Portion Control are a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

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 ...

band from

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, formed in 1979. The original incarnation of the group existed until 1987; they reformed in 2002. The band pioneered the use of sampling and were acclaimed for their use of the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

based Greengate DS3 sampling and

sequencing In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...

system. They have been cited as an influence on

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...

, Orbital and

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

History

Portion Control formed in 1979 with a line-up of Dean Piavani, Ian Sharp and John Whybrew. The trio's first release, the cassette-only ''A Fair Portion'' (including Andy Wilson of

the Passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...

on bass), was issued in 1980 by Ladelled Music, followed by three further cassettes on In Phaze Records, ''Gaining Momentum'' and '' Private Illusions No 1'' (both 1981) and ''With Mixed Emotion'' (1982). Their first full-length vinyl release, ''I Staggered Mentally'', was released 22 November 1982 by In Phaze. The album marked the beginning of the band's underground recognition and was noted for its use of the distinctive

Roland TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

many years before the sound became popularized by

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

and

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

music. With the release in 1983 of ''Step Forward'', the band branched into a more melodic sound, earning them a supporting role in

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

's 1984 tour. In January 1984, Portion Control recorded a

Peel Session 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 ...

.BBC John Peel Sessions - Portion Control
Retrieved 4 November 2006. In 1987, the band ended.

Solar Enemy

All three founding members reorganized in 1990 as Solar Enemy. The band released two albums on

Third Mind Records ''Third Mind Records'' was a British independent record label, founded in February 1983 by Gary Levermore. Name The label derived its name from the book ''The Third Mind'', a work compiled by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs and art ...

and T.E.Q. Music respectively, with some songs that did some reasonable business in the clubscene at the time. Solar Enemy ceased activity in 1993.

Re-formation

Piavanni and Whybrew reformed Portion Control in 2002, and self-released their first reunion album, ''Wellcome'', in 2004.

Influences and style

Author S. Alexander Reed, in his book ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', said that Portion Control's early sound "blends innocuously with the moodier moments of Cabaret Voltaire and

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...

", and at times "demonstrated a gift for gritty, teethgrinding distortion, not unlike

Esplendor Geometrico Esplendor Geométrico is a Spanish industrial band. The band was formed in the early 1980s by Arturo Lanz, Gabriel Riaza, and Juan Carlos Sastre, who had all been members of El Aviador Dro y sus Obreros Especializados. They took the name "Geomet ...

". The band described their early approach to music as "electropunk", with Whybrew explaining "Our background is punk--any kind of slightly hippyish notion left us cold."

Members

;Current * Dean Piavanni (1979-1987, 2002–present) * John Whybrew (1979-1987, 2002–present) ;Former * Ian Sharp (1979-1987) *Andrew Johnson (1979-1980)

Discography as Portion Control

Studio albums

*''A Fair Portion'' cassette-only (1980, Ladelled Music) *''Gaining Momentum'' cassette-only (1981, In Phaze Records) *''Private Illusions No 1'' cassette-only (1981, In Phaze Records) *''With Mixed Emotion'' cassette-only (1982, In Phaze Records) *''I Staggered Mentally'' (1982, In Phaze Records) *''Shot in the Belly'' cassette-only (1983, Third Mind Records) *''..Step Forward'' (1984, Illuminated Records) *''Psycho-Bod Saves the World'' (1986, Dead Man's Curve) *''Wellcome'' (2004, self-released) *''Dissolve'' (2004, Catalyst) *''Filthy White Guy'' (2006, self-released) *''Onion Jack IV'' (2007, self-released) *''Slug'' (2008, self-released) *''Violently Alive'' (2010, Sigsaly Transmissions) *''Pure Form'' (2012, Other Sounds) *''Unrest in the Grime'' (2014, Minimal Maximal) *''Head Buried'' (2020, self-released)

Singles

*"Across the Fence" flexi-disc (1981, In Phaze Records) *"Raise the Pulse" 7"/12" (1982, Illuminated Records) *"Rough Justice" 12" (1984, Illuminated Records) *"Go-Talk" 12" (1984, Illuminated Records)) *"The Great Divide" 7"/12" (1985, Rhythmic Records)

EPs

*''Dining on the Fresh'' cassette-only (1981, In Phaze Records) *''Surface and Be Seen'' 12" (1982, In Phaze Records) *''Hit the Pulse'' 12" (1983, In Phaze Records) *''Purge'' 12" (1986, Dead Man's Curve) *''Code 11'' digital (2003, self-released) *''Stansted'' 7"/CD (2005, self-released) *''SEED EP1'' digital (2020, self-released) *''SEED EP2'' digital (2021, self-released) *''SEED EP3'' digital (2021, self-released)

Live albums

*''Assault'' (1986, For All and None) *''Live in Europe (Spain⦁UK⦁Sweden)'' (1987, Big Noise in Archgate) *''Live Granada 1985'' (2014, Wet Dreams)

Compilation albums

*''Simulate Sensual'' (1983, In Phaze Records) *''The Man Who Did Backwards Somersaults'' (1994, T.E.Q. Music?) *''Archive'' (2006, self-released) *''Solar Enemy vs. Portion Control'' (2008, Bastet Recordings) *''Crop'' (2009, Sigsaly Transmissions) *''Progress Report 1980-1983'' (2010, Vinyl-on-demand) *''Progress Report 1982-1986'' (2015, Vinyl-on-demand)

Discography as Solar Enemy

EPs

*''Techno Divinity'' (1990) # "Techno Divinity" – 4:00 # "Virus Buster" – 4:50 # "Dark Angel" – 4:27 # "Techno Divinity (Version Messianic)" – 3:38 (CD only)

Albums

*''Dirty vs Universe'' (1991) # "Universe" – 3:46 # "Welcome to Hell" – 5:51 # "Inca Pisco" – 3:42 # "Burn-Up" – 4:48 # "Dark Angel" – 4:29 # "Massive Radiation" – 4:37 # "Carcajou" – 5:04 # "Trojan" – 3:43 # "Rotator" – 4:42 # "Sundown" – 5:03 # "Dirt" – 2:52 # "Ultrasound" – 3:01 # "CD3" – 3:16 # "Damnation" – 3:59 # "Certainly Mate" – 3:06 # "Gigadrive" – 5:06 # "Burn-Up P.C. Kid Ver.2" – 4:51 *''Proceed to Beyond (The Rape of Europa)'' (1993)

Compilation appearances

*''The Third Mind'' (1990) *''Funky Alternatives Vol. 6'' (1991) *''Pieces Of Mind'' (1991) *''Mindfield'' (1992) *''Ghafran'' (1993) *''Body Rapture II'' (1993) *''Taste This Vol. 3'' (1995)

References

External links

Portion Control Official HQPortion Control Official MySpace PagePortion Control Fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portion Control (band) Musical groups from London English electronic music groups British industrial music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 Musical groups reestablished in 2002 Third Mind Records artists In Phaze Records artists Cassette culture 1970s–1990s