Pigbag
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Pigbag |
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| Pigbag | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | ||
| Years active | ||
| Y Records | ||
| Former members | ||
| Simon
Underwood James Johnstone Chris Lee Ollie Moore Roger Freeman Chip Carpenter Chris Hamlyn Mark Smith Brian Nevill Oscar Verden Angela Jaeger |
||
Pigbag were a
Contents
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Pigbag was founded in
Taking place anywhere from the local park (playing up trees
was a favourite
After a couple of months they decided to expand the line up and become a 'proper band' with a drummer, bass player, amps, and rehearsals.
Around this time
When Hamlyn heard
Through Simon's connections with
They made their first recordings in 1981 . Later that year
they released their first single, "Papa's Got A Brand New
Pigbag", on Dick O'Dell's Y Records, taking inspiration for
the title (if not the music) from
It was around the time of the recording that Chris Hamlyn left
the band, feeling that he had created a 'monster' with too many egos to
contend with. He felt he was "losing control of the band" and did a
'runner'. Soon afterwards he recorded a version of '
The band followed the success of "Papa..."
with "Sunny Day", a similarly brash, bright and
funky track, and early in 1982 another single "Getting Up".
April 1982 saw the release of their first album "
The band embarked on a major college tour in spring of 1982 .
The tour was the longest and most gruelling the group had ever
undertaken, and put a lot of stress on the band, particularly Roger
Freeman. Brian Nevill sat in on several gigs (Portsmouth - February 18,
Reading - March 12, Bristol - 14, Brighton - 15,
The tour set the scene for "Papa..." to be re-released. Demand had built up after the track got played in clubs, and on the re-release the single made the mainstream UK charts, peaking at no.3 and giving the band their only significant mainstream success.
The band made two appearances on
The first Top of the Pops appearance also saw Roger Freeman's departure from the band. Apparently, Roger didn't like the idea of switching his donkey jacket for a suit (the band had decided to dress in suits for the show), and did a 'runner' on the day of the show. After the stress of touring, he'd had enough.
"Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag" has been used extensively at sporting events and on TV, and still gets played in clubs. The track has also been covered by several other artists.
On April 27, 1982, a new line-up, including Brian Nevill and
Oscar Verden, started rehearsing. The band changed their sound
slightly, following up with "The Big Bean", a slower, more
Caribbean-feeling track which peaked at no.40 in the mainstream charts.
The single was recorded at
This was followed by a short UK tour followed by a European
one and
Next came the addition of
Angela was married to Simon Underwood at Hammersmith Registry Office in 1983 with many of notables from the music scene in attendance, including John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten).
During 1983, the band released a single, "Hit The 'O' Deck" (a reference to turntables), and the album recorded the previous year, "Lend An Ear". The band toured the UK from February 14 til March 13, 1983. A European tour followed from March 29 til April 16. Their last ever live gig was played at Portsmouth on April 28, 1983.
Following a poor critical reception to the new direction and
differences in the band, they decided to split in June 1983, with
James, Angela and Simon forming
Y Records released two posthumous albums, "Pigbag" (7 live tracks, 1 remix), and "Favourite Things" (all the singles plus a few other album tracks). The press accused Dick O'Dell of releasing the albums to swell Y's coffers after the failure of the other bands on the label to make significant sales (with the possible exception of Shriekback who fell out with O'Dell and left the label).
Although never hugely commercially successful, Pigbag left a
trail of innovation and noticeably different music behind them. Members
of the band went on to record with many other bands, with some still
active today. The band are now considered an early part of the
However, Pigbag remained individual even within the jazz and
funk scenes, due to their rough and tough mix of jazz, funk and tribal
music. Their legacy can still be seen today, primarily in the
nihilistic funk of New York bands like
and later, when Chris Hamlyn, Mark Smith and Roger Freeman had left the band brought in:
In 1983 the band's sound was augmented by:
| Year | Title | UK Indie Chart Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar | "Dr Heckle & Mr Jive" | #1 | #18 | |
| Feb | "Lend An Ear" | #7 | dnc | |
| "Pigbag" | dnc | |||
| "Favourite Things" | dnc | |||
| "Discology (Best of Pigbag)" | dnc | |||
| "BBC Sessions" | dnc |
| Year | Title | UK Indie Chart Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | "Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag" | #2 | dnc | |
| Nov | "Sunny Day" | #2 | #53 | |
| Feb | "Getting Up" | #2 | #61 | |
| Mar | "Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag" (re-issue) | #1 | #3 | |
| Jul | "The Big Bean" | #3 | #40 | |
| Apr | "Hit The 'O' Deck " | #7 | dnc |
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