The Bolshoi were an English

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based music group prominent mostly in the mid to late 1980s. They are best known for the hits "Sunday Morning" and "A way" or "Away" (the name is interchangeable and has been noted as both on different albums/singles).

History

The band formed in 1984 in

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southe ...

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 ...

, England. The original lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Graham Cox. Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow, where Trevor performed as Trevor Flynn (his mother's maiden name). Early gigs supported the likes of

the Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...

the March Violets The March Violets are an English post-punk/gothic rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echo-laden electric guitar, much in the style of fellow Leeds band the Sisters of Mercy. Seven ...

and

the Lords of the New Church The Lords of the New Church were an English/American supergroup with a line-up originally consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex- the Dead Boys), guitarist Brian James (ex- the Da ...

. After eight gigs bass player Graham Cox was replaced by Nick Chown. In 1985, the band released their debut single, "Sob Story", followed by the mini-album, ''Giants'', and their hit song "Happy Boy". Word of mouth was such that the Bolshoi were able to sell out many of their early headlining performances. The band moved to London in 1985, and their line-up expanded to include Paul Clark on keyboards (born 12 June 1962,

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 ...

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). In 1986, they released their first full-length album, ''Friends'', and expanded their touring schedule to the U.S.,

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and Poland. It was followed in 1987 by the album ''Lindy's Party'', on which the sound was more pop-oriented. TC Wall, reviewing the album in ''Underground'' magazine, described ''Lindy's Party'' as "completely confident, commercial, professional, and dangerously catchy" and "a fine album that'll be caressed for generations."Wall, TC (1987) "The Bolshoi ''Lindy's Party''", ''Underground'', October 1987, Issue 7, p. 11 Stylistically, the Bolshoi was difficult to categorize. The band has been described as a proto-goth band, similar in their live act to fellow Beggars Banquet signees,

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

. Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness. After the release of ''Lindy's Party'', the band recorded a fourth album, but problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded as the 1980s drew to a close. The previously unreleased fourth album, titled ''Country Life'', had been lost for years, but has now been resurrected by Beggars Banquet with extensive help from Tanner's current record label-head and Creative Director, David Paul Wyatt Perko. This new release is now available as one of five CDs in Beggar's 5-CD box set, put out via Beggar's imprint, Arkive. In December 2018, the Bolshoi's official Facebook page announced that Bolshoi frontman, Trevor Tanner, and Bolshoi keyboardist, Paul Clark, were developing a new project, tentatively titled, The Bolshoi Brothers.

Discography

Studio Albums

1985: GIANTS # Fly (3:54) # Sliding Seagulls (4:52) # Hail Mary (4:12) # Giants (4:56) # Happy Boy (Original Mix) (6:07) # By The River (5:45) Bonus Tracks # Foxes (3:16) # M.F.P. (4:39) # Billy's New Boots (5:18) # Sob Story (4:07) # Amsterdam (2:56) # Crosstown Traffic (3:36) # Boxes (3:31) # Holiday By The Sea (4:41) # Away (Demo) (5:02) # Sunday Morning (Demo) (5:43) # Books On The Bonfire (Demo) (5:11) 1986: FRIENDS # Away (4:57) # Modern Man (5:39) # Someone's Daughter (3:54) # Sunday Morning (6:35) # Looking For A Life To Lose (4:44) # Romeo In Clover (Call Girls) (5:39) # Books On The Bonfire (4:59) # Pardon Me (4:37) # Fat And Jealous (4:11) # Waspy (5:13) Bonus Tracks # A Funny Thing... (3:53) # Boss (4:13) # Razzle Dazzle (5:00) # Black Black Black (3:13) # Toys Xmas Party (2:44) # Pardon Me (Demo) (3:58) # Fat And Jealous (Demo) (3:14) 1987: LINDY'S PARTY # Auntie Jean (5:02) # Please (3:39) # Crack In Smile (6:09) # Swings And Roundabouts (3:51) # She Don't Know (4:56) # T.V. Man (4:39) # Can You Believe It (4:32) # Rainy Day (3:37) # Barrowlands (3:55) # Lindy's Party (5:45) Bonus Tracks # Please (12" Single Mix) (6:39) # West Of London Town (5:29) # T.V. Man (7" Single Edit) (3:38) # Strawberries And Cream (3:55) # I'm Depressed (We All Die) (4:25) 1988: COUNTRY LIFE (released 2015) # World In Action (3:54) # Under The Shed (3:32) # What's Your Favourite Coulour (4:36) # Country Life (5:25) # We Don't Want Him Here (3:35) # Boy From The Nursery World (4:06) # Long Tall Sally In A Black Dress (4:32) # Too Late (6:05) # Out There In The Distance (6:32) # Castaway (5:47) # Delores Jones (6:03) # Yee Hee (4:55) # Madame Hecate (5:34) # Last Chance For The Slow Dance (4:19) # Everything Is Done For You Today (5:44)

Compilations

*1990: ''Bigger Giants'' (Beggars Banquet Records) *1999: ''A Way - Best of the Bolshoi'' (Beggars Banquet Records) *2006: ''A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box'' (Rhino Records) *2015: ''The Bolshoi 5 CD Box Set'' (The Arkive)

Singles

*1985: "Sob Story" *1985: "Giants" *1985: "Happy Boy" *1986: "Books on the Bonfire" *1986: "Away" *1986: "Sunday Morning" *1987: "T.V. Man" *1987: "Away II" *1987: "Please"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolshoi, The English post-punk music groups English gothic rock groups English alternative rock groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Musical groups from Wiltshire Situation Two artists Beggars Banquet Records artists I.R.S. Records artists