Drowning Craze was a London-based

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 ...

band, active from 1980 to 1982.

History

Forming in 1980, Drowning Craze began as an instrumental trio of bassist

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born Simon Philip Pomerance; 3 April 1962, in London) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player ...

, guitarist Paul Cummins and drummer Simon Godfrey. Their influences included

Wild Swans ''Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China'' is a family history that spans a century, recounting the lives of three female generations in China, by Chinese writer Jung Chang. First published in 1991, ''Wild Swans'' contains the biographies of her g ...

Delta 5 Delta 5 was an English post-punk band from Leeds. Career Delta 5 was formed from the same art school scene at Leeds University as Gang of Four and The Mekons. The original members of Delta 5, Julz Sale (vocals/guitar), Ros Allen (bass) and Bet ...

the Pop Group The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crossed d ...

A Certain Ratio A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 in Flixton, Greater Manchester by Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), with additional members Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin ...

, 23 Skidoo,

the Fire Engines The Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Fire Engines were an influence on many bands that followed, including Franz Ferdinand and The Rapture, with Meat Whiplash and The Candyskins both taking their names from Fire ...

and

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 ...

Situation Two Situation Two (a.k.a. Situation 2) was a British independent record label founded in 1981 by Peter Kent as an offshoot of the Beggars Banquet label. At the time, Beggars Banquet releases were often distributed by WEA; to appeal to the indie ...

founder Peter Kent heard the group's demos and put them in contact with Angela Jaeger, a New York-born vocalist who had moved to London to study voice and musical theatre. One week later, this line-up recorded the band's debut 7" single, "Storage Case", produced by Raymonde's brother, Nick Raymonde. Released by Situation Two on 24 June 1981, It made "Single of the Week" in British music magazines ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

''. Jaeger played only one gig with the band before leaving. Kent found them a replacement, Chicago-born

Frankie Nardiello My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). ...

, who joined in time to sing on the band's second single, "Trance", released on 17 October 1981. In January 1982, Drowning Craze recorded a

Peel Session 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 ...

, airing on 13 January and featuring the songs "In the Heat", "Keep Fit", "Out of Order" and "He Was". Drowning Craze performed gigs in support of artists including the Birthday Party,

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

, Modern English and

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

. The group disbanded after a third and final single, "Heat", released 3 March 1982. Raymonde later said, "Artistic differences and the guitarist qualifying as an accountant led to the band's demise, probably a blessing in disguise". In 2018, Raymonde's label,

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twi ...

, announced the release of a Drowning Craze

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 ...

, ''Singles '81-'82'', collecting all three singles as well as the Peel Session tracks.

Later projects

Raymonde joined

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

before forming the Bella Union label, and later,

Snowbird Snowbird is a common name for the dark-eyed junco (''Junco hyemalis''). Snowbird may also refer to: Places *Snowbird, Utah, an unincorporated area and associated ski resort *Snowbird Lake, a lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada *Snowbird ...

. Jaeger went on to sing backup with

Billy MacKenzie William MacArthur Mackenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also h ...

the Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist. History Original band: 1978–1985 The Monoc ...

and

Pigbag Pigbag were a British post-punk band, best known for their instrumentals, active between 1980 and 1983. Origin and formation Pigbag were formed in Cheltenham in late 1980 by Chris Hamlin, a fashion student at Cheltenham Art College. Hamlin ...

. Adopting the name

Groovie Mann Groovie Mann (born Frank Nicholas Nardiello) is a founding member of industrial disco band My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. History Nardiello was first in a band called Special Affect with Al Jourgensen, before the latter left to form Ministry ...

, Nardiello is the lead singer of Chicago-based

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

rock band

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). ...

Discography

Singles

*"Storage Case" b/w "Damp Bones" 7" (1981,

) *"Trance" b/w "I Love the Fjords" 7" (1981, Situation Two) *"Heat" b/w "Replays" 7" (1982, Situation Two)

Compilation albums

*''Singles '81-'82'' (2018,

)

References

{{Reflist English post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1980 Situation Two artists