East Village (band)
Encyclopedia
Formed in the mid '80s by two brothers, Martin
and Paul Kelly
, East Village were an indie pop
band from Princes Risborough
, England
. The band's music, which drew heavily on the influence of 1960s guitar bands such as The Byrds
, The Beatles
,and Buffalo Springfield
was in stark contrast to the acid house
and rave
influenced output of their contemporaries.
where they recorded two EPs for Jeff Barrett's Sub Aqua label, before it folded in 1989. They also toured extensively, playing a support tour with The House of Love
in 1988 and two tours with McCarthy
. The collapse of Sub Aqua left the band without a deal, and they recorded their debut album using money donated by Bob Stanley
, a friend of the band and an admirer of their work. The record was label-less for some time until Jeff Barrett (who was setting up the fledgling Heavenly Recordings) picked up on it and paid for its completion. A series of Heavenly label based gigs with The Manic Street Preachers, Saint Etienne
and Flowered Up
ensued, followed by a new single, Circles, in 1991. The band played a sold out show at the New Cross Venue in South London but ended the set by splitting up on stage. The album, Drop Out (1993), was mixed and released posthumously on Heavenly. A collection of all the band's early singles (along with unreleased demos), Hot Rod Hotel, was released on the Australian label Summershine in 1994, giving the band a radio hit with "Silver Train".
Prices on early East Village releases started to rise steeply and in 2006, Tokyo label Excellent released the first comprehensive CD of the bands recordings, and the track "Vibrato" appeared on the CD86 compilation.
is joint MD of Heavenly Recordings alongside Jeff Barrett.
Paul Kelly
and Spencer Smith played in the Saint Etienne
touring band during the 90's before Paul Kelly
split to form Birdie with ex-Dolly Mixture
member Debsey Wykes.
Paul Kelly
is currently a respected graphic designer, photographer and film maker (director of Finisterre
and This Is Tomorrow ).
Spencer Smith works alongside Barrett and Kelly
at Heavenly Recordings.
Johnny Wood released a solo album Quite Storm on Excellent in 2006.
Martin
and Paul
published a book in June 2010 with friend Terry Foster entitled 'Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970'. A detailed study in pictures and text of the early history of Fender musical instruments. Published in London, New York and Paris (French edition): Cassell ISBN 1-844-03666-9
Martin Kelly (Heavenly)
Martin Kelly has been a musician, music manager, record label boss, music publisher and author. Best known as Jeff Barrett's partner at Heavenly Recordings, a British independent record label run by the pair between 1993-2009.-Early years:Kelly was born in Cyprus, the son of an RAF Squadron...
and Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (film maker)
Paul Kelly is an English film director, musician, photographer and designer.-Music:The son of an RAF fighter pilot - he took up flying aged fourteen, making his first solo flight on his seventeenth birthday. However, a passion for music and electric guitars eventually led him to follow a musical...
, East Village were an indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band from Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The band's music, which drew heavily on the influence of 1960s guitar bands such as The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
,and Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...
was in stark contrast to the acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
and rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
influenced output of their contemporaries.
History
After a year or so as a garage band named Episode Four, the Kelly brothers were joined by Johnny Wood (guitar/vocals) in 1984 and Spencer Smith (drums) in 1985, during 1986 they recorded the Strike Up Matches EP released as a 500 only pressing on the Lenin and McCarthy imprint that year . By 1987, the band had renamed themselves East Village and relocated to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where they recorded two EPs for Jeff Barrett's Sub Aqua label, before it folded in 1989. They also toured extensively, playing a support tour with The House of Love
The House of Love
The House of Love is an English alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, the band rose to prominence in the UK as a leading indie rock band in 1988 and split up in 1993, eventually reforming a decade later in 2003. The band is best known for its detailed psychedelic guitar sound and for the...
in 1988 and two tours with McCarthy
McCarthy (band)
McCarthy were a British indie pop band, formed in Barking, Essex, England in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden and Tim Gane with John Williamson and Gary Baker...
. The collapse of Sub Aqua left the band without a deal, and they recorded their debut album using money donated by Bob Stanley
Bob Stanley
Robert William "Bob" Stanley is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox.Over his 13-year career, Stanley played only for the Red Sox from 1977-89...
, a friend of the band and an admirer of their work. The record was label-less for some time until Jeff Barrett (who was setting up the fledgling Heavenly Recordings) picked up on it and paid for its completion. A series of Heavenly label based gigs with The Manic Street Preachers, Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
and Flowered Up
Flowered Up
-Career:The band was formed in mid-1989 by singer Liam Maher, along with his younger brother Joe . After a few changes in personnel, the settled line-up included Tim Dorney , Andy Jackson , and John Tuvey , with dancer Barry Mooncult adding to their live shows...
ensued, followed by a new single, Circles, in 1991. The band played a sold out show at the New Cross Venue in South London but ended the set by splitting up on stage. The album, Drop Out (1993), was mixed and released posthumously on Heavenly. A collection of all the band's early singles (along with unreleased demos), Hot Rod Hotel, was released on the Australian label Summershine in 1994, giving the band a radio hit with "Silver Train".
Prices on early East Village releases started to rise steeply and in 2006, Tokyo label Excellent released the first comprehensive CD of the bands recordings, and the track "Vibrato" appeared on the CD86 compilation.
Current activity
Martin KellyMartin Kelly (Heavenly)
Martin Kelly has been a musician, music manager, record label boss, music publisher and author. Best known as Jeff Barrett's partner at Heavenly Recordings, a British independent record label run by the pair between 1993-2009.-Early years:Kelly was born in Cyprus, the son of an RAF Squadron...
is joint MD of Heavenly Recordings alongside Jeff Barrett.
Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (film maker)
Paul Kelly is an English film director, musician, photographer and designer.-Music:The son of an RAF fighter pilot - he took up flying aged fourteen, making his first solo flight on his seventeenth birthday. However, a passion for music and electric guitars eventually led him to follow a musical...
and Spencer Smith played in the Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
touring band during the 90's before Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (film maker)
Paul Kelly is an English film director, musician, photographer and designer.-Music:The son of an RAF fighter pilot - he took up flying aged fourteen, making his first solo flight on his seventeenth birthday. However, a passion for music and electric guitars eventually led him to follow a musical...
split to form Birdie with ex-Dolly Mixture
Dolly Mixture
Dolly Mixture were a British post-punk/new wave band formed in 1978 by bassist and vocalist Debsey Wykes , guitarist and vocalist Rachel Bor , and drummer Hester Smith...
member Debsey Wykes.
Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (film maker)
Paul Kelly is an English film director, musician, photographer and designer.-Music:The son of an RAF fighter pilot - he took up flying aged fourteen, making his first solo flight on his seventeenth birthday. However, a passion for music and electric guitars eventually led him to follow a musical...
is currently a respected graphic designer, photographer and film maker (director of Finisterre
Finisterre
Finisterre, Finisterra, Fisterra, or Finistère may refer to:Places* Cape Finisterre , headland in Galicia, north-west Spain, the Southern landfall of the Bay of Biscay...
and This Is Tomorrow ).
Spencer Smith works alongside Barrett and Kelly
Martin Kelly (Heavenly)
Martin Kelly has been a musician, music manager, record label boss, music publisher and author. Best known as Jeff Barrett's partner at Heavenly Recordings, a British independent record label run by the pair between 1993-2009.-Early years:Kelly was born in Cyprus, the son of an RAF Squadron...
at Heavenly Recordings.
Johnny Wood released a solo album Quite Storm on Excellent in 2006.
Martin
Martin Kelly (Heavenly)
Martin Kelly has been a musician, music manager, record label boss, music publisher and author. Best known as Jeff Barrett's partner at Heavenly Recordings, a British independent record label run by the pair between 1993-2009.-Early years:Kelly was born in Cyprus, the son of an RAF Squadron...
and Paul
Paul Kelly (film maker)
Paul Kelly is an English film director, musician, photographer and designer.-Music:The son of an RAF fighter pilot - he took up flying aged fourteen, making his first solo flight on his seventeenth birthday. However, a passion for music and electric guitars eventually led him to follow a musical...
published a book in June 2010 with friend Terry Foster entitled 'Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970'. A detailed study in pictures and text of the early history of Fender musical instruments. Published in London, New York and Paris (French edition): Cassell ISBN 1-844-03666-9
Singles
- Cubans In The Bluefields - 7" and 12"EP (Sub Aqua 1987)
- Back Between Places - 12"EP (Sub Aqua 1988)
- Freeze Out - 7" Flexidisc (Caff 1989)
- Circles - 12" (HeavenlyHeavenlyHeavenly may refer to:In music:* Heavenly , a twee pop band from Oxford, England* Heavenly , a power metal band from Paris, France* Heavenly , released in 1959....
1991) - Vibrato - 7" (Summershine 1991)
- Silvertrain - 7" and CD (Summershine 1993)
- Black Autumn - 7" (Excellent 2003)
Albums
- Drop Out - vinyl and CD (HeavenlyHeavenlyHeavenly may refer to:In music:* Heavenly , a twee pop band from Oxford, England* Heavenly , a power metal band from Paris, France* Heavenly , released in 1959....
, 1993) - Drop Out - vinyl only reissue (Excellent 2003)
Compilation albums
- Hot Rod Hotel - CD only (Summershine, 1994)
- Drop Out - Deluxe Edition - 2 xCD (Excellent 2006)