Gene October is a British singer and songwriter who was a formative figure in London's punk rock movement in the late 1970s.
Music career
In 1976, October was involved in the creation of
The Roxy
Roxy, Roxey, and Roxie may refer to:
People
* Roxy (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Places in the United States
* Roxie, Mississippi, a town
* Roxie, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Music
* Roxy ...
when he suggested to the management of Chaguaramas, a central London nightclub, that they convert it into a centre for the new punk rock scene to coalesce. Later, he briefly managed a club named Revolution No.9 and was employed as an A&R man for
Miles Copeland III
Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producin ...
's
IRS Records
I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...
.
October was the singer/frontman of the original London band
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
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* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, which formed in late 1976, also featuring
William Broad
William J. Broad (born March 7, 1951) is an American science journalist, author and a Senior Writer at ''The New York Times''.
Education
Broad earned a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1977.Tony James on bass. The band's repertoire at this time consisted primarily of cover versions of 1960s songs by the Beatles and Rolling Stones, but they broke up after only a few weeks and a handful of live performances due to a clash of personalities. Broad, James, and drummer John Towe left October onstage during a live gig, eventually forming
Generation X
Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s a ...
. In early 1977, October assembled a new line-up of Chelsea, which released numerous records and sustained many personnel changes.
From the mid-1980s to the 1990s, he was a solo artist, releasing two singles and a 1995 album titled ''Life and Struggle''. Since 1999, he has intermittently recorded and toured with Chelsea, including their 40th anniversary tour in 2016.
October also acted in two films produced and directed by
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist.
Biography
Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...
. In ''
Jubilee
A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...
'', he played the character Happy Days, and in '' Caravaggio'', he appeared as a fruit-eating model.
Solo artist discography
Albums
* ''Life and Struggle'' (Receiver Records, 1995)
Singles
* "Suffering in the Land" ( Illegal Records, 1983)
* "Don't Quit" (Slipped Discs, 1984)