The Membranes

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The Membranes
The Membranes in London 1985
The Membranes in London 1985
Background information
Origin Blackpool, England
Genre(s) punk rock, post punk, art punk
Years active 1977-1990
Label(s) Creation Records, Vinyl Drip Records, Criminal Damage, Rondelet, In-tape, Constrictor, Glass Records, Clawfist
Website http//:www.myspace.com/themembranes
Members
John Robb (1977-1990)
Mark Tilton (1977-1985)
Coofy Sid (197?-1990)
Martin Critchley (1977)
Martin Kelly (1977-1982)
Steve Farmery (1982)
Stan Batcow (1985-1986)
Wallas Terror (1986-1988)
Nick Brown (1986-1990)
Keith Curtis (1986-1990)
Paul Morley (1989-1990)

The Membranes were a post-punk band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1977, the initial line-up being John Robb (bass guitar), Mark Tilton (guitar), Martin Critchley (vocals) and Martin Kelly (drums).[1] Critchley soon left, with Robb and Tilton taking on vocals, and Kelly moving to keyboards, with "Coofy Sid" (Coulthart) taking over on drums.[1] Their first release was the "Flexible Membrane" flexi-disc in 1980, and over the next 11 years they would go on to release 6 studio albums. Their first single proper, "Muscles", was a single of the week in the UK music press[1] and a big club hit in New York being played in the Danceteria by the likes of The Beastie Boys eventual DJ Mojo and other cutting edge New York DJs. Kelly left after "Muscles", to be replaced by Steve Farmery on guitar for the follow-up Pin Stripe Hype EP. The band pioneered the avant noise scene of Big Black and Sonic Youth for several years with their critically acclaimed "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" single and Death To Trad Rock EP (which were indie chart top 5 records in the UK) and their debut Gift Of Life album. They were the first band to be signed to Alan McGee's Creation label but the deal fell though when McGee could not afford to pay their studio bill for the "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" single.[1] The band relocated to Manchester in 1983, and "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" was issued on the Criminal Damage label, which met with a positive critical response but distribution problems limited its impact.[1] In 1984/85 The Membranes had a ferocious live reputation with the loudest gigs in the UK and their anti rock attitude. Mark Tilton's quiff and John Robb's exploding hair and wild clothes gave them an instantly recognizable and uncategorizable image. Musically they were beyond punk as well with their dedication to noise but always with songs buried in the power. Tilton's slide guitar and frenetic rhythm guitar combined with Robb's outrageously heavy bass and heartfelt vocals as well as Coofy Sid's pounding drumming created an instantly original sound.

After The Membranes, Robb went on to form Sensurround and later Goldblade.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Pin Stripe Hype EP
Pin Stripe Hype EP

In 1977 John Robb and Mark Tilton formed the band at Blackpool Sixth Form College. Inspired by punk rock and the DIY ethic of punk, they started a fanzine, 'Rox' and The Membranes at the same time. The college was a fertile breeding ground of radical bohemian thought and there were several like-minded people around. Tilton, who lived a few doors down the road from Robb, bought a 'Woolworth's special' guitar from a junk shop, while Robb built his own bass out of spare parts and a slab of wood from a local DIY store (along with dustbin lids, the band having no drummer at this stage). They then enlisted a singer Martin Critchley and Martin Kelly joined on drums. They didn't have a clue what they were doing - tuning up was a matter of putting all the machine heads on the guitar in a row - but fired by a love of The Stranglers they set out on making a neo-psychedelic tough version of punk. Of course, early recordings and gigs were not quite what they had in mind and the surviving records and rehearsal tapes point to a poppier sound. Critchley subsequently left, with Robb and Tilton taking over to share the vocals, Martin Kelly moving to keyboards with a WASP synthesiser and a 13 year old kid called Coofy Sid joining on drums. Their first recording was "Ice Age", which appeared on the Blackpool Rox EP featuring Section 25, Syntax and The Kenneth Turner Set on Robb's Vinyl Drip label, [2]

After a flexi-disc debut, the Flexible Membrane EP in 1980, they released the debut single proper "Muscles" in 1982, which was raved over by both the music press and John Peel.[2] That record's success saw the band sign a deal with Rondolet Records who issues a follow-up, the Pin Stripe Hype EP (the only Membranes record to feature guitarist Steve Farmery). Rondolet folded and the band signed to Criminal Damage Records.

[edit] Crack House

After Steve Farmery left, the band went deeper into their new direction. Coofy Sid's drumming became more tribal and the guitars wilder and heavier. It was the band's first really creative period - a real push forward and the resulting mini album 'Crack House', released on Criminal Damage Records underlines this.

[edit] Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder

iconic artwork for 'Spike Milligans' drawn by Simon Clegg

Post 'Crack House' the band started playing in London. Audiences were gobsmacked by the Membranes sheer volume and off the wall sound. Their utter originality meant that the music press started picking up on them. At this time Alan McGee used to phone them all the time attempting to get them to sign to a new label he was setting up called Creation. They would have been the first band to sign to McGee’s label and his first release would have been "Spike Milligan’s Tape Recorder". McGee had no money for the studio so the band stayed with Criminal Damage and released this seven inch single, described in the music press as 'not only have The Membranes wiped the floor with the opposition, they redesigned the tiles' they were single of the week in all 4 music papers, No wonder, the seven inch single is a powerful wall of sound, a life-affirming explosion of raw power with the heaviest bass sound ever and typically great lyrics from the band. It deservedly got to number 6 in the John Peel festive 50 and was one of the key releases of the year.
'Spike Milligan's was also memorably used on a TV programme about an orphnagae where one skinhead who hated the world would play it to annoy his neighbours...perfect!
At the gigs at the time young shy musicians like David Gedge would turn up before forming The Wedding Present - he was not the only one - the so-called C86 scene had already started in 1984 and arguably with this single. Other bands who would be forming at Membranes gigs included The Rosehips, Big Flame, A Witness, Bogshed - the so-called fanzine scene that the NME would remodel as C86 a couple of years later.

lSpike Milligan's tape recorder' played live in Blackpool 1984

[edit] Death To Trad Rock EP

Front cover of the indie top 5 hit Death To trad Rock EP with painting by Simon Clegg
Front cover of the indie top 5 hit Death To trad Rock EP with painting by Simon Clegg

"Myths and Legends" on 'The Tube' 1984

Where do you go after "Spike Milligan's"? well The Membranes went a step further, deeper into the darkness with a 4 track single that was perhaps the most extreme and inventive collection of songs in the eighties. From the neo-drone rock of "Myths And Legends" with its huge bass intro to the dark riffing of "Shine On Pumpkin Moon" to the gnarled assault of "Big Nose And The Howling Wind" to the insane chaos of "The Kite Man". In the following years American bands like Big Black and The Butthole Surfers would be lauded as kings of the noise scene but surely none of them ever made music as heavy and as imaginative as this. Gigs were becoming events with the Much Hoolers - a maverick crew of Preston freaks turning up and throwing confetti and ripped up paper at the band which resulted in many bannings from venues. Pretty soon this confetti bombardment would become the staple of many other bands gigs. The ringleader of the Much Hoolers was Fat Mark who at the semi-legendary Reading University mini riot suggested to Alan McGee that he should get The Membranes to wear leather trousers whilst he was getting a lift back to London, McGee liked the idea and got The Jesus and Mary Chain to wear them instead! The gig also saw The Membranes kick over the PA and attempt to steal a piano from the venue - a thrilled McGee was soon to be getting the same leather trouser wearing band to attempt their own riots...

live on stage Leicester 1985

[edit] Gift Of Life

The Gift Of Life
The Gift Of Life

In January 1985 The Membranes appeared on The Tube and released the Death To Trad Rock EP which went to number 2 in the indie charts and was on the front cover of Sounds. Then Mark Tilton left to be replaced by Stan Batcow. Several of the songs recorded on Gift Of Life were already worked up by the classic Robb/Tilton/Sid line up...a rehearsal tape of "I Am Fish Eye", "Typical Male Penus", "Green and Ghostly Land", "Shot By My Own Gun" and "Gift Of Life" exists - some of the songs were already in the live set. There is talk of releasing these rehearsal tapes at some point.

The new line-up recorded the album but without the studio engineer John Brierley who had done such a brilliant job on the last two releases. Handicapped by having a rookie engineer on board, the band's resulting debut album didn't capture their massive sound but still came out to rave reviews and went to number one in the indie charts. In America the nascent alt country outfit Lambchop somehow managed to buy a copy of the album in Nashville and it became the album of their youth. When Gun Club's Jeffrey Lee Pierce stayed round their house he would play the album over and over. Years later members of Lambchop were in awe to meet a rather bemused Coofy Sid at a Lambchop gig in Manchester!

Track Listing:

  1. Shot By My Own Gun
  2. I Am Fish-Eye
  3. Dreadful Sand Engine
  4. Green And Ghostly Land
  5. More Skin And Bone
  6. Mr Charisma Brain
  7. Barbed Snake Fish Thing
  8. Chewing The Fat
  9. Typical Male Penis
  10. Fireface
  11. Gift Of Life

[edit] Everything's Brilliant

Sleeve for Everythings Brilliant
Sleeve for Everythings Brilliant

Where do you go after the sonic mayhem of Gift Of Life? The Membranes went pop, well sort of. After a gig in London, a Creation records night, the band left/were sacked from the label after an argument. The gig was booked as The Membranes headlining with The Pastels and Slaughter Joe on the bill. It was decided by someone, not the promoter, to draw lots for the billing and the lots surprisingly came out with The Membranes going on first and Slaughter Joe headlining. This meant that the bulk of the audience who had come to see The Membranes missed the band, a very pissed off crowd let their feelings be heard during Slaughter Joe's set and because Joe was Alan McGee's best mate The Membranes were off the label...The Pastels walked out in support of The Membranes - something that John Robb says he'll always remember.

Signed to In Tape, the label run by Marc Riley, the band started afresh. The single produced by Jon Langford of the The Three Johns powered into the indie top ten.

[edit] Songs Of Love And Fury

Far better produced than 'Gift Of Life', The Membranes' second full-length album was also far more melodic but with songs that were still twisted with a dark imagination. It was also the first Membranes album to get released in America on Homestead records where it received massive critical plaudits. It was also released in Germany through Constrictor and The Netherlands through Konkurrent.

Track Listing:

Big Fun Tonight
Kennedy '63
Postdertergent Vacuum Cleaner Man
Day My Universe Changed
Bang!
Snaffleflatch
The Murder Of Sister George
Spaceships
1986
Thank Heavens For The Iron Horse
Sleazeball
Phoney TV. Repair Man
The Elvis I Knew Was No Junkie
Everyone's Going Triple Bad Acid, Yeah!
Jaw Cracker Fuzz

[edit] Groovy Fuckers/Timewarp EP

The EP was released on Homestead Records 1987.

Tracks: Death Side(1967) 1. Time Warp 1991 2. Too Fast to Live, Too Fast to Die 3. Machine Gun Suk

Dance Side 4. Groovy (Fuckers) 5. Dragon Fly 6. Time Warp 1991

[edit] Kiss Ass Godhead

'Kiss Ass Godhead' album cover 1988
'Kiss Ass Godhead' album cover 1988

Membranes pictured by Ian Tilton (brother of ex guitarist Mark) in the cellar of their West Didsbury home, 1988

Sharing a house in West Didsbury (in the garden of which Dinosaur Jr recorded their 'Freak Scene' video), The Membranes created a scene and got themselves back to their leanest and meanest since Mark Tilton left. The resulting Kiss Ass Godhead was far better for the constant touring. It was also one of the first records that Steve Albini recorded and the band spent time in his cellar in Chicago recording some of the tracks. They were surprised to find that Albini had all their records as well as several early copies of the 'Rox' fanzine.

'membranes Liverpoool HMV 'they banned our album so we burn them down!" 1988
'membranes Liverpoool HMV 'they banned our album so we burn them down!" 1988

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

UK Independent Chart positions in brackets

  • Crack House (1983, Criminal Damage)
  • The Gift of Life (1985, Creation) (number 2 UK)
  • Giant (1986, Constrictor) (Gemany only number 9)
  • Songs Of Love And Fury (1986, In Tape) (UK number 5)
  • Kiss Ass Godhead! (1988, Glass) (UK number 12)
  • To Slay The Rock Pig (1989, Vinyl Drip) (UK number 21)
  • Pulp Beating and All That (1986, Criminal Damage) (compilation)
  • The Virgin Mary Versus Peter Sellers (1987, Vinyl Drip) (compilation)
  • Wrong Place at the Wrong Time (1993, Constrictor) (compilation)
  • The Best Of The Membranes (1997, Anagram) (compilation)

[edit] Singles/EPs

independent chart positions in brackets

  • Flexible Membrane (1980, Vinyl Drip) (7-inch flexi-disc)
  • "Muscles" (1982, Vinyl Drip/Rondelet)
  • Pin Stripe Hype (1982, Rondelet)
  • "Spike Milligan's Tape Recorder" (1984, Criminal Damage) (UK number 7)
  • Death To Trad Rock (1985, Criminal Damage) (12-inch) (UK number 5)
  • "Everything's Brilliant" (1986, In Tape) (UK number 12)
  • "Groovy F---ers" (1987, Constrictor) (Germany only number 3)
  • "Time Warp 1991" (1987, Glass) (UK number 14)
  • Euro Pig Vs Auto Flesh EP (1989, Vinyl Drip) (UK number 28)
  • "Big Decision (Slight Return)" (1991, Clawfist) (split 7-inch with That Petrol Emotion)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Larkin, Colin: "The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music", 1992, Guinness Publishing, ISBN 0-85112-579-4
  2. ^ a b Strong, Martin C.:"The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, ISBN 0-86241-913-1
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