1980’s Pop Band, Bristol, UK

Chris, Bird (vocals and bass guitar) and Colin Andrews (guitars) met at Cotham Grammar School Bristol in 1972 and became good friends.

Chris and Colin decided to form a band in around 1975 and by the late 1970s their band called Mystery Guests was created. They then added Tim Hicks (keyboards and synths) to the line up.

When members of the Mystery Guests left, they recruited Mark Cooper as their drummer and renamed the band Face to Face. The group’s musical style was developed into a new wave pop rock act.

A number of tracks were recorded at studios in Bristol and demo cassettes were circulated to promoters, record companies and radio stations.

The band were selected for gigs in Bristol and London and they played some support slots with Huang Chung and the Flying Pickets as well as at the John Peel roadshow in Bristol.

With developing technology in the early 1980’s, the band started using sequencers to play and record synths and additional parts. At that point Mark Cooper decided to leave the band and Simon Groves from dance act Time and Motion, who was already a friend of the band joined to play percussion when they played live.

Clive Deamer was booked to record drums on several of the band’s studio recordings. The band recorded their track Temptation with Ian Devaney (Lisa Stansfield) producing.

When gigging the band used a tape machine for drum parts and, ahead of their time, used a number of visual effects with lights and film.

After the band were offered a Radio 1 session with the Peter Powell show, the band had to change their name (as the name Face to Face had previously been used by another act) so the new name Vicious Circle was chosen.

The Vicious Circle recording session took place at Pebble Mill studios Birmingham with Clive Deamer.

Following the broadcast and due to the number of listener requests, the session was repeated on the Bruno Brookes show a short time later.
In addition one of the band’s tracks – Woman’s World was used by a BBC TV show.

By 1987, Tim, who was a sought after software engineer had been offered a chance to work overseas and sadly the band members decided that it was time to end the band’s journey at that stage.

Chris, Colin and Tim have remained firm friends and meet up each year whenever they can.

Chris is now part of an electronic duo called Phoenix-Flare, Colin plays in a number of groups (Cozy and The Dukes) and Tim is playing for community choirs and other events.

Contact

Email: contact@viciouscircle.info

Available Tracks

Bristol Archive Records 2025

“The Bristol and Bath Pop Explosion – The 80’s”
Various Artists
Released on Limited Edition Trans Pink Vinyl (300 copies) and Limited-Edition Numbered CD (100 copies) – 28th Feb 2025 via Bristol Archive Records

Promo listening code: https://promo.theorchard.com/YStNxQ6e8qVYqC4jSKil

Pre-order link: https://bristolarchiverecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-bristol-and-bath-pop-explosion-the-80s

There has always been a broad picture in general of the scope of music that has come out of the Bristol and Bath areas at the west/southwest end of the M4 and M5. The boys (and girls) from the region have always made a right old variety of noise! It hasn’t always been accompanied by mainstream acceptance with the resulting sales. It may surprise observers that some of that heady creativity included the more commercial end of straight up pop music and the ‘take’ that could be put on it, with the hope that acclaim and more could follow. The ‘take’ could also take the genre into new dimensions. Did it lead anywhere, or have any merit? Were they, the acts, any good? Did they get any exposure and recognition? If not, why not?

This questioning prompted the long-time music industry creative and journalist, Dave Massey and Bristol Archive Records owner, Mike Darby, to go through their extensive archive of local music and see if there was an album that could be compiled of those pop acts tracks that could be regarded as ‘lost hits’. From their archive trawl Massey and Darby uncovered pop gold. Bristol Archive has done a similar exercise with ‘lost gems’ by reggae, punk, post-punk, mod, goth and rock acts from the west and released several well researched and beautifully presented themed vinyl ‘Explosion’ compilations. Now is the time for the pop acts.

All kinds of strategies were used by acts and their managers to promote themselves. Tracks were circulated on cassette tapes in order to solicit interest from an industry drowning in pop. Some went further and actually got as far as putting out independent releases. Gigs were done in ‘unusual’ venues. Videos were made in whatever surroundings would work. These acts have stories of ‘got so close’ and ‘what might have been’. Many of the acts were seen live, reviewed and interviewed for the weekly music press by Massey and other local journalists, featured on local, and in some instances national radio, and some made it on to local and national TV. Utilising the industry contacts Massey had built up through his writing he even ended up managing a couple of them for differing periods of time.

It would see an end product for some of the musicians down the line. Several of those in or contributing to a given acts’ recordings had gone on to work or have links with major mainstream icons such as Queen, Bros, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Lisa Stansfield and Simply Red, or influential and acclaimed successful acts such as Goldfrapp, Portishead and PJ Harvey. Many of the creators of these great tunes were involved as writers, producers or session players, or new career directions led to them running their own prosperous businesses, and even down to one of their number chairing and running a local Championship level football club!

Dig a little deeper into the western region’s musical history and the acts from the area weren’t alone in ploughing a furrow into the field marked ‘80’s Pop’. It was no wonder. The ground in that decade was fertile for sowing the seeds of possible pop perennials. Even down the road in and near Bath, they had plenty of music emigres who settled there and in the West Country having seen major league national and international success. The likes of Peter Gabriel, Midge Ure and even Stranglers front-man Hugh Cornwall made their homes and mark in the area.

But the most prominent of the acts to have been born, raised and emerged from, and later lived more opulently in or near the city of Bath itself, were Tears for Fears in the 1980’s. It begged the question for Massey and Darby in their initial considerations that if Tears for Fears could ‘make it’ big, did any other pop-orientated acts from the region come through, and if so what happened to them?

Dave Massey was right in the thick of it when this West Country pop was being made in the 1980’s. He was covering this and the many genres of music in his capacity as a Bristol and West country regional correspondent. As the decade progressed, somewhat uniquely, he did so for each of the weekly music papers in turn – firstly the NME, then Sounds, followed by Melody Maker. These papers all had massive readership and circulations at the time.

In the end the 18 tracks on the CD and 11 on the vinyl editions of the compilation do the ‘talking’. They are worthy contenders to be heard on day-time radio, in a top line club, blasting out of a TV screen or from in a car with the windows wound down on a sunny summer’s day, and just listened to by any pop fan through whatever means they choose to enjoy their music.

It’s a treasure trove of glorious commercial, but savvy and sexy pop music. Get into the groove of this wonderful west of England sonic pleasure feast! “The Bristol and Bath Pop Explosion – The 80’s” is released by Bristol Archive Records on Limited Edition Trans Pink Vinyl (300 copies) and Limited-Edition Numbered CD (100 copies) on 7th Feb 2025, distributed by Shellshock and available from good retailers worldwide.

ARTIST: Various Artists
TITLE: “The Bristol and Bath Pop Explosion – The 80’s”
RELEASE DATE: 28th Feb 2025
LABEL: Bristol Archive Records
DISTRIBUTION: Shellshock / Proper
CAT NO: ARC394V / ARC394CD
BARCODE: 5052571217719 / 5052571217726

CD Track Listing:

  1. Bush & Clarke ‘I’m Satisfied’
  2. Wadi Vision ‘The Place to Be’(demo)
  3. Umo Vogue ‘Just My Love’ (Extended demo version)
  4. Vicious Circle ‘Sorry’ (demo)
  5. Hey Belaba ‘Can’t Stop Running’ (live)
  6. Tania Lloyd ‘New Boy (At Number 48)’ (demo)
  7. Various Artists ‘Unlucky In Love
  8. The Sidneys ‘Rage’(demo)
  9. Automatic Dlamini ‘Me and My Conscience’
  10. Great Naked ‘Narrow Bed’
  11. Frame by Frame ‘Promise Me This’(demo)
  12. Bush & Clarke ‘Glassy Avenue’
  13. Wadi Vision ‘Second Take’(demo)
  14. Lovetrain ‘The Way of All Flesh’ (demo)
  15. Heartland ‘Keep My Distance’ (demo)
  16. Hey Belaba ‘Crying Boy’
  17. Shrine of 8 ‘We All Hurt Inside’
  18. Richard Hall ‘It’s a Crime’ (demo)

VINYL: TRACK LISTING:

SIDE A:

  1. Bush & Clarke ‘I’m Satisfied’
  2. Wadi Vision ‘The Place to Be’(demo)
  3. Great Naked ‘Narrow Bed’
  4. Vicious Circle ‘Sorry’ (demo)
  5. Hey Belaba ‘Can’t Stop Running’ (live)

SIDE B:

  1. Tania Lloyd ‘New Boy (At Number 48)’ (demo)
  2. Lovetrain ‘The Way of All Flesh’ (demo)
  3. The Sidneys ‘Rage’(demo)
  4. Frame by Frame ‘Promise Me This’(demo)
  5. Umo Vogue ‘Just My Love’ (demo)
  6. Shrine of 8 ‘We All Hurt Inside’

Bristol Archive Records 2017

Do you think of the West Country in the 1980’s as a source of plentiful pop acts? Go on, pull the other one! With the music that’s normally associated with Bristol, Bath and places out west, a number of stereotypes come to mind. That can be down to the known success stories or just plain perception.

There has always been a broad picture of the scope of music that has come out of the west end of the M4 and M5 in general, from the more fundamental areas of rock, indie, reggae, rap, R ‘n B and dance music, through to the more arcane areas of post-punk, jazz, punk-funk, punk jazz, art-rock and even once in a while a moody singer-songwriter.

The boys (and girls) from the region have always made a right old variety of noise! It hasn’t always been accompanied by mainstream acceptance with the resulting sales. That heady creativity included more straight up pop music and the ‘take’ that could be put on it, with the hope that acclaim would follow. Dig a little deeper into the western region’s musical history and they weren’t alone in ploughing a furrow into the field marked ‘80’s Pop’. It was no wonder. The ground in that decade was fertile for sowing the seeds of possible pop perennials.

It maybe didn’t help that down the road in and near Bath, they had plenty of music emigrees who settled there and in the West Country having seen major league national and international success. The likes of Peter Gabriel, Midge Ure and even Stranglers front-man Hugh Cornwall made their homes and mark in the area.

But the most prominent of the acts to have been born, raised and emerged from the city of Bath itself were Tears for Fears in the 1980’s. It begged the question that if Tears for Fears could ‘make it’ big, did any other pop-orientated acts from the region come through, and if so what happened to them? Were they any good? Did they get any exposure and recognition? If not, why not?

This prompted Bristol Archive records owner, Mike Darby, and the long-time music industry creative and journalist, Dave Massey, to go through their extensive archive of local music and see if there was an album that could be compiled of those acts tracks that could be regarded as ‘lost hits’. Darby had done this with ‘lost gems’ by punk, mod and rock acts from the west and released well researched and beautifully presented compilations. Now it was time for the pop acts.

Dave Massey was right in the thick of it when this music was being made in the 1980’s. He was in the fortunate position of covering the many genres of music in his capacity as the Bristol and West country regional correspondent, and as the decade progressed somewhat uniquely for each of the weekly music papers in turn – firstly the NME, then Sounds, followed by Melody Maker.

These papers all had massive readership and circulations at the time. A Wednesday during the week was always the day to buy which paper was your source to find out what was happening to your favourite acts and music!

Massey also had moved to London in the late 80’s to work as an A&R man for a music publishing company. He trawled the whole country for new talent, but always kept a close eye on developments in his former back-yard. The range of music for him to assess was extensive, but the music industry has always regarded pop as a staple ingredient in its cash flow planning. Like it or not, he had to consider that, but he was always a fan of the genre if it ‘said’ something.

From their trawl Darby and Massey uncovered pop gold, and this wonderful compilation demonstrates that to the full. Many of the acts were seen live, reviewed and interviewed by Massey and other local journalists, featured on local, and in some instances national radio, and some made it on to local and national TV. Utilising the industry contacts he had built up through his writing Dave even ended up managing a couple of them briefly.

There was no lack of talent in these acts, or indeed ambition, and in a stylised era there was a keen appreciation of the right ‘look’ too. All kinds of strategies were used to promote themselves. Tracks were circulated on cassette tapes in order to solicit interest from an industry drowning in pop. Some went further and actually got as far as putting out independent releases. Gigs were done in ‘unusual’ venues. Videos were made in whatever surroundings would work.

These acts have stories of ‘got so close’ and ‘what might have been’. Many of the creators of these great tunes have gone on to success in careers that still involved music, whether as writers, producers or session players, or led to them running their own prosperous businesses, and even down to one of their number chairing and running a local Championship level football club!

But in the end the 20 tracks on the compilation do the ‘talking’. They are worthy contenders to be heard on day-time radio, in a top line club, blasting out of a TV screen or from in a car with the windows wound down on a sunny summer’s day, and just listened to by any pop fan through whatever means they choose to enjoy their music.

It’s a treasure trove of glorious commercial, but savvy and sexy pop music. Get into the groove of this wonderful west of England sonic pleasure feast!

www.bristolarchiverecords.com

ARTIST: Various Artists
TITLE: “This Is 80’s Pop (Out West)”
RELEASE DATE: 6th October 2017
LABEL: Bristol Archive Records
DISTRIBUTION: Shellshock / SRD
CAT NO: ARC323CD
BARCODE: 5052571072622

CD Track Listing:

  1. Hey Belaba – Can’t Stop Running 03:12
  2. Wadi Vision – Forwards Backwards 02:55
  3. Vicious Circle – Sorry 03:41
  4. Bush and Clarke – I’m Satisfied 03:46
  5. Umo Vogue – Who’s Sorry Now 03:05
  6. Frame by Frame – Kill For Less 03:52
  7. Great Naked – Narrow Bed 05:03
  8. Kick City – Cover Your Eyes 03:06
  9. The Works – When The Glitter Fades 04:12
  10. Paul Sandrone (Pola) – I’m Alone 03:34
  11. Umo Vogue – Make It Real 03:36
  12. Snapshot Parody – Money Makes Money 03:38
  13. Vicious Circle – Temptation 03:10
  14. Great Naked – Hanging Around My Door 03:51
  15. Wadi Vision – This is Ha Ha 02:27
  16. The Big Outdoor Type – Don’t Be A Stranger 03:45
  17. Bush and Clarke – Guru Maserati 04:34
  18. Hey Belaba – Call From The Wild 04:17
  19. Pola – Mistakes 03:57
  20. Vicious Circle – Womans World 03:49
  21. This Is 80’s Pop (Compendulum Megamix) 16:47

Email: contact@viciouscircle.info