The Badgeman were a four-piece

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band from

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

formed in 1988, although music journalist

Pete Frame Peter Frame (born 10 November 1942 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England) is an English music journalist and historian of rock music. He has produced outlines of the history of rock bands for various magazines, such as ''Sounds'', ''NME'', '' Melody ...

claims in his book ''Rockin Around Britain'' that the band hailed from

Melksham Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement aft ...

. The band has been variously categorised as

Alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

, psychedelic rock, and

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 ...

. The band released two albums on

Paperhouse Records Paperhouse Records was a British independent record label which operated from 1990 to 1993. The label was a short-lived joint venture by Glass Records owner David E. Barker and Fire Records owner Clive Solomon. It is named after "Paperhouse", ...

, and appeared on two compilation releases, along with artists such as

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

of Sonic Youth, Echo and The Bunnymen, and

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

History

The band was formed by John Packwood (guitar), Tim Kerley (drums), Neale Hancock (vocals/guitar), and Simon Wigglesworth (bass), all of whom had previously played together in The Hunny Monsturs.Moody, Frogg & Nash, Richard (2010) ''Endless Beat: Voices of the New Sarum Sound 1970–1999'', Timezone, , p. 247-253 The band's name is a reference to a

figure Figure may refer to: General *A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration *Figure (wood), wood appearance *Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif *Noise figure, in telecommunication *Dance figure, an elementary dance pattern ...

in conspiracy theories surrounding the death of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. The band's initial release, "Go Insane!", appeared on a two track shared

flexi disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable. ...

along with a contribution from fellow Salisbury indie pop band The Mayfields (part of a lively local

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

scene also including Bubblegum Splash! and Jane from Occupied Europe (band)). The disc was distributed by several popular fanzines, including ''Sowing Seeds'', and led to The Badgeman being signed by the well respected independent label

Glass Records Glass Records was a British independent record label which operated from 1981 to 1990, and was resurrected in 2015. Glass Vintage 1981–1990 Glass was one of the key London-based indie labels of the 1980s. Early releases focused on artists f ...

(other artists on this label included

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of " ...

The Pastels The Pastels are an indie rock group from Glasgow formed in 1981. They were a key act of the Scottish and British independent music scenes of the 1980s, and are specifically credited for the development of an independent and confident music scen ...

, Jazz Butcher, and

Mayo Thompson Mayo Thompson (born February 26, 1944 in Houston, Texas, United States) is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the experimental rock band Red Krayola. Background His formal education includes Garden of Arts Kind ...

) during 1989. The band recorded an album for Glass but it remained unreleased due to the label's financial problems, and when the label dissolved, its founder David E. Barker signed The Badgeman to his new venture Paperhouse (along with Walkingseeds, Teenage Fanclub,

Phil Shoenfelt Phil Shoenfelt (born 18 December 1952 in Bradford, England) is an English musician and awarded author who lived for many years in New York City and who now lives in Prague, Czech Republic.Alexiou, Evi (16 May 2020)"Το Τραγούδι της ...

, Don Fleming and Gumball), a subsidiary of

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the la ...

of London. A single, "Crystals", and album, '' Kings of the Desert'', were released in January 1990 to favourable reviews and articles from such journalists as Edwin Pouncey (aka

Savage Pencil Edwin Pouncey (born June 1951), also known by the '' nom de plume'' Savage Pencil, is an English comics artist, musician, and music journalist. Biography As Savage Pencil and otherwise, Pouncey has contributed to magazines such as '' Sounds' ...

) and

Phil McMullen Phil McMullen is a British writer and music journalist. He was the founding editor of '' Ptolemaic Terrascope'' magazine from 1989 until 2005, at which time management of the publication was handed over to Pat Thomas in North America. McMullen c ...

in ''

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 ...

'', '' Melody Maker'', ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'', ''

Ptolemaic Terrascope {{Infobox magazine , image_file = pto.png , image_size = , image_caption = ''Ptolemaic Terrascope'' logo , editor = Phil McMullen (1988–2005) Pat Thomas (2005-07) , editor_title = , staff ...

'', and the first issue of '' Select'' magazine (which awarded the album 4 out of 5). The general critical consensus at the time appeared to describe The Badgeman as a 1960s inspired indie rock band, whilst after one of several plays on his radio show, the DJ John Peel described their single, "Crystals", as "

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

". The band toured Europe in 1990 with Teenage Fanclub. At the end of 1990 The Badgeman recorded four tracks which were to appear during 1991 as the ''Curse of The Badgeman'' EP. This release, according to Moody and Nash in their book ''Endless Beat'', was regarded by the band as a huge step forward artistically. During the same year

Imaginary Records Imaginary Records was an independent record label based in Heywood, Greater Manchester, England, which specialised mainly in indie rock and post-punk. It was started in 1985 by Alan Duffy, known for his lyrical contributions to Porcupine Tree's f ...

(home to The Bachelor Pad,

Cud Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the phy ...

, and

The Mock Turtles The Mock Turtles are an English indie rock band, formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 1985, who enjoyed some success in the early 1990s. Their most famous song " Can You Dig It?", which was released in the UK in 1991, charted at numb ...

) released a version of "

Sister Ray "Sister Ray" is a song by the Velvet Underground that closes side two of their 1968 album ''White Light/White Heat''. The lyrics are by Lou Reed, with music composed by John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker and Reed. The song concerns dr ...

", recorded by The Badgeman during 1990, as part of a three volume tribute to

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

entitled '' Heaven & Hell''. This recording resurfaced during 2010 as part of another VU tribute, ''Unpiecing The Jigsaw'', released by Ozit Records. The final LP by The Badgeman appeared on Paperhouse c. early 1992. Entitled ''

Ritual Landscape Ritual landscapes or ceremonial landscapes are large archaeological areas that were seemingly dedicated to ceremonial purposes in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Most are dated to around 3500–1800 BC, though a mustatil in Arabia has been dated to ...

'', this album was a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release but has since come to be regarded as an artistic triumph. The album's most notable champion, the musician, writer, and historian Julian Cope went so far as to make ''Ritual Landscape'' his Unsung Album Of The Month in December 2007 on his highly regarded Head Heritage Unsung website, describing the band's sound in such terms as "post punk..folk..muscular..heathen racket".Cope, Julian (2007)
Julian Cope's Album of the Month: The Badgeman ''Ritual Landscape''
, headheritage.co.uk, December 2007, retrieved 2011-12-01 The same review appears in Cope's book of collected writings on the subject of obscure or underappreciated rock and roll, Copendium. The cover art features in Andrew Johnstones book ''How The Neolthics Influenced Rock'n'Roll''Johnstone, How The Neolthics Influenced Rock'n'Roll, The band split up shortly after the album's release, with Hancock, Wigglesworth, and Kerley forming Big Bird.

Discography

Albums

*''Kings of the Desert'' (1990), Paperhouse *''Ritual Landscape'' (1992), Paperhouse

Singles

*"Go Insane!" (as 'The Badgeman?')/The Mayfields - "All You Ever Say" (1988), Compact & Bijou - flexi disc *"Crystals" (1990), Paperhouse *''Curse of The Badgeman'' EP (1991), Paperhouse *"English Road Song" (1992), Paperhouse

Compilation Appearances

*'' Heaven & Hell - A Tribute to The Velvet Underground, Vol.3'' including "Sister Ray" (as 'Badgeman') (1990), Imaginary *''Unpiecing The Jigsaw'' (2009), Ozit

References

*''Select'' Magazine - issue 1 - July 1990

External links

The Badgeman
free MP3 downloads available at Fire Records online store.

Free Badgeman downloads

Big Bird and Original Howling Gods on Soundcloud {{DEFAULTSORT:Badgeman, The English indie rock groups British shoegaze musical groups Musical groups from Wiltshire