Mark Williams more commonly known as Spike or Spike Williams is a Welsh guitarist and co-founder of South Wales' record label, Z Block Records. He was a member of the Cardiff-based band

Reptile Ranch Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

Career history

Named was Spike's record label set up and named after the Z-Block college building they used in

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

in 1978. In May 1979, Z Block moved to Splott, Cardiff, where they set about organising the city's first DIY compilation LP. Titled ''Is The War Over?'', this seminal compilation was released in October 1979 and its release brought The Young Marble Giants to

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade Records, a record label * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''American Dad!''), an episode of ''American Dad!'' *Rough trade (slang), ...

's attention. It also showcased many of Cardiff's best post punk bands of the period. Reptile Ranch disbanded in 1980. After the split of Young Marble Giants in 1980, Spike started writing with their vocalist,

Alison Statton Alison Statton (born March 1958) is a Welsh singer best known for her work with Young Marble Giants. Fans of the singer have included Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Stephin Merritt, Belle and Sebastian and Renato Russo. Musical career Born i ...

. Later that year, Alison merged this work with a London-based project which brought in Simon Emmerson to create a new band named Weekend. At the same time Spike was working in Cardiff with Lewis Mottram and Debbie Debris as Table Table. When Weekend split in 1983, Spike returned to Splott and formed

Bomb and Dagger A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

with singer Debbie Debris and a handful of Cardiff musicians - the original line-up included both Alison Statton and Phil Moxham, and Andrew Moxham. Bomb and Dagger performed regularly throughout South Wales including the Brecon Jazz Festival before splitting up in 1989 following a gruelling European tour. Spike moved to London in 1990 and worked with folk musician

Charlotte Grieg Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. After an eight-year break, Spike and Alison Statton returned to the studio thanks to the support of

founder, Geoff Travis. Between 1991 and 1997 Statton and Spike produced ''Weekend in Wales'' (EP) and two home made studio albums, ''Tidal Blues'' and ''The Shady Tree'' for Vinyl Japan. In 2006, the Alison Statton & Spike material was re-released by LTM while the Weekend material was re-released by the Cherry Red record label.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spike Welsh guitarists Musicians from London Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Cardiff