Motivation was a short-lived band formed in

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 by bassist and probably leader

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

, guitarist Dave Rowbotham, drummer Snuff and vocalist Dave Price. Garvey was a former

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

, Teardrops and Bok Bok member, while Rowbotham was previously in

The Durutti Column The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate, The band is a project of guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly who ...

and then in

The Mothmen The Mothmen were a short-lived post-punk band from England, formed around 1979 by Dave Rowbotham, Chris Joyce and Tony Bowers, shortly after they left The Durutti Column, including ex-Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias singer Bob Harding. History ...

History

The band was formed by Steve Garvey, Dave Rowbotham, Snuff and Dave Price by 1980. The first two had some trajectory in the Manchester musical scene at the time: Garvey was famous for being the bassist of the punk band

, although he was involved in two new wave groups at the time, The Teardrops and Bok Bok, and Rowbotham was in the early line-up of

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

, sharing the guitarist role with

Vini Reilly Vincent Gerard "Vini" Reilly (born 4 August 1953) is an English musician and leader of the post-punk group the Durutti Column. He is known for his distinctively clean, fluid guitar style, which stood out from his punk-era contemporaries in its ...

, and after departing, he alongside other ex-members of the band formed

, in which he was still involved at the time Motivation formed. The band were managed by former Buzzcocks manager Richard Boon. Boon claimed in an interview at the time that Motivation sounded like 1976 bands, which indicated the group sounded like pre-punk formations or the first punk bands. Andy Hieke and Colin Robinson from Night Visitors were their sound engineers. By 1983, Garvey (who was playing with

Blue Orchids Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album ''Live at the Witch Trials''. Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band ...

, in parallel with Motivation) and Price moved to New York, but the band continued, with Garvey as the only known remaining member. The band was forced to change its name to Shy Talk and was signed to Columbia records in the U.S., releasing one album, ''Shy Talk'', in 1985. The album was produced by

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

Pete Solley Peter Solley (born 19 October 1948, London) is an English musician and record producer. He has recorded with Eric Clapton, Al Stewart and Whitesnake as well as producing records for Ted Nugent, Oingo Boingo, Motörhead, The Romantics, Jo Jo Zep ...

. At this time the line-up consisted of Dave Price (vocals), Michael Nehra (guitars), Phil Garmyn (bass), David Bravo (keyboards) and John Morelli (drums). Steve Garvey is thanked in the album credits but did not perform on the album. Snuff joined

Distant Cousins Distant Cousins were an English band from Manchester. They are grouped within the Madchester scene, though the music was a blend of soul and pop. The group consisted of Doreen Edwards (vocals), Neil Fitzpatrick (ex- Smirks, guitar/sax), and "Sn ...

in the late 1980s. Garvey reformed

in 1989 but quit in 1992 due to health problems. In 1991, Rowbotham, who passed in the 1980s as a session musician for

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

, was killed by an axe murderer in his flat.

References

Bibliography

* Gimarc, George. ''Post punk Diary: 1980-82''. St. Martin's Press, 1997.

External links

Interview to Steve Garvey, Dave Price and Dave Rowbotham

Manchester District Music Archive - Motivation

rateyourmusic.com - Shy Talk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motivation (Band) English rock music groups Musical groups from Manchester English new wave musical groups