Russell Webb (born 1958 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland) is a Scottish new wave bass guitarist who was member of bands such as Slik, PVC2 (both with Midge Ure),

Zones Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

, Skids,

The Armoury Show The Armoury Show were a British New wave music, new wave band, formed in 1983 and consisting of Richard Jobson (television presenter), Richard Jobson on vocals, Russell Webb (musician), Russell Webb on bass guitar, John McGeoch on guitar and Jo ...

and

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band (and incorporated limited company) formed by singer John Lydon (previously known as the singer of Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene, bassist Jah Wobble, and d ...

and collaborated with Richard Jobson,

Virginia Astley Virginia Astley (born 26 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Alt ...

and

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

Career

Slik and PVC2

Future

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

and

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

organiser, guitarist and singer Midge Ure, drummer

Kenny Hyslop Kenneth John Hyslop (born 14 February 1951 in Helensburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish drummer. He joined the band Salvation with Midge Ure, which later became Slik and, after Ure's departure, some of the remaining members formed the Zones. He also ...

, keyboardist

Billy McIsaac Billy McIsaac (born William McIsaac, 12 July 1949 in Rothesay, Scotland) is a musician, who played mainly keyboards since his early days with different pop bands. Biography Previously, he worked as a telephone engineer and played with a band c ...

and bassist

Jim McGinlay James Anthony McGinlay (born 9 March 1949 in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland) is a Scottish bass guitarist who formed along his elder brother Kevin McGinlay, Kevin a hard-rock band called Salvation, in Glasgow, which after numerous line-up ch ...

had been gaining commercial successes as a band named

Slik Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit " Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially glam rock, the band later changed their style to soft rock/bubblegum. It was the first band with whom singer and g ...

, playing in a variety of styles, such as glam,

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

and bubblegum pop. With the advent of punk rock, McGinlay left in early 1977. Webb, who had recently dropped out of university, replaced him. Shortly afterwards the band changed their name to PVC2 and their musical style to punk. PVC2 released one single, "

Put You in the Picture "Put You in the Picture" is a song written by Russell Webb, and performed by his group PVC2, who comprised Ure on guitar and lead vocals, Kenny Hyslop on drums, Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Webb on bass guitar. The song was released on 30 Augus ...

", in 1977.

Zones

Ure joined

Glen Matlock Glen Matlock (born 27 August 1956) is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only alb ...

Rich Kids Rich Kids were a short-lived new wave band from London, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock following his departure from the Sex Pistols. The band also included future Ultravox member Midge Ure and Rusty Egan, who both later founded Visage toget ...

and by late 1977/early 1978, Webb and the rest of PVC2 called Alex Harvey's cousin

Willie Gardner Willie Gardner is a Scottish musician, who formed part of various pop and rock bands in the 1970s and 1980s, playing guitar. He was a cousin of Alex Harvey. His earliest known band was The Hot Valves, formed in 1976. The band was influenced b ...

to replace him, founding

. This band released singles during 1978 and 1979 and one album called ''

Under Influence ''Under Influence'' was the only album of new wave band Zones, released by Arista Records on June 1, 1979. The album contained multi-genred songs, being very far from the early punkier stuff, like in the case of 7" single " Stuck with You". Jim ...

'' in the latter year. The Zones failed and split up shortly afterwards.

Skids

Webb joined Skids halfway through their career in February 1980, replacing co-founder William Simpson. He performed on the last two Skids albums, ''

The Absolute Game ''The Absolute Game'' is the third studio album by Scottish punk rock and new wave band Skids. Recorded in 1980 and produced by Mick Glossop, it was released in September 1980 by record label Virgin. It became their most commercially successful ...

'' released in 1980 and 1981's ''

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

''. During that time, he collaborated with Jobson on his solo career and engineering

's new recordings, which were incomplete because that band split up.

The Armoury Show

After Skids broke up, he and Jobson along with guitarist

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977-1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980-1982). He has been described as one ...

(formerly of

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

and

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

) and drummer John Doyle (also of ''

'') formed ''

'' in 1983. They recorded one album called '' Waiting for the Floods'', which was critically acclaimed but a commercial letdown. The band released singles until 1988, when they broke up. The Armoury Show recorded a second album for Parlophone which was to feature a song entitled "I Will Find You" sung by Webb; however, Jobson and Webb disbanded the group before the album was released. Following a discussion with Jobson and Clive Black of Parlophone, Webb agreed to allow the album to be issued under Jobson's name, entitled ''Badman''.

Public Image Ltd

In mid-to-end 1992, Webb joined

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

's post-

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

band,

, replacing bassist Allan Dias.

The Ring, ''Lost''

After PiL, Webb formed his own band called The Ring, which toured Europe opening for

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the cult band the Modern Lovers before becoming keyboardist and guitarist ...

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

in promotion of his second solo album ''Casual Gods'' in 1988, but no commercial success followed. Webb retired from performing to design board games. Following a discussion with

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

at the latter's knighthood party, Branson agreed to take Webb's first board game (4 years in the making) entitled ''Lost'' to Necker Island for play testing with his family and children. The play testing was a success, but no game was released. Instead it became the initial inspiration for JJ Abrams' hit TV show ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'', for which Webb was never credited. Webb continued to work on projects with his Armoury Show associate,

, until the latter's death in 2004. Webb contributes music to dramas by Blue Hours Productions, a company specializing in retro horror/sci-fi/fantasy drama for radio and the Internet. He lives in England.

References

External links

Myspace: Russell Webb
Russell Webb MySpace site {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Russell 1958 births Scottish bass guitarists Public Image Ltd members People educated at Bellahouston Academy Skids (band) members The Armoury Show members Living people Slik members Zones (band) members