23 Skidoo (band)
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23 Skidoo are a British band playing a fusion of
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
,
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 ...
,
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, and world music.


History

Formed in 1979 by Fritz Catlin, Johnny Turnbull and Sam Mills, and later augmented by Alex Turnbull and Tom Heslop, 23 Skidoo had interests in martial arts,
Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
and
Kodo __NOTOC__ Kodo may refer to: Japan * ''Kōdō'' (香道), ceremonial appreciation of incense * Nippon Kodo (日本香堂), an incense company * Kodō (taiko group) (鼓童), a ''taiko'' drumming group * Kodo-kai (弘道会), a yakuza criminal orga ...
drumming, Fela Kuti,
The Last Poets The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who bel ...
,
William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
, as well as the emerging confluence of
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
,
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 ...
and
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, heard in artists such as
A Certain Ratio A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 in Flixton, Greater Manchester by Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), with additional members Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin ...
, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire,
The Pop Group The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crosse ...
and
This Heat This Heat were an English experimental rock band, formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Wil ...
. Their first 7", "Ethics", was released in 1980, followed by "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" & "Last Words" 12" single which was co-produced by
Stephen Mallinder Stephen William Mallinder (born 1 January 1955) is an English artist and musician who was a founding member of Cabaret Voltaire, and went on to work as Sassi & Loco, the Ku-Ling Bros., Hey, Rube!, Wrangler, and Creep Show. Biography Mallinder ...
, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson from Cabaret Voltaire at their studio, The Western Works in Sheffield. A Peel Session was recorded on 16 September 1981. Their début album, ''Seven Songs'', was released in 1982 and is said to evoke the claustrophobic humidity of an African forest. The album went straight to number 1 in the Independent charts. ''Seven Songs'', which was recorded and mixed in three days, was co-produced by Tony, Terry and David, aka Genesis P-Orridge, and Peter Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV and engineer Ken Thomas. A hastily executed EP, ''Tearing Up The Plans,'' was produced in the absence of the Turnbull brothers, who were travelling in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. The personality clashes that arose from this experiment resulted in guitarist Sam Mills and vocalist Tom Heslop leaving the band soon after. The band performed for the first time as a three piece, joined onstage by David Tibet of Current 93, at the first WOMAD festival. This live performance would go on to become the first side of the band's most challenging release, '' The Culling Is Coming,'' which also features Skidoo's exploration into gamelan on side two. The album resulted in the band being criticised for being 'too abstract'. 1984 saw the arrival of bassist Peter "Sketch" Martin following the break-up of
Linx Linx or LINX may refer to: * Linx Cargo Care Group, Australian logistics company * Linx (railway company), a now defunct Norwegian-Swedish railway company * Linx (software house), a Brazilian business management software company * LINX (IPC), a ...
. Skidoo recruited Aswad's horn section for the "Coup" 12", which featured samples from Francis Ford Coppola's ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...
'' and which was interpolated from their track "Fuck You G.I." from the album ''Urban Gamelan'' (1984). ''Urban Gamelan'' features Sketch on side one and, on side two, the original three piece line-up experimenting with metal percussion using patterns inspired by gamelan. After having been evicted from their rehearsal space at Genesis P-Orridge's "Death Factory" the band shifted their focus towards hip hop and turned their attention to production and building a studio, Precinct 23. In 1987 they released a compilation album, ''Just Like Everybody,'' featuring work from this period. In 1987 the Turnbull brothers formed the Ronin label and released '' Jailbreak'' by
Paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
, widely regarded as one of the first breakbeat records, as well as tracks by British photographer
Normski Norman Anderson (born 1966) better known as Normski, is a British "broadcaster, photographer … DJ", and rapper, known for his work as a BBC television presenter. Early life Anderson was born in northwest London. He was given his first camera ...
and MC FORCE. In its later incarnation, Ronin released material by Deckwrecka,
Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...
, Skitz, Mud Family and
Rodney P Rodney Panton, also known as Rodney P (born in Balham, London, 12 December 1969) is an English MC, as well as a radio and television personality who first gained attention via the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. A former member of UK hip-hop gro ...
amongst others. They signed to
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
in 1991 and were able to build a new studio with their advance. In 2000 they released a self-titled LP, which featured contributions from Pharoah Sanders and Roots Manuva. This was followed by a compilation of singles, ''The Gospel Comes To New Guinea'' in 2002, and for the first time on CD, reissues of ''Seven Songs'' and ''Urban Gamelan''. In 2008 the expanded catalogue CD reissues were issued by LTM, who also issued a double-vinyl edition of ''Seven Songs'' in 2012. This issue featured the 1981
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
session and 12" versions of "Last Words" and "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea". In November 2013, the band played the final holiday camp edition of the
All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...
festival in Camber Sands, England. In 2012 Alex Turnbull co-directed ''Beyond Time'', a documentary film about his artist father William Turnbull. The film was narrated by
Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary Césa ...
and scored by 23 Skidoo with both new and old material. The soundtrack album (packaged with a DVD of the film) was released by
Les Disques Du Crépuscule Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium. The label was founded in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee Ja ...
in 2014.


Discography

Chart placings shown are from the
UK Indie 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

* '' Seven Songs'' (1982 – Fetish, reissued on CD (2001) Ronin) (#1) * '' The Culling Is Coming'' (1983 – Operation Twilight, reissued (1988) L.A.Y.L.A.H., (2003) Boutique) (#8) * ''Urban Gamelan'' – (1984 – Illuminated, reissued on CD (2001) Ronin) (#1) * ''23 Skidoo'' (2000 – 2xLP & CD) * ''Beyond Time'' (2015 – Crepuscule, CD+DVD & LP+DVD)


EPs

* ''Tearing Up The Plans'' – 12" (1982) Fetish (#16)


Singles

* "Ethics" 7" (1980) Pineapple (#47) * "Last Words" – 7" & 12" (1981) Fetish * "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" 12" (1981) Fetish, reissued on CD (2002) * "Coup" – 12" (1984) Illuminated (#3) * "Language" – 12" (1984) Illuminated (#6) * ''23 Skidoo vs. The Assassins With Soul'' – 12" (1986) Illuminated (#15) * 400 Blows / 23 Skidoo "Assemblage" – 12" (1986) * ''Sulphuric Beats '88'' – 12" (1988) * "Ayu" – 12", W/Lbl, Promo (2000) * "Dawning" – 12" & CD (2000) * "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" / "Coup" – 12" (2001)


Compilations

* '' Just Like Everybody '' (1987) Bleeding Chin (#29) * '' Just Like Everybody Part Two '' CD (2002)


Videos

* '' Seven Songs / Tranquiliser I & II'' – VHS (1984)


Notes


References

*Reynolds, Simon (2005). ''Rip it up & Start Again: Postpunk 1978–84''. Faber. .
Skidoo official website



Discogs.com listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:23 Skidoo Alternative dance musical groups British industrial music groups English post-punk music groups Virgin Records artists