Essential Bop were an English, Bristol-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 ...

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

band, formed in early 1978 by Dave Robinson (who had played bass with

Champion Jack Dupree William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer. Biography Dupree was a New Orleans ...

and

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

), with an initial line-up of Steve Bush (singer, originally in The Biros), Mike Fewings (guitar, from

The Cortinas The Cortinas were a Bristol-based punk rock band, originally active between 1976 and 1978. Guitarist Nick Sheppard went on to play with the Clash. In 2001, the band's debut single, "Fascist Dictator" (originally released in June 1977), was ...

and Colortapes), Simon Tyler (keyboards, from Dragon Sandwich), Nick Tufnell (drums) and Seng-gye Tombs Curtis (‘visualist’). According to Steve Bush, they were originally going to be called Essence of Bop, but instead opted for Essential Bop.

Career

Their first release was the track "Chronicle" on the seminal 1979 Bristol compilation LP/CD ''

Avon Calling ''Avon Calling'' is an album of tracks featuring bands from Bristol, UK, on local record label Heartbeat Records, and was originally released in 1979. All but 2 of the tracks were recorded at Crescent Studios in Bath by David Lord and Glenn ...

''. This was followed by line-up changes and the 1980 EP ''Eloquent Sounds'' on their own Monopause label. This resulted in ''

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 ...

'' journalist

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

interviewing Steve Bush and writing that Essential Bop would be one of the bands that would make it in the 1980s. Further line-up changes in 1981 saw them emerge as a guitarless four-piece band with 2 tracks on Bristol Recorder 3 and their second release on Monopause of the single "Croaked/Butler (In Running Shorts)". The single received some notice in the New York independent charts and resulted in a US east coast tour in the summer of 1981; however the band split after their return. A third single "Monkey Glands" was never released, but did appear on both of the band's albums. Their second compilation CD ''Chronicles'' included the track "Mau Mau" which was recorded in 1981 by

Art Objects A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

/The Blue Aeroplanes and included on their cassette/CD ''Weird Shit''. Gerard Langley of

The Blue Aeroplanes The Blue Aeroplanes are an English rock band from Bristol, the mainstays of which have been Gerard Langley, brother John Langley, and dancer Wojtek Dmochowski. All three had previously been members of the New wave music, new wave "art band" Ar ...

has a long history of producing, performing and writing with Steve Bush, ever since their initial group The Biros. Langley on the cover notes of the ''

'' CD referred to Essential Bop as "closet Doors fans with a grudge." In 1984, Steve Bush and Simon Tyler reformed the band in London with Mike Fewings on bass and Martin Kiernan on drums, and subsequently released their debut LP on TSAR, ''The Flick Was Boss''. The album included tracks from a variety of sources and line-ups, covering the years 1979, 1980, 1981 and two new songs from 1984. The band folded for good in 1985. Bristol Archive Records released a second compilation album in 2008 called ''Chronicles'', which included both studio and live tracks. The '' Avon Calling 2'' CD from 2010 also included the track "Audition Room" by the band. As of autumn 2016, work was due to start on a live album comprising recordings from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Steve Bush

Steve Bush later went on to collaborate with Christian Clarke of

Various Artists A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

and The Art Objects as a duo, alternatively known as 'A Pair of Blue Eyes' or 'Bush & Clarke', under which latter name they released the ''Allergies'' album. This album was produced by

Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album ''Viva Hate'' following the spl ...

who later found fame as a producer/writer with bands such as The Smiths, Blur, The Libertines and Morrissey. Stephen Street was also responsible for assigning

Andrew Paresi Andrew McGibbon (a.k.a. Andrew Paresi; born 1961 in Chiswick), is an English comedian, actor, writer, musician and composer. He has also produced and directed extensively, chiefly for radio. Education The son of James, a prominent educationalis ...

as the drummer for A Pair of Blue Eyes, who became a part of Morrissey's first solo band shortly afterwards. Bush also produced a solo album, ''Blossom Freak'' (Green Goat 2001), and also released the album ''Row of Ashes'' (Green Goat Records) with Fran Fey. Bush and Fey's latest album ''Earl Grey and Leather'' was released in November 2016, also on Green Goat Records.

References

External links

Essential Bop at ReverbNation

Essential Bop Discography at Discogs.com

Listen to Essential Bop at last.fm

Official Essential Bop MySpace page
{{Authority control Musical groups from Bristol Musical groups established in 1978 English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups

Career

Steve Bush

See also

References

External links