Goldblade
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Goldblade are an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
punk rock band from
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former Membranes and A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on bass, Rob Haynes (ex Houndgod and Killing for Pleasure/K.F.P.) on drums and Jay Taylor on guitar.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p.414-5 The band signed to Ultimate Records and released their first single, "Soul Power", before releasing several more singles and two
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
s - ''Home Turf'' (1996/97), and ''Goldblade Drop the Bomb'' (1998) before Simmons departed. In 2000, Goldblade then recruited a new percussionist, Martin Gray, into the line up and recorded two further singles "AC/DC" and "Who Was The Killa?" together with a third album ''Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock 'n' Roll'' all released in 2002 on a new
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...
, Twenty Stone Blatt. In 2001, Jay Taylor left the band to concentrate on his Bonebox project, and two new members Johny Skullknuckles and Pete 'Gorgeous' Byrchmore (ex-Nightingales, and U.K Subs) were recruited to begin work on the next album, ''Rebel Songs'' (2004). Second percussionist Gray left shortly after the recording sessions, and the album was released in 2005 on the Captain Oi! label. The band continued gigging and recording as a five-piece, with the next album ''Mutiny'' (also on Captain Oi! Records) released in 2008. Both "Rebel Songs" and "Mutiny" were also issued internationally. Goldblade continue to tour extensively. They regularly appear at major UK music festivals, including Glastonbury Festival,
Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
,
Wickerman Festival The Wickerman Festival was an annual music festival held near Auchencairn in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dubbed "Scotland's Alternative Music festival", its motto was "The Wickerman Festival – it's better than it needs to be!" It bega ...
and Rebellion Festival, and several smaller ones (Strummercamp). They have played in St Petersburg to 25,000 people, in Serbia and, in early 2010, in Algiers (being one of only a handful of Western bands to do so). In March 2010, Skullknuckles departed to be replaced by another guitarist Andy Taylor (not the one from Duran Duran). Goldblade issued a compilation album, ''Beyond God & Elvis'' in China (on Kids-Union Records) in September 2010, following it with dates in Beijing. On 20 May 2013 Goldblade released the album ''The Terror Of Modern Life'' on Overground Records in CD, Vinyl and download formats. Since the release of the 2014 album ''Acoustic Jukebox'', Goldblade's activities have taken a backseat to the reformed
The Membranes The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb (bass guitar), Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums).Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Wh ...
, which features John Robb, Peter Byrchmore and Rob Haynes of Goldblade. They have reunited on several occasions to play festival sets, including two charity shows at Manchester pub The Star & Garter in 2018 and 2019. Both of these shows featured the return of Johny Skullknuckles.


History

Goldblade formed in Manchester in the mid 1990s playing what they called "punk rock hooligan blues", and what was described in ''
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'' as "a shamelessly fundamentalist collision of The Ramones, James Brown and The Stooges".Price, Simon (2002)
The Breeders, Academy, Birmingham/Gold Blade, Garage, London/Le Tigre, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', 2 June 2002
The band toured a lot and signed to Ultimate Records. Their debut single, "Soul Power", was single of the week in the ''
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 their third single "Strictly Hardcore" was a minor UK
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
hit. The band's debut album ''Home Turf'' was released in 1997 on the Ultimate Records label, produced by Gavin Monaghan. Their second album, ''Drop The Bomb'', was recorded in Brighton at
The Levellers The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its popul ...
' studio, and again released on Ultimate Records (TOPP CD071) in May 1998. The single "Hairstyle" saw an improbable live appearance on children's Saturday morning TV on CD:UK. ''Do You Believe In The Power of Rock n' Roll?'' was released in summer 2002 on the independent label Twenty Stone Blatt Records. The band toured Germany previewing new songs for the album. Guitarist Jay Taylor left shortly after recording, to concentrate on his own band Bonebox. ''Rebel Songs'' was released in the UK by Captain Oi! Records (AHOY CD252) in 2005, and in Germany via KB-Records. ''Mutiny'' was released in the UK by
Captain Oi! Records Captain Oi! Records is a punk rock and Oi! record label based in High Wycombe, England. The company has released over 300 albums by many notable punk and Oi! bands of the late 1970s and 1980s. The label was set up by Mark Brennan, former bas ...
(AHOY CD305) in September 2008. The album was also released in Germany via KB-Records (KB 037) in a vinyl only edition. "Riot! Riot" was used on the
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
for the film '' Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground''. The band's world tour included a stadium gig in Russia and a headline show in Algeria where they were the first western rock band to play the country for 20 years. ''The Terror Of Modern Life'' was released by Overground Records] (OVER132) on 20 May 2013, and was followed by the release of an acoustic album, ''Acoustic Jukebox'' the following year. On Sunday, August 9th 2015, GOLDBLADE and friends hired a vintage tram for 40 guests and took them on a trip filled with laughs and great songs, as a temporary get-away from Rebellion Festival 2015, where the band had stormed the Empress Ballroom the previous day. Starting with an acoustic set from THE MEMBRANES in HMV, Goldblade then took to the streets of Blackpool for a sing-song, before boarding the tram to Fleetwood and back. Along the way was a TV SMITH acoustic set, some poetry, chit-chat, and a break for ice creams, before the trip back up along the promenade. The band went on semi-hiatus after this, while members focused on
The Membranes The Membranes are an English post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb (bass guitar), Mark Tilton (guitar), Martyn Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums).Larkin, Colin: ''The Guinness Wh ...
reunion, and the recording of the Membranes albums ''Dark Matter/Dark Energy'', ''Inner Space/Outer Space'', and ''What Nature Gives/Nature Takes Away'', in 2015, 2016 and 2019 respectively. Since 2015, they have intermittently reunited for occasional live shows, most notably the 2018 and 2019 charity gigs ''F**k Cancer'' and ''F**k Cancer 2'' in support of Kathy Rocker, owner of Manchester alternative store Rockers, who died in late 2019. These shows saw the return of Johny Skullknuckles to the band's lineup.


Discography


Albums

*''Home Turf'' (1997, Ultimate) *''Drop the Bomb'' (1998, Ultimate) *''Do U Believe In The Power of Rock 'n' Roll?'' (2002, Twenty Stone Blatt) *''Strictly Hardcore'' (2002, Navena Muzik, Brazil only) *''Strictly Hardcore'' (2003, Thick Records, USA only) *''Rebel Songs'' (2005, Captain Oi!) *''Strictly Hardcore - The Best Of Goldblade'' (2006, Captain Oi!) *''Punk Rockers in the Dance Hall'' (2006, SOS Records, US only) *''Kiss My Ass'' (2004, Antrop, Russia only) *''Mutiny'' (2008, Captain Oi!) *''The Terror of Modern Life'' (2013, Overground) *''Acoustic Jukebox'' (2014, Overground)


Singles

*"Introducing...Goldblade" EP (1996) Ultimate *"Black Elvis" (1996) Ultimate *"Strictly Hardcore" (1997) Ultimate - UK Singles Chart, UK Chart No. 64 *"Not Even Jesus" (1997) Ultimate *"16 Tons" (1998) Ultimate *"Hairstyle" (1998) Ultimate *"AC/DC" (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt *"Who Was The Killa?" (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt (limited edition) *"Psycho" (2005) Captain Oi! Records *"City Of Christmas Ghosts" (2008)
Damaged Goods Damaged goods or Damaged Goods may refer to: * Goods that have been damaged, where goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility * A person considered to be less than perfect psychologically, as a result of a traumatic experience ...
(featuring
Poly Styrene Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex. Early life Poly Styrene was born Marianne Joan Ell ...
) *"Jukebox Generation" (2008) Captain Oi! (split with Argy Bargy) *"Riot! Riot!" (2009) KB-Records (Germany) (split with Krawall Bruder)


DVDs

*''Testify! Live'' (2006) Cherry Red - Recorded live at The Royal Oak, Poulton nr Blackpool, Lancashire late 2005.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups from Manchester English punk rock groups