The Cortinas were a

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

-based punk rock band, originally active between 1976 and 1978. Guitarist

Nick Sheppard Nick Sheppard is a British guitarist. He played lead guitar for The Clash from 1983 until the band's breakup in 1986. Life and career Sheppard was educated at Bristol Grammar School, one of Bristol's leading public schools, and was in the same ...

went on to play with

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

. In 2001, the band's debut single, "Fascist Dictator" (originally released in June 1977), was included in a leading British music magazine's list of the best punk-rock singles of all-time.

Biography

Named after a car, the

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fiv ...

, the band moved from R&B towards covering songs by punk forerunners like the New York Dolls and

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...

. The band developed a large and enthusiastic following in their hometown. Unfortunately, their growing popularity began to attract a great deal of crowd trouble. The band were also frequent visitors to London and became one of the pioneering punk bands that played live in the first few months of the Roxy Club. They supported

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

in January 1977 and then headlined twice the following month. The Cortinas headlined the Roxy again in March and April, supported by

The Models The Models (credited also as Models) were a short-lived punk band formed in Harrow, London, England. It consisted of Cliff Fox on vocals and guitar, Marco Pirroni on guitar, Mick Allen on bass and Terry Day (Terry Lee Miall) on drums. Pirron ...

on both occasions. In June 1977 they had their first headlining show at the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...

. Later they played as support act for Blondie and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. The Cortinas' first two singles, "Fascist Dictator" and "Defiant Pose", were released by Step Forward, the label run by

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

manager Miles Copeland and Mark Perry. On 16 July 1977, a few weeks after releasing "Fascist Dictator", the band recorded a session at Maida Vale 4 studio, for John Peel at

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. The track listing was "Defiant Pose", "Television Families", "Having It", and "Further Education". Later the Cortinas signed for

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

and released one album, ''True Romances''. One critic described the album as "disappointing" but rescued from "bland oblivion" by "cheeky tracks such as "Ask Mr. Waverly" and "I Trust

Valerie Singleton Valerie Singleton (born 9 April 1937) is an English television and radio presenter best known as a regular presenter of the popular children's series ''Blue Peter'' from 1962 to 1972. She also presented the BBC Radio 4 '' PM'' programme for t ...

". Another called it a mix of "rock'n’roll, R&B and pop-rock" and therefore "much more mainstream in style and delivery" than the Step Forward singles.Joynson, V. (2001) ''Up Yours! A Guide to UK Punk, New Wave & Early Post Punk'', Borderline Productions, Wolverhampton, p. 95; This was a view echoed by Wilson Neate of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

: "Having begun life under the spell of '60s R&B and garage rock, the Cortinas soon emerged as Bristol's premiere punk band, injecting a speedy, shouty, confrontational edge into their sound for their first two singles ("Fascist Dictator" and "Defiant Pose"). By the time of their 1978 debut album for CBS, however, they had re-embraced their formative influences and added a more pop-friendly dimension... ''True Romances'' sounds more befitting of a bunch of middle-aged pub rockers than five teenage punk rockers". The Cortinas Bristol June 1977

Post band careers

* Guitarist

went on to play with Bristol

showband The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and ...

The Spics before joining the final embodiment of

where he played on their 6th studio album ''

Cut The Crap ''Cut the Crap'' is the sixth and final studio album by English punk band the Clash, released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records. It was recorded in early 1985 at Weryton Studios, Munich, following a turbulent period: co-founder, lead guitar ...

''. He also played with Head. Sheppard moved to Perth, Australia in 1993, and has formed/played in two local bands, Heavy Smoker and the New Egyptian Kings with Shakir Pichler. Sheppard owns the Elroy clothing store on Beaufort Street in Mount Lawley. * Guitarist Mike Fewings went on to play with other Bristol bands Colortapes and

Essential Bop Essential Bop were an English, Bristol-based post-punk/art band, formed in early 1978 by Dave Robinson (who had played bass with Champion Jack Dupree and Joe Cocker), with an initial line-up of Steve Bush (singer, originally in The Biros), Mike ...

. * Bass guitarist

Dexter Dalwood Dexter Dalwood (born 1960) is a British artist based in London. Biography From 1981 until 1985 Dalwood attended Saint Martin's School of Art in London and, from 1988 until 1990, the Royal College of Art, London. Before becoming an artist he wa ...

went on to become a painter, earning representation from

Gagosian Gallery Gagosian is a contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. The gallery exhibits some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. There are 16 gallery spaces: five in New York City; three in London; two in P ...

, and a nomination for the 2010

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

. * Jeremy Valentine is currently a lecturer in Media at

Queen Margaret University Queen Margaret University is a university, founded in 1875 and located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Scottish Queen Saint Margaret. History The university was founded in 1875, as ''The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic ...

in Edinburgh, Scotland. * Daniel Swan moved to the United States and played with the Sneetches. In the early nineties, he worked for Cahn-Man Management in Oakland California who at the time managed Green Day, Jawbreaker and 510 records (Dance Hall Crashers). In 1998 he founde
Swan Entertainment
a booking agency based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cortinas Aklam Hall London July 1977

Discography

Studio album

* ''True Romances'' (CBS, 82831, April 1978)

Singles

* "Fascist Dictator"/"Television Families" (Step Forward, SF 1, June 1977) * "Defiant Pose"/"Independence" (Step Forward, SF 6, December 1977) Also released as a 12-inch single * "Heartache"/"Ask Mr. Waverly" (CBS, CBS 6759, November 1978)

Compilation

* ''Mk.1'' (Bristol Archive, 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortinas, The English punk rock groups Musical groups from Bristol Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1978 1976 establishments in England