The Prisoners

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the English band. For the play by the Roman playwright Plautus, see Captivi.

The Prisoners
Origin	Chatham, Kent, England
Years active	1982-1986
Label(s)	Big Beat Records, Stiff Records
Associated acts	The Solarflares, Planet, The Buff Medways, The Prime Movers, Thee Mighty Caesars , The Stabilisers, James Taylor Quartet, Graham Day and the Gaolers
Members
Graham Day Jamie/James Taylor Allan Crockford Johnny Symons

The Prisoners was a mod revival band formed in 1982 in Chatham, Kent, England. Their 1960s garage sound made them a regular live fixture in London's "psychedelic revival" mini-scene of the early 1980s, and they often toured with sparring partners The Milkshakes, who included Billy Childish on guitar. The Prisoners' sound combined catchy, retro-flavoured melodies, punky guitar riffs, a Steve Marriott-esque vocal style and a lead instrument of the then-unfashionable Hammond organ. The Prisoners never met with much commercial success during their original lifespan but have latterly been likened to Paul Weller and The Charlatans. Indeed Tim Burgess of the Charlatans has cited the Prisoners as a major influence.

The band's lineup was: Graham Day (vocals and guitar), Jamie/James Taylor (hammond organ), Allan Crockford (bass) and Johnny Symons (drums).

After releasing several self-financed records and spending a year with Big Beat Records, in 1985 the Prisoners signed a new management deal with Acid Jazz that saw them move away from the London garage band tag and instead directly into the Mod revival mainstream. They also made a patchy final album, "In From The Cold", for the ailing Stiff Records label. These deal were unsuccessful and the band split up acrimoniously in 1986. They have however reformed for live shows several times since then, and managed to release a final one-off single in 1997.

Since splitting up the members of The Prisoners have featured in a wide range of bands. James Taylor and Allan Crockford formed mainstream jazz funk band the James Taylor Quartet in 1986, although Allan Crockford is no longer part of their line-up. The Solarflares, who released four albums before splitting up in 2004, were Graham Day and Allan Crockford basically reprising The Prisoners sound along with drummer Simon "Wolf" Howard and Mr Parsley on organ. Other bands who have featured former members of The Prisoners are Planet, The Buff Medways, The Prime Movers, Thee Mighty Caesars and The Stabilisers . Presently Day fronts Graham Day & the Gaolers, who released their first album, Soundtrack to the Daily Grind, in November 2007.