Essential Logic are an English

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 formed in 1978 by saxophonist

Lora Logic Lora Logic (also spelt Laura Logic; born Susan Whitby c. 1960) is a British saxophonist, singer and songwriter from Wembley, London. Logic was a founding member of London punk band X-Ray Spex, and wrote the saxophone parts for their debut albu ...

after leaving

X-Ray Spex X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London. During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album '' Germfree Adol ...

. The band initially consisted of Lora on vocals, Phil Legg on guitar and vocals,

William Bennett William John Bennett (born July 31, 1943) is an American conservative politician and political commentator who served as secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under President Ronald Reagan. He also held the post of director of the Office of ...

(later of

Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to: People * Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat * Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor * E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat * Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993), ...

) on guitar, Mark Turner on bass guitar, Rich Tea (Richard Thompson) on drums and Dave Wright on saxophone. Turner was later replaced by Jon Oliver on bass. The band split in 1981 and reformed in 2001.

History

They formed in 1978 with Logic fresh out of art school. Their first 7" was released on their own record label, Cells. They released a self-titled EP on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in 1979, before signing to Rough Trade. Their debut studio album, ''

Beat Rhythm News ''Beat Rhythm News'' is the debut studio album by English post-punk band Essential Logic, released in December 1979 by record label Rough Trade Records, Rough Trade. It reached number 11 in the UK Indie chart. Critical reception AllMusic call ...

'', was released in 1979, followed by several 7"s before the band split in 1980. Between 1978 and 1981, Logic also performed as a member of

Red Crayola The Red Krayola (originally Red Crayola) is an American avant rock band from Houston, Texas formed in 1966 by the trio of singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson, drummer Frederick Barthelme, and bassist Steve Cunningham. The group were part of the 196 ...

, as well as playing on recordings by Kollaa Kestää,

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

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

Swell Maps Swell Maps were an English experimental DIY, early punk or post-punk rock group from Birmingham, England, active in various forms between 1972 and 1980. Influenced by bands such as T. Rex and the German krautrock groups such as Can and Faust ...

. Lora Logic released a solo LP, ''Pedigree Charm'', in 1982 on the Rough Trade label. Soon afterwards, she gave up recording and performing when she turned to the

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna may refer to: * International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnav ...

religion, though she did record and perform under the X-Ray Spex name again when they reformed in 1995. She resumed with Essential Logic in 2001, and released a four-track EP of new material. The new line-up included ex-members of the

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 ...

group

Bad Manners Bad Manners are an English two-tone and ska band led by frontman Buster Bloodvessel. Early appearances included ''Top of the Pops'' and the live film documentary, ''Dance Craze'' (1981). They were at their most popular during the early 1980 ...

and guitarist

Gary Valentine Gary Joseph Knipfing (born November 22, 1961), better known by his stage name Gary Valentine, is an American actor and comedian. He is the older brother of actor Kevin James. He starred as Danny Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007 ...

of Blondie. A year later, a further four tracks from a recording session in 1998 were made available from the

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

, Vitaminic. In 2003, an anthology of Essential Logic recordings was issued, entitled ''Fanfare in the Garden'', on the

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

record label. In 2022 the band released its second studio album, ''Land of Kali''.

Discography

; Albums ; Singles & EPs

References

External links

Essential Logic
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Musical groups reestablished in 1981