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Glaxo Babies are a
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
-based
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, 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 s ...
band, formed in late 1977.Strong, Martin C: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break up again in 1990. The band reformed once again in 2015 for the Un-Peeled 2015 event with Steve Street on bass and Tony Wrafter's son Oscar on vocals.


First phase

The band was formed by Tom Nichols (bassist),
Dan Catsis Dan Catsis (born 30 November 1959) is an English musician who served as the guitarist for the punk band Glaxo Babies, which he founded with Geoff Alsopp and Tom Nichols in 1977 in Bristol, England. He was also a member of The Pop Group The ...
(guitarist) and drummer Geoff Alsopp (previously Nichols and Alsopp had been in another Bristol based band called The Vultures). The initial band line-up was completed by Rob Chapman (singer) joining in November 1977, and their first gig was held just 3 weeks later in The Dockland Settlement,
St Pauls, Bristol St Pauls (also written St Paul's) is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, situated just northeast of the city centre and west of the M32. It is bounded by the A38 (Stokes Croft), the B4051 (Ashley Road), the A4032 (Newfoundland Way) and the A4 ...
. The band signed to local label
Heartbeat Records Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of L ...
(marketed by Cherry Red), with their first release being the ''This Is Your Life'' EP in February 1979. This led to them recording their first session for
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio's John Peel the following April, and the track "It's Irrational", from this session, opened the seminal 1979 Bristol Compilation album " Avon Calling". For this release the band had been forced by pharmaceutical company
Glaxo GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...
to change their name, and this resulted in the use of "Gl*xo Babies", with an asterisk replacing the "a", although subsequent recordings have used a mixture of the two forms. Tony Wrafter (saxophone) had joined the band in early 1979, and in May 1979 drummer Geoff Alsopp was replaced by Welshman Charlie Llewellin. This line-up had just started to record their debut album in June 1979 at
Crescent Studios David Lord (born 1944) is an English composer and record producer, known for his work with Peter Gabriel, the Korgis and XTC. Career Lord was born in 1944 in Oxford, England and educated at the Royal Academy of Music, under Richard Rodney Ben ...
, Bath with David Lord as engineer. However, due to artistic differences Rob Chapman promptly left the group after the recording of just a couple of run through tracks (including a song about Christine Keeler, former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and the political scandal known as the
Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler be ...
).


Second phase

Following the abrupt departure of Rob Chapman the other four members, supplemented by Tim Aylett (and later Alan Jones), took the band "into a more experimental area, leaning more towards a free-form fusion of jazz and dance rhythms", which resulted in them recording, in one day, the album ''Nine Months to the Disco''. By the time this recording was released in March 1980 and reached No. 8 in the
UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...
, the Gl*xo Babies had disbanded. Initially Tony Wrafter left, then Dan Catsis and Charlie Llewellin, all three of them going on to found Maximum Joy with Janine Rainforth, and John Waddington formerly of
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 crosse ...
(Dan Catsis had also played in The Pop Group during 1979 and 1980 as a replacement for Simon Underwood). Rob Chapman joined The Transmitters, with whom he recorded one LP, "And We Call That Leisure Time". The single of Rob Chapman singing on Christine Keeler was released in 1979 on Heartbeat and in 1980 Shake (The Foundations) was released as a single off Nine Months to the Disco. Another Peel session had been recorded in February 1980 and the 4 tracks were released later that year on
Y Records Y Records was a British independent record label set up in 1980 by Dick O'Dell in the United Kingdom, and distributed by Rough Trade. History Artists included the Slits, Shriekback and a number of groups that were associated with the Bristol ...
as the "Limited Entertainment EP". Heartbeats final Glaxos' release was a compilation album of early demos and unreleased tracks from the Rob Chapman period, called "Put Me on the Guest List". In 2007, the Japanese label Birdsong reissued both of the band's albums on CD; ''Nine Months to the Disco'' included the extra track "Swampstomp" and ''Put Me on the Guest List'' included "Christine Keeler", "Nova Bossa Nova" and "Because of You (Live)" as bonus tracks.


Third and final phase

The band (Rob Chapman, Dan Catsis and Charlie Llewellin) reconvened in the summer of 1985, and continued to record sporadically until they final disbanded in 1990. The highlights from this third incarnation of the band were collected in 2007 on “The Porlock Factor: Psych Dreams and Other Schemes 1985–1990” on Cherry Red Records (in 2006 they had previously issued a compilation CD of singles, album tracks and unreleased tracks from their earlier work, “Dreams Interrupted: The Bewilderbeat Years 1978–1980”).


Post–final break-up, 2015 reformation

Rob Chapman – after The Transmitters, Chapman had jobs in teaching and broadcasting on BBC Radio, eventually drifting into music journalism. He began contributing to the magazine ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...
'', then in 2003 moved to ''Uncut'', only to move back to ''Mojo'' in 2006. He is the author of several books, including a history of offshore pirate radio, ''Selling the Sixties'' (Routledge, 1992); an alternative history of the record sleeve, ''The Vinyl Junkyard'' (Booth Clibbon, 1997); and a biography of Syd Barrett, ''Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head'' (Faber, 2010). He currently works at the
University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...
. Dan Catsis – as of 2010, has been playing bass in the reformed Pop Group. Tom Nichols – went on to be an art historian and lecturer at the
University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...
and currently works at the
University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
. Tony Wrafter – continues to play saxophone and flute around the world. Charlie Llewellin – went on to be drummer with Maximum Joy and Palace of Light in the UK. He has lived in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
since September 1991, and in the 1990s played with Austin bands Eleanor Plunge, Jean Caffeine and the Gourds. In 2019 he and Maximum Joy singer Janine Rainforth released the album P.E.A.C.E. as MXMJoY. In 2015, the band reformed, playing alongside other bands, for 'Un-Peeled 2015', a tribute show to the late
Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...
DJ John Peel. They also played at
The Exchange, Bristol The Exchange is a Grade I listed building built in 1741–43 by John Wood the Elder, on Corn Street, near the junction with Broad Street in Bristol, England. It was previously used as a corn and general trade exchange but is now used as offic ...
in January 2016.


Discography


Albums

*''Nine Months to the Disco'' (1980, Heartbeat, UK, LP, HB 2) *''Put Me on the Guest List'' (1980, Heartbeat, UK, LP, HBM 3) *''Dreams Interrupted: The Bewilderbeat Years 1978–1980'' (2006, Cherry Red, UK, CD, CDMRED291) *''The Porlock Factor: Psych Dreams and Other Schemes 1985–1990'' (2007, Cherry Red, UK, CD, CDMRED322) *''Nine Months to the Disco'' eissue + Bonus Track(2007, Birdsong, Japan, CD, BIRD-2006) *''Put Me on the Guest List'' eissue + Bonus Tracks(2007, Birdsong, Japan, CD, BIRD-2007)


Singles and EPs

*''This Is Your Life EP'' ("This Is Your Life" / "Stay Awake" / "Because of You" / "Who Killed Bruce Lee?") (1979, Heartbeat, UK, 12", PULSE 3) *"Christine Keeler" / "Nova Bossa Nova" (1979, Heartbeat, UK, 7", PULSE 5) *"Shake (The Foundations)" / "She Went to Pieces" (live) (1980, Heartbeat, UK, 7", PULSE 8) *''Limited Entertainment EP'' ("Limited Entertainment" / "Dahij" / "There'll Be No Room for You in the Shelter" / "Permission to Be Wrong") (1980, Y, UK, 7", Y 6)


Compilation appearances

*''Labels Unlimited – The Second Record Collection'' (1979, Cherry Red, UK, LP, ARED 4) *''Avon Calling'' (1980, Heartbeat, UK, LP, HB 1) *''Western Stars – The Bands That Built Bristol Vol. 1'' (2001, Bristol Archive Records, UK, CD, ARC 001) *''Avon Calling'' eissue + Unreleased Tracks and Heartbeat Singles Collection(2005, Cherry Red, UK, CD, CDMRED292) *''7" Up!'' (2006, Crippled Dick Hot Wax!, Germany, CD & LP, CDHW 103–2) *''D-I-Y Do It Yourself'' (2007, Soul Jazz Records, UK CD & LP, SJR CD 153) *''I'll Give You My Heart I'll Give You My Heart – The Cherry Red Records Singles Collection 1978–1983'' (2008, Cherry Red, UK, 8xCD, CRCD BOX 4)


See also

*
List of bands from Bristol This is a list of notable music groups, musicians and singers from, and associated with, the English city of Bristol and its surrounding areas (including North Somerset, Bath & North East Somerset, Western Wiltshire, and South Gloucestershir ...
*
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 crosse ...
* Maximum Joy * The Transmitters *
Heartbeat Records Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of L ...
* Avon Calling


References


External links


Listen to Glaxo Babies at last.fm
* Glaxo Babies at AllMusicbr>Glaxo Babies Discography at Discogs.com
* ttp://www.myspace.com/GlaxoBabies Official Glaxo Babies MySpace pagebr>Birdsong Records, JapanRob Chapman at University of HuddersfieldTony Wrafter MySpace pageCharlie Llewellin bio
{{Authority control English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups from Bristol Musical groups established in 1977 Cherry Red Records artists