Savage Progress was a pop group in the 1980s from England that had hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The band was founded by Rik Kenton (b. 31 October 1945, in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, Nottinghamshire, England) Glynnis (voc) Ned Morant (perc.) Carol Isaacs (keyboards/background vocals) and
Andrew Edge
Andrew Edge (born David Andrew Edge) is a musician from Leeds, England. He moved to London in the late 1970s, and joined the Thompson Twins. After one year Edge left the group and joined Uropa Lula, who released three singles (on Arista Records) ...
(drums). They were a mixed-race group of musicians who used traditional pop styles as well as
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
, Caribbean dance rhythms and
African rhythms
Sub-Saharan African music is characterised by a "strong rhythmic interest" that exhibits common characteristics in all regions of this vast territory, so that Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) has described the many local approaches as consti ...
.
Savage Progress joined the
Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...
on the "
Into the Gap
''Into the Gap'' is the fourth studio album by British pop group Thompson Twins, released on 17 February 1984 by Arista Records. The album was recorded during 1983 at Compass Point Studios, in Nassau, Bahamas, and was produced by Alex Sadkin who ...
" tour of Britain (February 1984) as support act. Savage Progress' biggest hit was "My Soul Unwraps Tonight", which was written by Kenton, a former member of Roxy Music.
Early years
The band started with the meeting of Kenton and Glynnis in 1982. They later recruited Morant, who was not a professional percussionist, but was eager to learn and fitted in with the visual style of the band. They recorded a few basic demos over Christmas in 1982, at The Point studio in Victoria, London, with a young tape operator called
Danny Hyde
Danny Hyde is an experimental musician and remix artist. Hyde has contributed to production and mixing on many Coil albums, including ''Horse Rotorvator'', ''Love's Secret Domain'', ''The Remote Viewer'', '' Black Antlers'',''The Ape of Naples'', ...
, who used the free time he was allowed by the studio to record four basic tracks. At that time the Point studio was under the control of Rupert Merton, who owned the Point Music publishing company. After hearing their demos he asked them to record more songs. Merton was then the
Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...
publisher, and later signed
Freur
Freur was a Welsh New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band featuring Karl Hyde and Rick Smith (musician), Rick Smith, who went on to form the Electronic music, electronic band Underworld (band), Underworld. It was their second band, followi ...
/
Underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
.
As Savage Progress had no drummer at that time, they invited Edge to join. Edge had rehearsed in The Point studio a few years before with the Thompson Twins, and was a friend of Alex Burak, the chief engineer. Edge had previously played with
David Lloyd in
Uropa Lula
Uropa Lula were a British pop group, consisting of David Lloyd (vocals and guitar), Allan Dias (bass guitar), Pete Fromm (keyboards), Andrew Edge (drums/percussion), Chester Kamen (guitar), and Carol Isaacs (keyboards). The group were manage ...
, and later introduced Isaacs to Savage Progress, as they had both previously worked together in Uropa Lula, which had been signed to
Arista records the previous year.
Racial mix
The racial mix within Savage Progress was never fully stressed in the media, but had a definite effect on their music:
Glynnis was born in Zimbabwe to mixed race /African parents, Kenton is from Nottingham, Isaacs is English-
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish, Morant has Indian parentage, and Edge is from
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, in northern England. This mix of differing cultures proved to be advantageous for Savage Progress' music, as Kenton infused their songs with as many cultural influences as possible.
Larry Heard
Larry Heard (born May 31, 1960) is an American DJ, record producer, and musician who has recorded under various names, most notably Mr. Fingers. He is widely known as a pioneering figure in 1980s house music, and was leader of the influential gro ...
commented on his early influences, which include the Savage Progress song, "Heart Begin To Beat".
Recording contract
After signing a publishing contract with Point Music, the band signed a contract with 10 Records (a subsidiary of
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
) and released their first single, "My Soul Unwraps Tonight". It became a medium hit in Germany peaking at #14 in July 1984.
In October of the same year they went on a tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to capitalize on the success of their single releases.
Session musicians
Keyboarder Steve French had earlier worked with
Haircut One Hundred
Haircut One Hundred (also Haircut 100) were a British new wave group formed in 1980 in Beckenham, London by Nick Heyward, Les Nemes and Graham Jones. In 1981 and 1982, the band scored four UK top 10 hit singles: "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets ...
, and played keyboards for Savage Progress on the Thompson Twins ''Mind The Gap'' tour in February 1984, and after Savage Progress he worked with
Tom Robinson
Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...
and numerous other artists. Edge left shortly after the Thompson Twins tour, but was asked back to play on the European tour in October 1984. During his absence, drummer Stuart Elliot (previously with
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...
) played drums with the band for a
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
session on 18 July 1984, and also played on the song, "Ball and Chain", for their first album, ''Celebration''. Neil Conti—from
Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout are an English pop band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham who rose to fame during the 1980s. Formed in 1978 by brothers Paddy and Martin McAloon and joined by vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Wendy Smith in 1982, they r ...
—played drums with them during the summer of 1984, before Edge was asked to rejoin. Mark Ferda played guitar with them on their European tour, and later worked with
Jah Wobble
John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...
,
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...
,
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
, and
The Wolfgang Press
The Wolfgang Press was an English post-punk band, active from 1983 to 1995, recording for the 4AD label. The core of the band was Michael Allen (vocals, bass), Mark Cox (keyboards), and Andrew Gray (guitar).
The group is best known for its 1 ...
.
Lyrics
Kenton avoided normal topics and styles when writing lyrics, such as on, "My Souls Unwraps Tonight":
The end
Glynnis left the band after their tour of Europe in October 1984. The band were offered the chance to play European festivals in the summer of 1985 (with another singer) but Kenton declined and broke up the band. The remaining members played together as a backing band for other artists, but never re-formed using the original name.
Before Savage Progress
After
Roxy Music
Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...
, Kenton recorded ''Bungalow Love '' in 1974 for
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
(1974 /UK Island 7 Inch, WIP6214). In 1976 Kenton recorded "The Libertine/Messin' Around" (7" single) (UK) EMI/EMI 2443. His band members for the recording included
Chris Spedding
Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...
/guitars,
Jim Cregan
James Cregan (born 9 March 1946) is an English rock guitarist and bassist, best known for his associations with Family, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Rod Stewart. Cregan is a former husband of the singer Linda Lewis and worked with her as a r ...
/guitars,
Herbie Flowers
Brian Keith "Herbie" Flowers (born 19 May 1938) is an English musician specialising in electric bass, double bass and tuba. He is noted as a member of Blue Mink, T. Rex and Sky.
Flowers has contributed to recordings by Elton John (''Tumblewe ...
/bass, and
Tony Newman/drums.
Glynnis had sung backing vocals with a reggae band, lead vocals in a punk band she had formed with her sister. Called 'The Max Factor ' their debut gig was at Toya Wilcox' 21st Birthday party. Morant had had various jobs, including inoculating chickens. Edge had played with the
Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...
, and Viva Lula, as well as drumming for various artists.
After Savage Progress
Kenton worked with
Bassomatic
In cryptography, BassOmatic is the symmetric-key cipher designed by Phil Zimmermann as part of his email encryption software PGP (in the first release, version 1.0). Comments in the source code indicate that he had been designing the cipher sin ...
on one track of ''Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass'' in 1990, but has not released any solo material. Carol Isaacs went on to work with many other artists, such as
Sinéad O'Connor
Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...
,
Sam Brown,
Squeeze, and the
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...
. Edge moved to Austria to start a singing career, signing with
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
(YOYO) and later,
BMG BMG may refer to:
Organizations
* Music publishing companies:
** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008
*** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...
(as a solo artist), singing on various recordings, but is now working with
Drumsing
Drumsing is a duo of musicians featuring Andrew Edge and Josef 'Judy' Klausner. The duo perform with percussion and vocals, and no other musical instruments. Drumsing was formed in Linz, Austria, in 2008. It took two years to write songs and rec ...
. Morant has worked with other bands, such as
The 4 Of Us
The 4 of Us are a rock band from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.(24 January 2003)The 4 of Us to play Dublin in March ''RTÉ.ie''(5 April 2003)Just the Four of Us '' Billboard'' Of the four founding members, only brothers Brendan and Dec ...
,
Alabama 3
Alabama 3 are a British/English musical group founded in Brixton, London in 1995. They are best known for their track "Woke Up This Morning", which was used for the opening credits of the TV series ''The Sopranos''. In the United States, the ...
, and
Anne Clark.
Ned Morant’s Disc biog
rock.discogs.com – Retrieved: 28 July 2007 Guitarist Ferda later formed a duo with Glynnis after she left the band. Called 'Angel Chorus' they landed a recording deal with Virgin 10 Records and released a single, "Devil on my shoulder", produced by Zeus B. Held
Zeus B. Held is a German music producer and musician, known for his work in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He was involved with several artists of the krautrock, disco, and new wave era, such as Birth Control, Rockets, Gina X Performance, Dea ...
. Glynnis has since changed her name to Urtema Dolphin and now runs a successful practice incorporating sound and voice in her work as sound healer /spiritual teacher based in London. She has one son, Marlon (born 2 February 1995).
Discography
Albums
*''Celebration'' (LP), 10 Records (UK) (1984)
Singles
*"My Soul Unwraps Tonight" (7"), Virgin Records (Germany) (1984)
*"Burning Bush" (7"), 10 Records (UK) (1984)
*"Heart Begin to Beat" (7"), 10 Records (UK) (1984)
Compilation appearances
*''Hit-News'' (LP) - "My Soul Unwraps Tonight" – K-Tel International GmbH (1984)
*''Megamix Vol. 1'' (2xLP) - "My Soul Unwraps Tonight" – Virgin Scandinavia AB (1984)
*''Megamix Vol. 2'' (2xLP) - "Burning Bush (Testify)" – Virgin Scandinavia AB (1984)
*''Super 20 Hit-Sensation'' (LP) - "Heart Begin to Beat" – Ariola (Germany) (1984)
*''The Best of 1980 – 1990 Vol. 6'' (2xCD) - "My Soul Unwraps Tonight" – EMI Electrola GmbH (1992)
References
External links
List of singles
Viva Roxy Music
{{Authority control
English pop music groups
English new wave musical groups
Musical groups established in 1982
Musical groups disestablished in 1985
Virgin Records artists