Vic Godard (born Victor John Napper) is an English singer-songwriter formerly of the punk group Subway Sect. He is now also a solo performer, while continuing to appear with various incarnations of Subway Sect.

Biography

Born Victor John Napper in Mortlake, Surrey, Godard was raised in nearby Barnes, London.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 75-6 In 1976, Godard formed Subway Sect with three other fans of the

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at the suggestion of Sex Pistols manager

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, who wanted another band for the line-up of the

100 Club Punk Festival The 100 Club Punk Special (sometimes referred to as the 100 Club Punk Festival) was a two-day event held at the 100 Club venue in Oxford Street, London, England on 20 and 21 September 1976. The gig showcased eight punk rock bands, most of which ...

. Despite their inexperience, Subway Sect made a successful debut at the festival and were taken on by Clash manager

Bernie Rhodes Bernard Rhodes is a designer, band manager, studio owner, record producer and songwriter who was integral to the development of the punk rock scene in the United Kingdom from the middle 1970s. He is most associated with two of the UK's best kn ...

. They appeared with The Clash on the White Riot Tour in 1977 and released their debut single, "Nobody's Scared"/"Don't Split It", in March 1978. While recording their debut album at

Gooseberry Studios Gooseberry Sound Studios, also known as just Gooseberry Studios, were recording studios at 19 Gerrard Street, Chinatown, London, located in a cellar underneath a dental practice. The studio was owned by Peter Houghton and was known in its earl ...

, Rhodes suddenly fired the entire band except for Godard. Two tracks from the album's recording sessions, "Ambition"/"Different Story", were released by

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

; the single was a major hit on the alternative charts. Godard re-formed Subway Sect in 1980 with new musicians and signed to MCA Records sublabel Oddball, releasing the album ''What's The Matter Boy?'' Following a summer tour with

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

, Subway Sect disbanded again. Guitarist Johnny Britten formed a rockabilly band with Chris Bostock,

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, Rob Marche and DC Collard, but was soon forced to leave the group, at which point Godard stepped in to take his place. They recorded the album ''Songs For Sale'' in 1981, but were disappointed with the results and disbanded soon after; members of the band, without Godard, went on to form JoBoxers. Godard also recorded an LP at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a renowned British independent commercial recording studio based in Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st century, including Jimi Hendr ...

, called ''T.R.O.U.B.L.E.'', with a group of London jazz musicians known as Working Week, which was eventually released two years later by

. In the mid-1980s, Godard retired from music and became a postman. In 1990, Godard wrote the song "Johnny Thunders", a tribute inspired by reading an obituary of the New York Dolls guitarist. It was recorded at the home of Paul Baker, a fellow postman. Godard also recorded ten other tracks and the recordings, with Paul Cook on drums, eventually became the album ''The End of the Surrey People''. Produced by Edwyn Collins, it was released on the Postcard Records label. Collins' group Orange Juice had made the Subway Sect song "Holiday Hymn" a feature of their set in the early 1980s. Later in the 1990s, Godard formed the band The Long Decline with Kenny Wisdom and Mark Perry. The band released an album on the Overground label before disbanding in 1998, but re-formed in 2000 with Godard, Wisdom, Lee McFadden, and Mina Sassoon, among others. Godard contributed guitar and some songwriting, but not lead vocals, In 1998, Godard released the album ''Long Term side-Effect'' on Tugboat Records. A 2002 album recorded by Godard, ''Sansend'', was released under the name Subway Sect, rather than his own. Godard's label Motion Records released ''Singles Anthology'' in 2005, compiling all the A-sides and B-sides from Godard's career. In 2007, as Subway Sect, Godard recorded the songs that had been intended for the debut LP back in 1978, and released them as ''1978 Now''. The line-up includes original drummer Mark Laff as well as original bass player Paul Myers on some tracks. Godard has also contributed to tracks by

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, who acted as his backing band (as Subway Sect) for nine years.McFadden, Lee (2006)
IN PROFILE: The Bitter Springs
", '' The Morning Star'', 7 January 2006 In 2009 Godard recorded ''We Come As Aliens'' for Overground records (with a vinyl edition on GNU Inc) with Subway Sect, as well as an EP with Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh called ''Blackpool''. 2012 saw Godard & Subway Sect touring the UK & Europe extensively, while also recording ''1979 Now'' with Edwyn Collins. 2013 included a collaborative tour with the Sexual Objects (featuring Davy Henderson of

The Fire Engines The Fire Engines were a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The Fire Engines were an influence on many bands that followed, including Franz Ferdinand and The Rapture, with Meat Whiplash and The Candyskins both taking their names from Fire ...

) and two BBC sessions with Marc Riley. He released the 7" only single "Caught in Midstream" / "(You Bring Out) The Demon in Me". 2014 began with the release of ''30 Odd Years'' a 45 track box-set on Godard's own GNU Inc records. Godard remains a busy and creative artist, but no more popular (or better) than he was 40 years ago.

Discography

with Subway Sect

Vic Godard and Subway Sect

Albums

*''What's the Matter Boy?'' (1980), Oddball/MCA *''Songs For Sale'' (1982), London *''We Come As Aliens'' (2010), Overground *''1979 Now!'' (2014), Gnu ;Compilations: *''A Retrospective (1977–81)'' (1985), Rough Trade *''Twenty Odd Years – The Story of...'' (1999), Motion *''Singles Anthology'' (2005), Motion *''Live in Stereo'' (2009), GNU Inc *''Peel Sessions'' (2011), GNU Inc *''Live + Rare Vol 2'' (2012) GNU Inc *''30 Odd Years'' (2014), GNU Inc

Singles

*"Split Up the Money" (1980), Oddball/MCA *"Stop That Girl" (1981), Rough Trade *"Stamp of a Vamp" (1981), Club Left *"Hey Now (I'm in Love)" (1982), London *"Johnny Thunders" (1992), Rough Trade *"Won't Turn Back" (1993), Postcard *"No Love Now" (1996), Garcia s 'Spirit of the Sect'*"Place We Used to Love" (1999), Creeping Bent *"Caught in Midstream" (2013), AED

Vic Godard

Albums

*''T.R.O.U.B.L.E.'' (1986), Rough Trade *''End of the Surrey People'' (1993), Postcard *''Long Term side-Effect'' (1998), Tugboat *''In T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Again'' (2002), Tugboat

Singles

*"Holiday Hymn" (1985), El *"Blackpool" (2010), GNU Inc s 'Vic Godard & Irvine Welsh'*"Better Not Turn On", download (2012) ith Georgio Valentino*"Vic to Vic" (2013), Famelic

ith Mates Mates The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

References

External links

Vic Godard and The Subway Sect Official Homepage. New live dates, bio, video, audio, News and ongoing archive

* ttp://www.vicgodard.co.uk/sniffin_glue_int.html Original Subway Sect interview in Sniffin Glue
30 Odd Years Boxset – Vic Godard

2014 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godard, Vic Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English punk rock singers English male singers Singers from London Subway Sect members