Electro Hippies
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with the ElectrohippiesElectrohippiesThe Electrohippies Collective is an international group of internet activists based in Oxfordshire, England, whose purpose is to express disapproval of governmental policies of mass media censorship and control of the Internet "in order to provide a 'safe environment' for corporations to do their...
Collective, an international group of internet activists based in Oxfordshire, England
Electro Hippies was a crust punk
Crust punk
Crust punk is a form of music influenced by anarcho-punk, hardcore punk and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the mid-1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills...
/thrashcore
Thrashcore
Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...
band formed in St Helens
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
/Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
, United Kingdom, in 1985.
Though they were short-lived and underground through their career, their music influenced many future crust, hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, and grindcore bands. The band relied heavily on low bass end sounds to create their low-fi, primitively-produced music. They also incoprorated elements of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and have been described as "proto-grindcore". The band strongly embraced the D.I.Y. (do it yourself
Do it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
) ethic which was very common among many early crust punk bands. The band's lyrics spoke heavily about animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and vegetarianism
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
. A recurring lyrical theme on each LP targeted the McDonalds corporation, evidenced by the lyrics to "Run Ronald" and "Scum".
The band were supported by John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
for whom they recorded a radio session in 1987, released as an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
by Strange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records
Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions....
the same year.
The Electro Hippies included Jeff Walker
Jeffrey Walker
Jeffrey Walker is a bass guitarist and vocalist from Windle, St Helens, UK. He is best known for his work with the death metal / grindcore band Carcass for which he is also the main lyricist. Before Carcass, he played in the punk band the Electro Hippies. After the demise of Carcass, he went on to...
(guitar, vocals) in their ranks. He later joined extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
band Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
. When Walker joined Carcass full time, Simon (drums) and Andy (guitar) took over vocal duties . Eventually, the band split up in 1989, playing one last gig and releasing the show as their final album.
Discography
Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie ChartUK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
.
- 1986 Play Loud or Not at All Flat Earth Records (Generic/Electro Hippies split LP)
- 1987 The Only Good Punk... Is A Dead OneThe Only Good Punk... Is A Dead OneThe Only Good Punk...Is A Dead One is the debut album proper by British crust punk band Electro Hippies. The original LP featured 20 songs, all but four of which last less than two minutes...
LP. Peaceville RecordsPeaceville RecordsPeaceville Records is a British independent metal-oriented record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw in 1987, in Dewsbury, England...
. - 1987 The Peel Sessions 12". Strange Fruit RecordsStrange Fruit RecordsStrange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions....
(#10). - 1989 Live LP. Peaceville Records (#7).
- 1989 Play Fast Or Die 12". Necrosis Records (#19). Re-issue of the band's half of the split LP with Generic.
- 1989 The Peaceville Recordings LP/CD. Peaceville Records.
- 1989 "Mega Armageddon Death Pt.3" / "You SufferYou Suffer"You Suffer" is a song by the British grindcore band Napalm Death, from their debut album, Scum. The song has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest recorded song ever...
" 7". Split single with Napalm DeathNapalm DeathNapalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
included with initial copies of the "GrindcrusherGrindcrusherGrindcrusher is a CD/LP released by Earache Records in 1989 showcasing nine of the label's bands. It contained a number of pioneer grindcore and death metal groups such as Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel, Carcass and Repulsion...
" compilation LP on Earache RecordsEarache RecordsEarache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
. - 2002 The Only Good Punk CD. Peaceville RecordsPeaceville RecordsPeaceville Records is a British independent metal-oriented record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw in 1987, in Dewsbury, England...
.
During their short career, they also appeared on many compilations, such as A Vile Peace, Digging in Water, the Peel sessions
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
sampler, and Vile Vibes.