 'Roki', ex-
Optimum Wound Profile
Optimum Wound Profile were an industrial metal band from Ipswich, England, active between the years 1991-1996. Combining elements of metal, crust punk, and sampling/programming technologies they released three albums and toured across Europe.
...
, Red Flag 77, Whiteslug, Raw Noise). This marked a significant shift in the band's sound. The original
streetpunk style favoured by The Ballistics was slowly replaced by a sound more reminiscent of
ska punk
Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...
.
At this point the band started to venture further out of Ipswich for gigs, playing around the UK with bands such as
The Beat,
The Selecter
The Selecter are an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.
The Selecter featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead vo ...
, The Big,
The Vibrators
The Vibrators are a British punk rock band that formed in 1976.
Early career
The Vibrators were founded by Ian ' Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice ...
and
Adequate Seven
Adequate Seven were a Welsh band who blended music styles such as hip hop, hardcore, punk, and funk. They formed in 2000 and split in December 2006.
History
Adequate Seven formed in November 2000 and played their first gig only four weeks la ...
. In January 2005 the band began recording the ''Allow Me To Demonstrate'' album. Shortly after its release they were joined by Steve Satan, a trumpet player, and guitarist in the band The Devil Rides Out. Satan lasted until September 2005, when his departure coincided with the arrival of saxophone player, Tom Johnson.
Johnson's arrival prompted a further move away from the ska punk sound that the band had developed, towards a purer ska style. Newer additions to the set were influenced by 1960s ska,
2 Tone
Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to:
Audio and sound
* Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement
* Two-tone attention signal
* Two-tone chime, such as the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell
* Two-tone sequential paging, sel ...
and
mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
-related music. Although the live shows contained older material, the songs written for the new album were once again different from what the band had done before.
In 2006, the
brass section
The brass section of the orchestra, concert band, and jazz ensemble consist of brass instruments, and is one of the main sections in all three ensembles. The British-style brass band contains only brass and percussion instruments.
They contain ...
was further augmented by the addition of a second saxophone player, Graeme Cowey, and Mark Schorah on trumpet. The increased use of brass, on both the new and old material, made an impact on the overall sound of The Ballistics. This has resulted in the ska-influenced album, ''The Spirit Of Kelso Cochrane'', which was released at the end of 2006. A fourth brass player, Tim Andrews, joined the band on trombone shortly before the release of this album. This nine-piece line-up recorded a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
song, "Come On The Town", in aid of MS causes in 2007. Shortly after this Johnson and Andrews left to pursue academic careers, though Johnson occasionally made an appearance.
In 2009 the band announced that they were splitting up. They played their last gig on 12 September 2009.
Discography
*''
Go Ballistic'' CD (2003)
*''
Allow Me To Demonstrate'' CD (
Dental Records
The Ballistics were a ska band from Ipswich, England. Formed in 2002, they have built up a healthy following across the UK and have garnered airplay in the U.S., Germany, Argentina and Brazil. The band's first album, '' Go Ballistic'', was rele ...
2005)
*''All I Want For Xmas Is Abi Titmuss'' CDR (hand decorated limited edition 2006)
*''
The Spirit Of Kelso Cochrane'' CD (
Dental Records
The Ballistics were a ska band from Ipswich, England. Formed in 2002, they have built up a healthy following across the UK and have garnered airplay in the U.S., Germany, Argentina and Brazil. The band's first album, '' Go Ballistic'', was rele ...
2006)
*''Come On The Town (Edward Ebenezer)'' CD (ITISC 2007)
*''All I Want For Christmas Is Abi Titmuss''
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
worldwide download (
Dental Records
The Ballistics were a ska band from Ipswich, England. Formed in 2002, they have built up a healthy following across the UK and have garnered airplay in the U.S., Germany, Argentina and Brazil. The band's first album, '' Go Ballistic'', was rele ...
2008)
Final line-up
*Glenn McCarthy - vocals
*Martyn Peck (Roki) - guitar (from 2003)
*Daz Hewitt - keyboards
*Mike Claydon - bass
*Steve Pipe - drums
*Graeme Cowey - alto / tenor saxophone (from 2006)
*Mark Schorah - trumpet (from 2006)
Former members
*Rich Garner - guitar (2002–2003)
*Rambo - drums (2002)
*Steve Satan - trumpet (2005)
*Sax Steve - tenor saxophone (2007)
*Tim Andrews - trombone (2006–2007)
*Tom Johnson - tenor saxophone (2005–2008)
External links
Official home pageOfficial myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballistics, The
English ska musical groups
Musical groups from Suffolk