Gabba (band)
Encyclopedia
Gabba is a London
-based British tribute band
performing ABBA
songs in the stripped down punk
style of the Ramones
, a style of pop punk
they dubbed discopunk
and claim to have invented. They formed in 1996 and took their name in 1999. They have released three albums .
", who enrolled five students from all over the world to fuse the disco pop of Abba and the punk rock of the Ramones, creating "disco-punk".
In 1999, the band took its name of "GABBA, The Discopunk Sensation". The name is an acrostic
on the members' nicknames, echoing both the Ramones' "Gabba Gabba Hey" and the name of Abba.
Their second recording and official debut album, the CD Leave Stockholm (1999), was produced by Stigma Records (UK) and sub-distributed by Rough Trade Records
.
According to a band statement http://www.gabba.co.uk/disco.html, " [In 2001] GABBA release their complex 3rd album, the Spanish language "Tijuana Dance". However, the album was banned and withdrawn from sale after just 1 week for being "Anti-Establishment", due to some confusion over Bee Bee's appalling Spanish translations which inadvertently accused the Queen of England of being a Nazi Stormtrouper (in a stupor, no less). It is unclear if the album will ever be released again. "
Some of the facts on their Internet Website are similar to real facts of ABBA and Ramones:
's BBC Radio 1
The Evening Session, on BBC Television
's The Beat Room, on BBC Radio Scotland
's The Beat Patrol, and webcast on Virtue TV (now Interoute
TV).
They have been written about in magazines such as Mojo
, Melody Maker
, NME
, Time Out, Music365.com, CMJ New Music Monthly
, The Ramones UK Fan Club Newsletter, and the London Evening Standard.
They have played along bands such as Negativland
, The Rezillos
, and Chicks on Speed
, in various outlets in London, and at the 1999 Xmas parties of Rough Trade Records
and Fierce Panda Records
.
In related media, their autobiographical musical short film "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" (written and directed by Cliff Homow http://imdb.com/name/nm1435799/, alias "Cliffy Hormone", and Midge Devitt) won the 2003 "Special Independent Film Award" at London's counterculture
Portobello Film Festival
.
ally
Backstage
(The countries of origin are alleged by the members, who could possibly be all British.)
Singles and songs on compilations
Resource links
Crazy fans links
London
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...
-based British tribute band
Tribute band
A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act - sometimes one which has disbanded, ceased touring or is deceased. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style...
performing ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
songs in the stripped down punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
style of the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, a style of pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
they dubbed discopunk
Dance-punk
Dance-punk is a music genre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the post-punk and No Wave movements.-Predecessors:...
and claim to have invented. They formed in 1996 and took their name in 1999. They have released three albums .
History
Gabba was informally formed in 1996 by Stig Honda, alleged "professor at the Osaka Rock 'n' Roll High SchoolRock 'n' Roll High School
Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 musical comedy film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring the Ramones.The film starred P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, and Clint Howard...
", who enrolled five students from all over the world to fuse the disco pop of Abba and the punk rock of the Ramones, creating "disco-punk".
In 1999, the band took its name of "GABBA, The Discopunk Sensation". The name is an acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
on the members' nicknames, echoing both the Ramones' "Gabba Gabba Hey" and the name of Abba.
Their second recording and official debut album, the CD Leave Stockholm (1999), was produced by Stigma Records (UK) and sub-distributed by Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
.
According to a band statement http://www.gabba.co.uk/disco.html, " [In 2001] GABBA release their complex 3rd album, the Spanish language "Tijuana Dance". However, the album was banned and withdrawn from sale after just 1 week for being "Anti-Establishment", due to some confusion over Bee Bee's appalling Spanish translations which inadvertently accused the Queen of England of being a Nazi Stormtrouper (in a stupor, no less). It is unclear if the album will ever be released again. "
Some of the facts on their Internet Website are similar to real facts of ABBA and Ramones:
- They write that they wanted to win the European Snog Contest, but they got the wrong application form, so they won the Eurovision Song Contest. This is the reference to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, which ABBA won.
- The song for the "wrong" contest was Ring Ring "which was basically Sing Sing (Like Joey Ramone) but with new lyrics by Neil Sedated" (from the site http://www.gabba.co.uk/disco.html). ABBA tried first time to be at the contest in 1973 with Ring Ring, but they were sent out in the national vote.
- Also about the Spanish language album "Tijuana Dance". ABBA had recorded a spanish album.
- This GABBA-album was banned cause of lyrics about a "Nazi Stormtrouper". In 1980 ABBA was very popular in Russia (Soviet union), until "Super Trouper". A radio announcer translated the title of the song word-by-word on air. He translatet it as a Super (like "perfect", "very good" etc.) Trouper (Trouper from Stormtrouper).
- Once in the news in 2005 the site wrote: Geeky & Bjoey haven't spoken for almost 5 years. In fact Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone didn't talk since Johnny married Joeys girlfriend. Joeys reaction to this was the song "The KKK took my baby away!"
- In reference to the website, in New York is a musical based on the songs of GABBA called "Papa Mao Mao", which of cause is a reference to "Mamma MiaMamma Mia (song)"Mamma Mia" is a song from ABBA's 3rd album, ABBA, written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus & Stig Anderson, with the lead vocals shared by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The song "Mamma Mia" is a common song used in bands or orchestras...
".
Media attention
They have been aired mostly in the UK, on Steve LamacqSteve Lamacq
Steve Lamacq , sometimes known by his nicknames Lammo or "The Cat" is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio stations BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2.-Early career:He was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire...
's BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
The Evening Session, on BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
's The Beat Room, on BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
's The Beat Patrol, and webcast on Virtue TV (now Interoute
Interoute
Interoute Communications Ltd, is a privately held telecommunications company, which owns and operates a next generation . The network links to 21 Metropolitan Area Networks in 29 countries across 55,000 km of lit fibre and includes 8 Data Centres and 32 Colocation Centres.Interoute’s network...
TV).
They have been written about in magazines such as Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, Time Out, Music365.com, CMJ New Music Monthly
CMJ New Music Monthly
CMJ New Music Monthly was a monthly music magazine with interviews, reviews, and special features. Each issue included a compact disc with 15 to 24 songs by well established bands, unsigned bands, and everything in between...
, The Ramones UK Fan Club Newsletter, and the London Evening Standard.
They have played along bands such as Negativland
Negativland
Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...
, The Rezillos
The Rezillos
The Rezillos are a punk/new wave band, who formed in Edinburgh in 1976 and still play gigs around the world in a re-formed line-up. Although frequently aligned with the punk movement, the Rezillos' irreverent glam rock image and affection for campy girl-group iconography, set them distinctly apart...
, and Chicks on Speed
Chicks on Speed
Chicks on Speed is a multi-national musical ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, when members Melissa Logan, Kiki Moorse and Alex Murray-Leslie met at the Academy of Fine Arts....
, in various outlets in London, and at the 1999 Xmas parties of Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
and Fierce Panda Records
Fierce Panda Records
Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass...
.
In related media, their autobiographical musical short film "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" (written and directed by Cliff Homow http://imdb.com/name/nm1435799/, alias "Cliffy Hormone", and Midge Devitt) won the 2003 "Special Independent Film Award" at London's counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
Portobello Film Festival
Portobello Film Festival
The Portobello Film Festival is an independent international film festival based in London, which annually premiers over 700 new films, including features, shorts, documentaries, music films and animation. Additionally, workshops and talks with top film directors are also featured. Admission to...
.
Members
On stage, acrosticAcrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
ally
- Geeky (Japan) - guitar (represents Johnny RamoneJohnny RamoneJohn William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
) - Anneky (Sweden) - vocals, chorus (represents Agnetha FältskogAgnetha FältskogAgnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth...
) - Bjöey (US) - lead vocals (represents Björn UlvaeusBjörn UlvaeusBjörn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and Joey RamoneJoey RamoneJoey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
) - Bee Bee (Germany) - bass, vocals (represents Benny AnderssonBenny AnderssonGöran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and Dee Dee RamoneDee Dee RamoneDee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
) - Abby (German from Thailand) - drums, vocals, chorus (represents Anni-Frid LyngstadAnni-Frid LyngstadAnni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...
and Tommy RamoneTommy RamoneTommy Ramone, also known as Thomas Erdelyi , is a Hungarian American record producer and musician...
)
Backstage
- Stig Honda (Japan) - business manager, lyrics (represents Stig AndersonStig AndersonStig 'Stikkan' Erik Leopold Anderson was born in Hova, Sweden, and is best known as the manager of the pop group ABBA.- Polar Music:Anderson was the founder of the Polar Music record label in 1963...
, ABBA manager) - Phil Smegma (UK) - production manager (represents Phil RamonePhil RamonePhil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
and Phil SpectorPhil SpectorPhillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
, Ramones producers) - Monte Malmönik (Sweden) - road manager (represents Monte Melnick, Ramones roadie)
(The countries of origin are alleged by the members, who could possibly be all British.)
Discography
Albums- (199?) Missile to Malmö (deleted)
- (1999) Leave Stockholm (CD out-of-print, now in MP3s and BitTorrent)
- (2001) Tijuana Dance (banned)
Singles and songs on compilations
- (2001) "Gabba Gabba" on Life's a Gas (international tribute album to Joey RamoneJoey RamoneJoey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
) - (2005) "Gabba Gabba" single on iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
UK
External links
Official links- Gabba.co.uk - official website: news, history, bios, discography, videos, free MP3s, forum, etc.
- Gabba's short film "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" - infos and free download (4 mins, WMV and QuickTime)
Resource links
- [ Gabba's profile] at Allmusic
- Gabba's profile at UK Screen
Crazy fans links
- Benji's Gabba page - alleged fan page from Sweden (in English)
- Yuko & Toshiro's Gabba world - alleged fan page from Japan (in English) (However, the address echoes the name of their short movie's director)