The Cravats are an English punk rock

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

originally from

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

, England, founded in 1977. The 'classic' line up of Robin Dallaway (vocals, guitar), The Shend (vocals, bass guitar), Svor Naan (saxophone) and Dave Bennett (drums) remained constant between March/April 1978 until the close of 1982. Lead vocals in the original incarnation of the band were shared between Dallaway and The Shend. A reformed version of The Cravats including original members The Shend (vocals) and Svor Naan (saxophone), with Rampton Garstang (drums) has been performing since August 2009 and, since 2013 has included Viscount Biscuits (guitar) and Joe 91 (bass guitar).

History

The Cravats were founded in 1977 by Robin Dallaway (vocals, guitar) and The Shend (bass guitar), with Martin Seys (guitar, vocals) and John 'Ethos' Yapp (drums). Svor Naan (saxophone) replaced Seys at the close of 1977. Ethos Yapp left shortly after this line up recorded the first single, "Gordon", in March 1978 and was replaced by Dave Bennett (drums). The first single by the Cravats was the self-financed "Gordon", released in 1978. On 31 July 1979, they recorded their first session for the John Peel show on

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, ...

. Soon after, they received a recording contract with

Small Wonder Records Small Wonder Records was a British independent record label owned and managed by Pete and Mari Stennett, that specialised in releasing records by punk rock and post-punk bands. It operated out of a record shop of the same name at 162 Hoe Stre ...

. Three further Peel Sessions followed on 6 October 1980, 18 August 1981 and 15 November 1982. A first album, ''In Toytown'', was released in 1980. The band had a rest at the end of 1982 although a second Cravats LP, ''The Colossal Tunes Out'', was released in 1983 on the Corpus Christi label. Dallaway and The Shend formed The Very Things, as well as DCL Locomotive and The Babymen - the latter two had originally featured Svor Naan on guitar. A final release by Dallaway and The Shend as The Cravats DCL was ''The Land of the Giants'' EP (1985), but this incarnation did not include either Naan, who had joined Pigbros, or Bennett who had joined The

Poison Girls The Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band from Brighton. The singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, often from an anarchist pers ...

Reformation

In 2006, a double CD compilation of Cravats singles and other material was released as ''The Land Of The Giants - The Best Of The Jazz-Punk Colossals'' on Overground Records. Included on this compilation is a new track "Seance" created with

Paul Hartnoll Paul Hartnoll (born 19 May 1968) is one of two brothers (the other being Phil Hartnoll) who make up the electronic dance act Orbital. History Hartnoll played in a local band during the mid-1980s, Noddy and the Satellites, featuring clarinetis ...

of Orbital which was also released as a single. Seance was the last Cravats release with Dallaway as lead vocalist. The Cravats' original members, The Shend and Naan, put together a "live ensemble" for the Rebellion Festival in August 2009. This "live ensemble" continued to play live with gigs in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, and further appearances at Rebellion in August 2010, 2011, and 2012, at the Incubate Festival in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

, All Tomorrows Parties and, as special guests of Steve Ignorant (

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestylism, way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the ...

) at his final "Last Supper" show at the

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

. The Cravats' first LP, ''The Cravats In Toytown'', was reissued in 2012 in both vinyl LP and CD formats. The CD version includes all five singles (A & B sides) originally released by Small Wonder including the band's first single "Gordon"/"Situations Vacant". It is accompanied by an additional CD with a complete remoulding of the original ''In Toytown'' 8 track masters by Penny Rimbaud (Crass). On 11 March 2016, The Cravats released "Jingo Bells"/"Batterhouse", a limited edition 7" released on Overground Records. This was the first product of their new invigorated current incarnation of The Shend (vocals), Svor Naan (saxophone), Rampton Garstang (drums), Viscount Biscuits (guitar) and Joe 91 (bass guitar). The Cravats' third album, ''Dustbin of Sound'', followed on Overground Records in October 2017. The band continue to receive enthusiastic reviews and regular radio plays including by Gideon Coe,

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Ta ...

and

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Roll ...

. In May 2020 The Cravats' fourth album, ''Hoorahland,'' was released also on Overground Records. On this album the song 'Now The Magic Has Gone' features a guest performance from Jello Biafra. In 2020 Overground Records reissued ''The Colossal Tunes Out'' on vinyl only.

Discography

Chart placings are from the

UK Independent Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

Albums

* ''The Cravats in Toytown'' (October 1980, Small Wonder, CRAVAT 1) No. 19 ereleased 2015, Overground Records* ''The Colossal Tunes Out'' (1983, Corpus Christi, CHRIST IT'S 8) ereleased 2020, Overground Records * ''Dustbin of Sound'' (2017, Overground Records) * ''Hoorahland'' (2020, Overground Records)

Compilation albums

* ''The Land of the Giants'' (November 2006, Overground Records, OVER 112VP)

Singles

* "Gordon"/"Situations Vacant" (September 1978, Cravats, 7", CH 004, Small Wonder stamped on some copies) * "Burning Bridges"/"I Hate the Universe"/"The End" (June 1979, Small Wonder, 7", SMALL 15) * "Precinct"/"Who's in Here with Me" (August 1980, Small Wonder, 7" SMALL 24) No. 3 9 * "Firemen"/"A Flux in 3D: Divide" (March, 1981, Split Flexi Disc, issued free with Dutch magazine Vinyl) * "You're Driving Me"/"I Am the Dreg" (March 1981, Small Wonder, 7", SMALL 25) * "Off the Beach"/"And the Sun Shone" (November 1981, Small Wonder, 7", SMALL 26) * "Terminus"/"Little Yellow Froggy" (February 1982, Glass Records, 7", GLASS 021) * "Rub Me Out"/"When Will We Fall" (July 1982, Crass Records, 7", 221984/4) No. 15 * "In the Land of the Giants" (February 1986, Reflex, 12", 12RE 10) No. 44 * "Seance" (with

) (2006, Caroline True Records) * "Jingo Bells"/"Batterhouse" (March 2016, Overground Records) * "Blurred"/"Bigband" (2016, Overground Records) *"Shy"/"Good for You" (2019, Overground Records)

References

External links

The Cravats official website

The Cravats official archive website

Comprehensive Cravats/Very Things Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cravats, The English punk rock groups English post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Musical groups from the West Midlands (region) Glass Records artists