Ian Craig Marsh
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| Ian Craig Marsh | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | November 11, 1956 |
| Origin | Sheffield, England |
| Genre(s) | Synthpop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar (briefly), synthesizer |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Label(s) | Fast Product, Virgin |
| Associated acts | The Human League, B.E.F., Heaven 17 |
Ian Craig Marsh (born 11 November 1956) is an English musician. He was a founding member of the electronic band The Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation) and later Heaven 17.
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[edit] Musical Vomit
Marsh began in music at Sheffield's council-sponsored community theatre group Meatwhistle. There he met Mark Civico and formed a performance art band called Musical Vomit, taking the name from a music paper's hostile review of the band Suicide.[1] Musical Vomit specialised in Alice Cooper-style stunts, such as vomiting soup onstage, and singing about such topics as masturbation and necrophilia. [2]
Marsh played guitar on two shows with the band before leaving after his expulsion from school (for being "an undesirable subversive element"). Civico persevered with Musical Vomit, adding fellow Meatwhistle artists Paul Bower (who later went on to edit the notorious fanzine 'Gunrubber', and later formed the band 2.3 who recorded a single on Fast Product), Glenn Gregory who went on to become lead singer for Heaven 17 and Ian Reddington who later found fame as "Tricky Dicky" in Eastenders and Vernon on Coronation Street. Martyn Ware, a leading figure in the Human League and Heaven 17 was an occasional guest on stylophone but formed a more pop orientated off-shoot of Musical Vomit called Underpants. Vomit went on to play at the Bath Arts Festival in 1974 and were described by Poly Styrene who was in the audience as "the very first punk band".[3]
He abandoned the guitar at this time, saying later in an interview for The Face that "they seem a fairly strange instrument...six strings, four fingers, one thumb - it makes no sense."[4]. Instead he bought a cheap synthesizer, which he struggled to get the most from[5] ("though it made very good motorbike noises") and rejoined Musical Vomit. He had found employment as a computer programmer (as had Ware, though at different companies). Marsh also played a key role in the early Sheffield new wave and punk scene by playing the first Ramones album, which he had bought on import, to all his friends.
[edit] The Future
In June 1977 Marsh, Ware and Newton formed Dead Daughters, a one-off band, to play at a friend's 21st birthday party. The trio enjoyed the performance, and decided to stick together as a new band - The Future.[6]
The trio set themselves the task of producing pop music using entirely electronic instruments, which in 1977 was virtually unheard of. They also experimented with a computer programme called CARLOS, which converted words fed into it into lyrics. Initially record company interest was limited, and Marsh and Ware decided to remove Newton from the band. Continuing as a duo they recorded "Dancevision", a short instrumental eventually released on The Human League's Holiday '80 EP. Another track, "Being Boiled" saw Philip Oakey's entry to the group, and a change of name to The Human League.
A collection of demos from this period was released on CD in 2002, titled The Golden Hour of The Future, compiled by Richard X.
[edit] Success
[edit] References
- ^ Blind Youth: The early work of the Human League
- ^ Reynolds, S. Rip It Up and Start Again: postpunk 1978-1984 (Faber and Faber 2005), p.154
- ^ Blind Youth: The early work of the Human League
- ^ quoted in Reynolds, S. Rip It Up and Start ASgain: postpunk 1978-1984 (Faber and Faber 2005), p.159
- ^ Blind Youth - The Way It Was: Dead Daughters
- ^ "prologue: The Future" in Clock DVA:Discography and Timeline
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