Bogshed were an Indie band formed in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England, in 1985 by Phil Hartley (vocals), Mark McQuaid (guitar), Mike Bryson (bass) and Tristan King (drums). They released two albums, two EPs and two singles before splitting up in 1987. Bogshed were noted for their caustic lyrics that reflected an "everyday lunacy" and their primitive Captain Beefheart influenced music, described in 2022 as "the musical equivalent of poisoning the water hole".Marsden, Rhodri.
‘Between hilarity and severity’: how Bogshed transfixed a cult audience
. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 15 November 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022

Career

The band formed in early 1984 and comprised Phil Hartley (vocals), Mark McQuaid (guitar), Mike Bryson (bass guitar), and Tris King (drums).Henderson, Dave (1986) "Bog Shed: Toilet Humour", '' Sounds'', 11 January 1986, p. 6-7 Bryson also produced the cover art for the band's releases. The name came from a misheard line in a song, with Hartley explaining "I like the way that the mouth moves when you say Bog Shed". They were helped initially by The Membranes, leading to several performances in London, and the band's first release was the ''Let Them Eat Bogshed'' EP on John Robb's Vinyl Drip label in 1985. By the time of this release, the band had already played around 35 concerts and, according to Hartley, written between 80 and 100 songs. Not really sounding like anyone before or since, they had much in common with some of the bands on the '' Ron Johnson'' label. Bryson explained their approach to songwriting: "We start out being totally out of order and out of key and we turn things like that into a pop song. Most people try to do it the other way round." Their song "Hand Me Down Father" was voted in 1985 to position #65 by the John Peel radio show audience in the 1985 Festive Fifty, a year in which the top 70 voted songs of the year were aired. They released two albums and several singles as well as recording five Peel Sessions, before splitting in 1987. Two of these sessions, from 1986, were issued on the ''Tried and Tested Public Speaker'' EP in January 1987, described by Liz Evans in ''Underground'' as "a mixture of throbbing, jogging rhythm and a bleating voice which rolls those words around and spits them out with plenty of spleen and bile".Evans, Liz (1987) "Bogshed ''Tried and Tested Public Speaker''", ''Underground'', April 1987, p. 18 Bogshed appeared on ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''s '' C86'' compilation. The term ''shambling'' was coined by John Peel to describe their sound although the term later became more commonly used to describe bands such as The Pastels.

Post Bogshed

Phil Hartley recorded a solo Peel Session in 1988. He died on 11 October 2006.Canty, Ian.
Bogshed – an appreciation of wonk genius
. Louder than War. Retrieved 4 December 2022 Tris King died of brain cancer on 21 December 2008. Bryson recorded under the name of Forkeyes. A split mini-album 'Vier Mit Vier', with tracks by electronic musician Marcus H (Soiled) and Forkeyes was released in 2012 on Elm Lodge Records. He died in November 2022. A boxset - ''Bog-Set'' - consisting of all their commercially released tracks plus Peel Sessions and various out-takes from Melodic Records is scheduled for release in December 2022.

Discography

(chart placings shown are from the UK Independent Chart)Lazell, Barry:"Indie Hits 1980-1989", 1997, Cherry Red Books,

Singles

*''Let Them Eat Bogshed'' EP (1985, Vinyl Drip) No. 8 # "Panties Please" # "Spencer Travis" # "Fat Lad Exam Failure" # "Slave Girls" # "City Girls" # "Hand Me Down Father" *"Morning Sir" (1986, Shelfish) No. 2 # "Morning Sir" #"The Story of Bogshed" *''Tried and Tested Public Speaker (The Peel Session)'' EP (1987, Shelfish) No. 13 # "Tried And Tested Public Speaker" # "Champion Love Shoes" # "Little Grafter" # "Morning Sir" # "Fastest Legs" # "Adventure of Dog" *"Excellent Girl" (1987, Shelfish) No. 30 # "Excellent Girl" # "True Rope" *"Stop Revolving" (1988, Shelfish) (only a few copies were released)

Albums

*''Step on It'' (1986, Shelfish) No. 4 *''Brutal'' (1987, Shelfish) No. 20

References

Sources

* Robb, John. ''Death to Trad Rock''. Cherry Red Books, 2010. * Tassell, Nige. ''Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? An Indie Odyssey''. London: Nine Eight, 2023.

External links

Bog-Shed Fan Site

Mike Bryson music project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogshed English indie rock groups