The Pop Group Site guestbook 1999

Pop Group guestbook 1999

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name: Adam Marshall
date: January 13, 1999 at 11:19:13 CST
email address: sorry!
from: Liverpool, UK
Says: Yes, excellent site. Its always been a great regret that I never saw the Pop Group. Just thought I'd mention that I reckon the We Are Time cheapo LP is the best of the three - often forgotten about that one.

Also, if anyone is ignorant of post-Pop Group Mark Stewart - he's got better (if thats possible). Buy the 3 essential releases "Learning to Cope With Cowardice", "Metatron" and "Control Data". Then buy the other two "Mark Stewart" and "When the Vaneer of Democracy begins to fade". Then buy the New Age Steppers LP which are equally good. Then buy everything by the Fall!

name: Adam
date: January 13, 1999 at 11:50:18 CST
email address: sorry!
from: Liverpool, UK
Says: Just remembered something else. Julian Cope, he of Teardrop Explodes" acknowledges that he ripped off "She's Beyond Good and Evil" when writing their second single Bouncing Babies. Think about it .... its obvious! (This is from his "Head On" book - essential reading.)

name: Alex Koppert
date: January 14, 1999 at 08:13:28 CST
email address: kpr@sem.hhs.nl
from: Netherlands
Says: Great site, The Pop Group and especially 'Y' is my all time favourite ever since 1979 (20 years!!!). And Mark Stewart with his Maffia are still doing great things. Also the other babies: R,R&P, Pig Bag, Max Joy were good. The discography looks good (got everything except the posters from "We Are Time", never knew they exists. I do have a CD (japaneese) with both "For How Much Longer" and "We are Time". And then there is of course the "We Are All Prostitutes" T-Shirt (Maggy Thatcher sticking up her middle finger!) My greatest mistake. I 2 years ago i saw a brand new, original copy of "FHMLDWTMM" including the posters for only $15. I didn't bought it because i already had my copy. But my posters are falling apart, and these were brand new!!!!

name: John Carr
date: January 16, 1999 at 10:19:16 CST
email address:
from: UK
Says: A Fab POP GROUP page...Before Xmas a bought in my local car boot sale a copy of "SHE IS BEYOND GOD AND EVIL" on VIDEO...

name: Diethelm
date: January 19, 1999 at 11:01:28 CST
email address: kroehl@online-club.de
from: Germany
Says: "Y" von den Popgroup hat mein Leben verändert - mit 16 Jahren fand ich mich mit Fragen wie "Aufrichtigkeit", "Lebenslüge" oder "Tot" konfrontiert. Ich hörte die Scheibe damals beim Einschlafen ein - dies scheint mir im nachhinein fast masochististische Züge zu haben, aber so war es. Es war die Zeile "an order is an order" die mich dazu bewegte, den Kriegsdienst zu verweigern und "Snowgirl" hat mich viel über Frauen nachdenken lassen. Ich bin kein "Fan", aber keine Scheibe hat mich so durch ihre Aufrichtigkeit und Wut beeindruckt wie diese...

name: hans huisman
date: January 19, 1999 at 14:22:20 CST
email address: hanshel@xs4all.nl
from: amsterdam
Says: nice site, thanks! Am looking for (a tape of) mark springer's solo lp 'piano' (illuminated 1984). Can trade you some live radio broadcasts of mark stewart ('80-s).

name: a name ?
date: January 30, 1999 at 23:11:54 CST
email address: jebotepatak@usa.net
from: Croatia
Says: Great site ... I know several big Pop Group fans in Croatia.

name: Keith Vercauteren
date: February 2, 1999 at 14:43:42 CST
email address: gorf@csd.uwm.edu
from: Milwaukee, WI (somewhere between Chicago and Canada)
Says: The Pop Group are one of the few bands I enjoy which have a "funk" edge (along with the Gang of Four,etc.)... That word generally ignites a negative response from me, for whatever reason... It's pleasing to see a good webpage on such a powerful band... I have their first album on Cd and the second one on vinyl, but I don't have the "We Are Time" vinyl comp that I want badly... Oh well... My favorite Pop Group songs include "We Are Time", "Blind Faith", "Snow Girl", and "Feed the Hungry"... I'm sure a link to this page will be supplied at the website for my band AluminumKnotEye -- http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/9449/aluminumknoteye.html LATER...

name: SPIKE
date: February 17, 1999 at 11:50:09 CST
email address: MICHAELWEST27@HOTMAIL.COM
from: READING - BERKSHIRE
Says: The pop group were a little bit before my time,but when i was about 17/18 that was when mark stewart and maffia were forming and on-u sound were at the cutting edge.Some of the best gigs and times i had in my youth were at maffia/tackhead sound system gigs,where after the gig my ears would be ringing for a week after - serious head destruction. Is there anyone else out there who went to these events - the zap in Brighton i remember really well and the town and country in 1988

name: Spike
date: February 18, 1999 at 04:35:49 CST
email address: michaelwest27@hotmail.com
from: reading,uk
Says: A few recommendations for pop group/stewart fans....


Mark Stewart + Maffia - "Learning to cope with cowardice" lp.

		"As the veneer of democracy starts to fade" lp.

		"Mark Stewart" lp.

		"Hysteria" 12"single. 

		"Hypnotised/Dreamers" 12"single.

Tackhead Sound System - "Tackhead tape time" lp.

		"Whats my mission now" 12"single.

Gary Clail / Tackhead - "Reality" 12"single.

		"Half cut for confidence" 12"single.

The Beatnigs          - "Television" - (Mark Stewart Remix) 12"single.

Pay It All Back       - "Volume 1/2/3" - (Various On U Sound Artists).

African Head Charge   - "Off the beaten track" lp.

Missing Brazillians   - "Warzone" lp.

Also check out the mighty tackhead webpage for more Mark Stewart dissinformation. Loads more that i cant think of at the moment but will add when my brain returns Love and peace to all - The Mighty Spikehead.

name: SPIKE
date: February 23, 1999 at 05:57:39 CST
email address: michaelwest27@hotmail.com
from: Reading - UK
Says: Just to add to my list of recommendations........

Keith Leblanc - Major Malfunction - Stranger Than Fiction - both lp'

Fats Comet - Deejays Program - Rockchester - both 12"singles - 

Lee Scratch Perry and the Dub Syndicate - Time boom vs the devil dead - lp

Dub Syndicate - Strike the Balance - Tunes from the missing channel - both lp's -

name: SPIKE
date: February 23, 1999 at 06:16:19 CST
email address: michaelwest27@hotmail.com
from: Reading UK
Says: Has anyone out there got a copy of the 12"inch promo of "Fatal Attraction" by Mark Stewart and the Maffia - if so i would like to buy it or pay someone to send me a cassette with it on. Send me a mail if you can help. Love and peace to all - The Mighty Spikehead.

name: Harald Waiglein
date: March 1, 1999 at 16:43:48 CST
email address: harald.waiglein@oe3.at
from: Vienna, Austria
Says: I remember first hearing the Pop Group on a Rough Trade Compilation Record (Wanna Buy A Bridge?) in 1981 or '82, and being completely flattened by it. At the time, I was both into Disco and Punk, but never in my wildest dreams had it occurred to me that a merger between the two could work. To this day, I have never heard anything more daring, perplexing, radical and unique than the Pop Group. In the late Eighties and early Nineties, I had my own band called Bomb Circle. We covered Feed The Hungry on a CD called "Grateful Ethiopians Burst Out In Songs Of Joy" - but that was only published in Austria, so don't even try to find it. I am now 32 and earn a fortune as news editor for an Austrian radio station. Cheers to everyone out there who appreciates the Pop Group - wherever you are.

name: Seung
date: March 2, 1999 at 22:27:39 CST
email address:
from: Korea
Says: You look ***!11

name: Mark
date: March 9, 1999 at 09:39:34 CST
email address: at work
from: London
Says: Obviously we know about Mark and Gareth butdoes anyone know what happened to the other members of the band?

name: Karen
date: March 16, 1999 at 05:46:11 CST
email address: at work
from: London
Says: Whatever happened to John Waddington and Simon Underwood?

name: Francesco
date: March 25, 1999 at 04:59:04 CST
email address: fbelli@hotmail.com
from: Italy
Says: Pop Group wasthe most important band in the world. All the music we are listening now is coming from those guys from Bristol. Mark Steward is still the number one. I saw them in 1979 in Milano and Rome (with Slits) and they were the best gigs of my life. In Milano me and some friends of mine were on the stage singing Rob a Bank with Mark (we were the chour)

name: Stefano
date: March 31, 1999 at 03:32:30 CST
email address: rudyfustone@iol.it
from: Italy
Says: was a great group. Today many crossover groups are inspired by the pop group music,

name: rhodri kasperbauer
date: April 5, 1999 at 00:56:47 CST
email address: kasperbauer@yahoo.com
from: hong kong
Says: Great site, great to see the Pop Group getting some recognition. I went to the same school as Mark Stewart, Bristol Grammar. It was the 'elite' school in Bristol - fee paying, a quater of students on scholarships. All male, apart from 6 girls. Mark Stweart was in the year ahead of me, as was a Cortinas guitarist and the editor of Black Dwarf fanzine (later to star in Scum). Mark didn't seem to turn up much for school in that final year, memories of a large grey-dyed haired figure. . The first concert I saw was at Briustol Poytechnic, they were unanounced, 4th on the bill. Top band was the Heartbreakers (with 2 Sex Pistols). Pop Group came on looking like extras from The Last Picture Show movie (cowboy shirts), first song was 'Let Me Talk To The Driver', massive bass sound. The band were really tight with 2 guitars, like Television. At the concert there was a tense atmosphere, as some football supporters attempted to break the glass doors at thE back of the hall.

The second concert I saw them at was a benefit at Bristol University, sold out. The band were prceeded by a solo synth performance by Mark Stweart's brother (I think), the gig was the best I've attended ever (other than Kraftwerk in the USA 1998). The sound is captured on a rather poor quality botleg (runs at wrong speed), which does also have a superb studio demo of 'Please don't sell your Dreams' (done in 'Trap' style, not dub). The set list, which I have somewhere in Canada, simply listed each song by one word. As the press would later report, the music at this stage didn't get released until the later 'We Are Time' retrospective..so this realy tight funk band was never heard on vinyl at the time. The wait for the 1st single took forever, it came with a badge (the 7 inch single). The promo film was made in a church.

The third concert I saw was at the Ashton Gate Free Festival - the band were on a big stage, the middle of a field, the bass was muddled and the 'dub' element was lost in a general uncertainty as to quite what was going on.

The fourth time, the following year, was to support the 'rough trade' lp - the band now had 2 drummers, the wasp synth was present, there was far more focus and determination...Dan's bass was played more like a guitar, superb. I do have a later Finnish concert bootleg...by then things are getting strained..a Chic bass line w/'Fuck The Army' rants. When they were not playing, Mark Stewart did backing vocals for Colour Tapes (a great band, one single)..very influenced by Pop Group. Also, the Pop Group's roadie had a band 4VP1, which did 'percussion parties' rior to playing live (this may have happened at that 4th Trinity hall concert too)... the bad was inspired by Pop group, as was another Bristol band 'Electric Guitars'. The John Peel radio session the band did has a superior version of 'We Are Time' and an unreleased version of 'Words', I have this on tape in Canada. However, I'm living in Hong Kong so that's not much use AT THIS TIME

As I rarely use e-mail, I may have got my address wrong...'nothing is impossible when you're living on the brink'!

name: MARCOS CARDAO
date: April 5, 1999 at 12:57:07 CST
email address: MCMARKUS@MAILCITY.COM
from: PORTUGAL, LISBON
Says: I HEARD ABOUT THE POP GROUP FOR YEARS, BUT JUST RECENTLY I BOUGHT «Y», IT'S FANTASTIC, NEW, DIFFERENT... I'M IN TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSIC (DUB,ROCK,JAZZ,DANCE,HIP HOP, SOUL,etc),BUT I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE 80's. JUST GANG OF FOUR («ENTERTAINMENT»), RAINCOATS,.. AND POP GROUP WAS A SURPRISE AS IT WAS LIQUID LIQUID (EXCELL. THE RELEASE FROM MOWAX LAST YEAR). SO WANT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS MORE ABOUT THE BAND THE SOLO PROJECTS, WHAT IS WORTH BUYING AND STUFF LIKE THAT. AS MATTER OF FACT I BOUGHT «Y» NOT ONLY FOR THE MUSIC, BUT ALSO FOR THE POLITICAL ISSUES (REMINDS ME R.WYATT WITH THE EXCELL. «DONDESTAN»), IT WAS A STEP FOWARD IN THE PAST& PRESENT AND HOPEFULLY IN THE FUTURE

name: Kaoko
date: April 6, 1999 at 23:35:28 CST
email address: kaokochan@hotmail.com
from: United States (but I'm originally from Japan.)
Says: Wow! It's cool! I never thought there was the web-site about the Pop Group. I am so glad to find this site. I have been crazy about the Pop Group (especially the voice of Mark Stewart!) for more than 10 years. Because! nobody can do the same thing that the Pop Group did. In particular, nobody can imitate the Mark's singing style. I always try to sing their songs when I am listening to, however, it sounds awful, really. I wish I could sing like him. Anyway, I'm so impressed with this HP, so please keep this as long as I'm alive. Write you guys again!

name: Rhodri Kasperbauer
date: April 7, 1999 at 05:03:52 CST
email address: kasperbauer @yahoo.com
from: hong kong
Says: It looks like my last message didn't get through. Great site. I went to the same school as M. Stewart, Bristol Grammar. He was in the year above, not that he was there that often. I first saw the band 4th on the bill (unannounced) at Bristol Polytecnic. Heartbreakers (with 2 Sex Pistols) were headlining. Hall was packed, tense atmposhere as some Bristol Rovers football supporters tried to smash their way in through glass doors. The band were very tight, kinda like Television. First song was 'Let Me Talk To The Driver', which had a great bass line. The band looked like extras from the movie 'Last Picture Show', cowboy shirts! The second concert I saw was at Bristol University , a benefit. Once more a packed hall, but more of an arty crowd. Other than Kraftwerk's tour of USA in 1998, I still believe this is the best concert ever. I do have the concert on tape (doesn't run at correct speed), which also features a studio demo for 'Dreams' (done in 'Trap' style...much better than lp version). The John Peel session that I The John Peel session featured a good version of 'We Are Time' and 'Words, which I wish they'd have released. Anyway, 3rd time I saw 'em was Summer, Ashton Court Free Festival...on a big stage, open-air, they were a bit lost...not too good. The 4th concert I saw was to promote teh final studio lp. At Trinity Hall, Bristol, with 2 drummers and a wasp synth, by now Catsis was on bass, which gave it a great driving force. I have a Finnish live tape, where things are getting a little ragged again...Chic bass lines w/'fuck the army' rants. M.Stewart did production and backing vocals on the Colour Tapes single, another band influenced by them was 4VP1 and some might say the Electric Guitars also.

name: Tom
date: April 11, 1999 at 02:08:32 CST
email address:
from: NYC
Says: I was immediately a big fan of The Pop Group when I heard the single "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" in the late-70s. I saw them at least once, maybe twice, at a club called Hurrah in the W60s in NYC in the late-70s/early 80s. They were great. They did all of their good songs. Mark Stewart picked up a metal folding chair and threw it into the audiance. Before throwing it into the audience he stood on it and yelled, "Nixon and Kissinger are guilty of War Crimes", over and over. All in all, they put on a great late-70s punk show.

name: Alex
date: April 17, 1999 at 17:12:39 CST
email address: kpr@sem.hhs.nl
from: netherlands
Says: Check it out. Mark Stewart with his maffia, Live in Rotterdam (netherlands) in 1990, almost 50Mb in MP3 format!

name: Alex
date: April 18, 1999 at 16:28:26 CST
email address: kpr@sem.hhs.nl
from: netherlands
Says: Oepss, forgot to mention the link. Well here it is... http://www.dub.org.uk/sounds/ Enjoy!!

name: jovi wan
date: April 22, 1999 at 09:05:19 CST
email address: inhalants@hotmail.com
from: sandy eggo, kali
Says: this site is a superb tribute to a superb band. if/when my webpage starts looking a little better, i will most def add a link to this marvelous page. incidentally i don't feel like clikatat ikatowi, or any other gravity band for that matter, sound anything like the pop group. that's just blasphemy

name: Brian Lunger
date: April 27, 1999 at 16:50:07 CST
email address: museum@nunanet.com
from: Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
Says: Well done Dixon. This is a band that should definitely not be forgotten. I can remember buying "Wanna Buy A Bridge" when it first came out and all the great music that led me too discover in that huge British post-punk mess. What brought me to your page was a search on the Y Records label, which I'm told was run by one of the Pop Group members. I'd love to see a full discography and get more background info. If anyone out there has any Y records to swap or sell, drop me a note. It's true... "We are all prostitutes" Cheers, Brian

name: John Henderson
date: May 2, 1999 at 13:20:40 CST
email address: fgao@interaccess.com
from: Fantasyland
Says: Y Records was run by Dick O'Dell, not a member of the Pop Group. Here's something of a discography I cobbled together: I dug around and found some info about Y Records. I began compiling this list, got obsessed and kept looking for info until I pieced together a complete (?) list of the Y’s output. I listed 12”s separate from 7”s if they included different tracks.


1	SLITS / POP GROUP	In The Beginning There Was Rhythm/Where There’s A Will			7”

2	POP GROUP		For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?				LP

3	SLITS			untitled official bootleg							LP

4	SLITS			Man Next Door/Version							7”

5  	POP GROUP		We Are Time									LP

6	GLAXO BABIES	Limited Entertainment EP							7” EP

Punky-reggae conglomerate like the Slits, singer Rob Chapman now a Mojo editor.  At least one great song.

7  	POP GROUP		We Are All Prostitutes/Amnesty Report					7”

I don’t have confirmation on this one - can’t find my copy.  But it seems to fit here.

8	VINCENT UNITS	Carnival Song/Everything Is Going To Be All Wrong				7”

9	STEVE BERESFORD & TRISTAN HONSINGER	Double Indemnity				LP

10	PIGBAG		Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag/Backside					7”

10-12	PIGBAG		Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag (extended)/As It Was (live)			12”

11	MAXIMUM JOY	Stretch/Silent Street								7”/12”

12	PIGBAG		Sunny Day/Elephants Wish To Become Nimble					7”

12-12	PIGBAG		Sunny Day/Whoops Goes My Body + Elephants Wish To Become Nimble	12”

13	BERESFORD/TOOP/HONSINGER/KONDO		Imitation Of Life				LP

14	TESCO BOMBERS	Hernando’s Hideaway/Break The Ice At Parties + Girl From Ipanema		7”

15	MAXIMUM JOY	White And Green Place/Building Bridges					7”/12”

16	PIGBAG		Getting Up / Go Cat								7”

16-12	PIGBAG		Getting Up (extended) / Giggling Mud + Go Cat					12”

17	PIGBAG		Dr Heckle & Mr Jive								LP/MC

18	DIAMANDA GALAS	Litanies Of Satan								LP	

19	SUN RA		Strange Celestial Road								LP

20	MOUTH		Who’s Hot?									7”

21	SHRIEKBACK		Tench										MLP

22	SHRIEKBACK		Sexthinkone									7”/12”

23	CHRISTOPHER REEVES	Dining At Dzerzhinsky’s/Floorshow At Dzerzhinsky’s			7”/12”

24	PIGBAG		Big Bean/Scumda								7”

25	PULSALLAMA		Ungawa Part II/The Devil Lives In My Husband’s Body			7”/12”

26	MAXIMUM JOY	In The Air/Simmer Till Done							7”

27	SHRIEKBACK		My Spine (Is The Bass Line)/Tiny Birds						7”

27	SHRIEKBACK		My Spine (Is The Bass Line)/Tiny Birds + Feelers				12”

28	MAXIMUM JOY	Station M.X.J.Y.								LP

I have a catalog which lists this as 27, but I think it’s really this number, as I’ve confirmed 27 as Shriekback.

29	TYMON DOGG		Battle Of Wills								LP

30	ARCHIE POOLE	Wicked City									LP

31	PROMENADERS	The Promenaders								LP

32??

33 1/3	various artists		Birth Of The Y									LP

I also recall that an early version of the Shriekback album “Care” was released by Y, but in Holland only. The band sued Y (or something), recut parts of the record and it was later issued through WEA, but for a time both versions were available - even though the Y version was kind of demo-y in quality. Could this be #32? Hope this shows up okay.

name: david nichols
date: May 4, 1999 at 05:08:17 CST
email address: dgnichol@deakin.edu.au
from: melbourne, australia
Says: we are all prostitutes has always been one of my favourite singles. I am astonished and gratified that there is someone doing something like this on such a brilliant band and that all these other people are responding so positively and usefully!

name: christina
date: May 19, 1999 at 02:12:02 CST
email address: a9609011@unet.univie.ac.at
from: vienna
Says: thanx for this informative site

name: Harry Catsis
date: May 24, 1999 at 20:05:44 CST
email address: brit908@hotmail.com
from: New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Says: Me again

name: bob lee
date: June 3, 1999 at 22:47:27 CST
email address: bobzilla77@mindspring.com
from: granada hills, ca
Says: Glad to find this site!! I play drums in a band with Mike Watt & Nels Cline which covered "We are Time" last year & became an instant fan. I've been trying in vain to find anything by the Pop Group here in the US. Can anybody help me? Please write me at bobzilla77@mindspring.com.

thanks,
bob lee

name: Stevo
date: June 10, 1999 at 06:38:51 CST
email address: Stuggy@hotmail.com
from: Galway. Ireland
Says: I came across the first Lp Y in my local 2nd hand record store at the start of the 80s when I was first discovering the Birthday Party. Ithink it may have been the comparison between the 2 in one of the British music press that my brother had kept that turned me on to them, certainly the first eponymous lp by Mr Cave's crew does bear a heavy debt to the bristolians. As far as I remember I got Captain Beef heart's 'Lick my Decals Off' on the same day both of which became turntable faves for the next few years. The weird production makes Y one of the greatest acid trip records I put it up there with Einsturzende Neubauten's 'Zeichnungen der O.T.'
Ireally want to get my hands on the full length video . i saw it once at a punk all-nighter at the Scala again at the start of the 80s.

name: andrew james
date: June 12, 1999 at 23:36:30 CST
email address: andrew_james99@hotmail.com
from: chicago, il (ex-UK)
Says: What an excellent site! I had no idea you were there until I idly tapped "The Pop Group" into an I-Music search and saw your posting. I don't think I can add anything.. I was vaguely aware of the group at the end of the 70's (I was only 11/12), but got into Mark Stewart around 1986.
Have you heard the remix of the Beatnigs' "Television" by Mark, Adrian Sherwood and Gary Clail on Alternative Tentacles? It was a 12".
Keep up the great work.

name: Alan Headland
date: June 21, 1999 at 16:24:15 CST
email address: alan@aheadland.freeserve.co.uk
from: England
Says: The Pop Group were one of the best ever live bands, along with A Certain Ratio, theres nothing like them now (other than Massive Attack), but hey I'm too old for this!!

name: Josh Hudgens
date: June 21, 1999 at 19:55:24 CST
email address: SexyCelery@aol.com
from: Spokane, Washington
Says: Hi. I am an avid fan of the now defunct (i'm assuming) singing trio of girls called "The Flirts". During the 80's, they were rather prolific, as I have many albums by them, but cannot find any information about them! It's really vexing me, and would appreciate information from anyone who's got the poop on them, or related things, like who they were, where, producers and what not, as they are something of an enigma. Please help me and encourage my fetish for the Flirts! They rock the house live non-stop!

name: Neil Nicholson
date: June 22, 1999 at 01:57:01 CST
email address: SonofNiSun@aol.com
from: Chesterfield, MO and Chicago, Il
Says: I paid 32$ for "Y" and it was worth every penny. I'd like to find "We Are Time" and "How Much Longer...." If anybody can help me out, contact me.

name: tim
date: June 24, 1999 at 16:11:41 CST
email address: tim@red-post.co.uk
from: england
Says: just saw nick cave on tv talking about we are all prostitutes- never heard them before and was completely blown away.massive fan of the fall bogshed and ron johnson etc.. thanks for the record info

name: matt cooper
date: June 25, 1999 at 09:35:42 CST
email address: stmcoo@barnet.ac.uk
from: London
Says: Great sight. Glad to see the Pop group getting some belated recognition. The shame is that, for my money, they were never entirely captured on record. Their earliest recording available, the ones of the "We are time" compilation including the 1978 peel session, show the band before they really let rip with the mutant punk funk. The material is not that convincing. The Y album

name: ijhan verschuur
date: July 9, 1999 at 02:31:53 CST
email address: ijhan@netscape.net
from: temporarily in om=a=ha, ne u.s.
Says: one of few music projects that confirmed to me...music n politics do work together...as a musician too often im told to conform i never have and with a long history now of social/political music/multiarts projects im still going strong improvising largly something i/weve mastered as much as one can and still be spontaneous...the pop group, henry cow n others i deeply appreciate ea indivduals dedication to what they had to express...im cureous what ever happened to em...after rip,rig and panic and early solo mark perry
releases....ijhan

name: Grant
date: July 16, 1999 at 20:14:12 CST
email address: grant.hughes@virgin.net
from: Staffordshire, England
Says: Great website !!!!!

name: michael layne heath
date: July 17, 1999 at 13:01:58 CST
email address: mlayne@hotmail.com
from: San Francisco, CA. U.S.A.
Says: Nice to know there's a corner of cyberspace solely devoted to the ORIGINAL whiteboy agitprop funk band. I mean... Red Hot Chili WHO? Limp WHAT? The Pop Group burned a hole in my brain back in '78 that still has yet to heal... by the by, I'd sure like to hear from anyone who can hook me up with a tape of the WE ARE TIME LP or any live TPG tuneage...I know you're out there somewhere...feel free to E me. Transmission ends...

name: N. Tishuk
date: July 21, 1999 at 15:02:44 CST
email address: tishuk@hotmail.com
from: Mexico
Says: Friends, I am in Merida, Mexico right now looking for adventure. It looks like the only place I have found it is Bristol, 1980. Usually I am in the States jumping out of my skin to bands like Wire and Mission of Burma, but it is nice to live vicariously through the Internet with a band like The Pop Group. People interested in seeing what kind of noise people are making presently, Visit the Poor Fish website run out of Petersburg, FL

www.audiogalaxy.com/bands/poorfish

name: Polly mela
date: July 30, 1999 at 06:28:32 CST
email address: W.W.W CO. UK DISNEY .CHANEL
from: Witchurch ( Bristol)
Says: The band seems cool!

name: Polly mela
date: July 30, 1999 at 06:28:33 CST
email address: W.W.W CO. UK DISNEY .CHANEL
from: Witchurch ( Bristol)
Says: The band seems cool!

name: Tony Bartholomew
date: August 5, 1999 at 10:06:13 CST
email address: tbartholomew@crc.org.uk
from: London
Says: Had heard of the name but knew nothing. Last night, saw programme with Big Daddy G from Massive Attack (personal heroes of mine) talking about his favourite music and The Pop Group were a massive influence on him - think The Pop Group were from Bristol too like Massive.
They look and sound fucking amazing and I'm looking forward to getting hold of some of their stuff and finding out more about them. Our band Melodica, without really knowing it, seem to be trying achieve a similar sound, possibly due to similar influences.

Rub a DUB DUB
Tony

name: tony d
date: August 7, 1999 at 05:45:35 CST
email address: tony@trd3000.freeserve.co.uk
from: n wales
Says: I say the pop group twice. once in manchester where they supported Patti Smith
the other in London at a church designed by Inigo Jones (in covent garden - I
think. The manc. gig was a good show - but my most enduring memory of that was some idjut shouting for patti smith to play because the night between every song.
The London gig was a far superior time, I can't remember the other bands on the bill - I have a faded memory of Linton Kwesi Johnson not turning up.
The band played a ferocious set, the only lighting being a row of spotlights
along the front of the stage pointing vertically upwards.
After 20 years I'm sorry I can't remember more, such as songs played etc.

Something to look out for is a live LP by the good missionaries, it contains a live version of thief of fire played by the missionaries voiced by mark stewart

The good missionaries were mark perry's band formed after Alternative TV fell apart
I doubt this will ever make it to cd

for a comphrensive discography go to
http://crytuff.fmb.stu.mmu.ac.uk/On-U/

name: Eric Blowtorch
date: August 10, 1999 at 11:44:07 CST
email address: eric.beaumont@biztimes.com
from: Milwaukee, USA
Says: I love 'Where There's a Will,' 'Trap,' 'We Are All Prostitutes,' 'Snow Girl,' and damn near everything else by the Pop Group. I'm a huge Rip Rig + Panic, Neneh Cherry, & Massive Attack fan, and I know someone from Bristol who used to see the Pop Group all the time. I went to see Fishbone live in 1985 because friend told me they sounded like the Pop Group. He wasn't wrong; they became one of my favorite bands ever.

name: Simon Coffey
date: August 13, 1999 at 19:03:43 CST
email address: sicoff2@fetchmail.com
from: USA on Holiday, otherwise NZ
Says: On tour with US band The Melvins and just picked up the "How long" Lp in Athens Georgia
and the CD Compilation (1998) in Atlanta Georgia

My collection is now complete!

Yes!

name: Anonymous
date: August 15, 1999 at 14:37:48 CST
email address:
from: East Belfast (not West, or North, or South) in Northern Ireland
Says: I love your no.1 single. I SEE THE SKY THE SKY SEES ME SO READ ON AND THEN HAVE TEA .
When will you be famous? We have our own pop group and we don't like you. Our song is much better than yours and we'll become famous one day but you won't. What age are you? We're all ********* years old and I fancy David Beckham. One more question - are you American? Hugs and kisses from Po (from the Teletubbies - have you heard of them?)
Hello. We have a band which is really good. it is called Anonymous. We have five singles. Really - we do! By the way, we don't like your use of language IN YOUR WEBSITE. We'll write back once we finish our own website. Bye Bye

name: Ricardo Vieira
date: August 25, 1999 at 02:28:31 CST
email address: baohomet@mtecnetsp.com.br
from: sao paulo - Brazil
Says: Hi!
Just came back from London...found Pop Group/Mark Stewart+Maffia live CD "Mona Mona" recorded Helsinki oct.80/amsterdam may 85...very good quality recordings.
Best
Ricardo

name: Phil
date: August 28, 1999 at 16:35:44 CST
email address: Philip.atterson@virgin.net
from: Scotland
Says: I saw the Pop Group in Cambridge and London (1980?). At the time they were unlike anything else around. I remember Mark Stewart on the front page of NME holding a small statue and the interview was well managed in that you immediately wanted to find out about this band with the cool name. They did a John Peel session which I got on tape - does anyone know if these sessions ever came out on vinyl/CD????- the tracks were, if I remember correctly, We are Time, Kiss the Book and Genius or Lunatic. The last time I saw anything PG related was Bruce Smith drumming for the Slits when Ari Up walked off satge at Bradford Unversity leaving Nenah Cherry (married to Bruce???) doing vocals.

name: Gabby
date: September 1, 1999 at 08:06:15 CST
email address: ezna341@ulcc.ac.uk (Leda)
from: London
Says: Does anyone know what John Waddington is doing now?

name: Allan Roepke
date: September 1, 1999 at 22:04:32 CST
email address: croepke@dnc.net
from:
Says:

name: Allan Roepke
date: September 1, 1999 at 22:11:55 CST
email address: croepke@dnc.net
from: Albany,Oregon
Says: great web site about a band that more than deserves it. it's amazing to hear how many bands these days have 'borrowed' a lot from the pop group. also, victor from camper van beethoven considered "she is beyond good and evil" to be the best song of all time(at least he did in the late 80's). I bought my copy of "for how much longer..." direct from rough trade us, and the us pressing did not have any posters, just a red lyric insert. keep up the great work for this wonderful site.

name: Ray
date: September 3, 1999 at 03:06:30 CST
email address: sunaarashi@earthlink.net
from: Cambridge, MA, USA
Says: They've been always special to me. What a drummer! What a music!
I'm glad I found your site.. was STILL only one in YAHOO.
Well, I already linked this site to mine. Mind it?

name: Trelawney Shaw
date: September 6, 1999 at 13:08:41 CST
email address: Trelawney@Bigfoot.com
from: UK
Says: Are Hue and Cry still together? I haven't seen them on Top of the Pops or on the radio for years!

name: michael panontin
date: September 9, 1999 at 11:09:32 CST
email address:
from: toronto
Says: Mark Stewart and (I believe) Simon Underwood appear live with the Good Missionaries doing a version of Thief of Fire. The album is called Fire from Heaven and was released in 1979 or 1980. Sorry but my copy of the record is not with me right now as I am at work so I can't give you all the details. I don't have an e-mail address but you can write to me at 40 Walmer Rd. #102 Toronto M5R 2X4

name: scott curtis
date: September 9, 1999 at 11:40:52 CST
email address: scottc34@hotmail.com
from: new york, n.y.
Says: how did you obtain so much information on them? are rip rig + panic records possible to find anywhere in the u.s.?

name: Charlie
date: September 16, 1999 at 11:18:51 CST
email address: xspartan@hotmail.com
from: London England
Says: Yeah right!

I lived just North of Bristol when The Pop Group came into existence. I first heard them do a session on the John Peel Show (of course) and then heard "She is Beyond Good and Evil" on the show and decided I had to see the band. I saw them play at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, which I think was a seminal gig for them (supported by Lynton Kwezi Johnson presumably because they shared the same producer (Denis "Dub" Bovell")). It was certainly a knockout.

You used to see the band members around Bristol quite a bit (down at the Arnolfini watching Jimi Hendrix films or at the Ashton Court Free Festival). My beast memory was when they turned up at a free festival called "Phun City" which was just down the road wheer we lived. We played on the Friday night and they tried to play on the Saturday but hadn't told anyone this so they couldn't get on stage, Gareth Sagar was particularly out of it I remember!

So that was the two times I saw them but I have followed what has happened since. 'tis a pity that Bruce Smith no longer drums the way he used to because he was a knockout.

I assume everyone knows that Y is available on CD with She is Beyond Good and Evil as a freebie bonus track (shame its missing 3.38 though).

Thats it I'm afraid.

Charlie

name: Heavy Panther
date: September 21, 1999 at 03:08:40 CST
email address: heavy_panther@hotmail.com
from: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Says: I'm sooo glad someone has a shrine to the Pop Group. It's tough to find info on them.
Great site too by the way. I appreciate all the wav files. I've had Y on order
through Virgin for almost a year with no luck. I just tried another distributer
tonight (online). If they come through, I will post the URL.

name: Pawel
date: September 26, 1999 at 13:33:33 CST
email address: pkudela@jhmi.edu
from: US
Says: I have a vinyl copy of "For How much Longer ..." and "Y"(both in mid. condition). I am interesting in acquiring "We are time" CD (I've heard that there was some Japanes re-release). Plese e-mail me if you have any proposal for exchange.
Pawel

name: Simon Coffey
date: October 5, 1999 at 02:23:21 CST
email address: sicoff@ihug.co.nz
from: New Zealand
Says: Recently I toured with the Melvins (75 shows in 3 months) through the USA, I was over froM
New Zealand.

One of my hopes was to find POP Group stuff. I did, i found the "Tolerate Mass Murder"
album in Athens Georgia, it cost me a lot but I was just excited to find it. But
then I was in Atlanta Georgia and scored the "We are all prostitutes" CD Comp on Radar
Now I've just got to find "We have Time: album.

Seen a few items for sale on ebay, but the price just gets to high.

Anyone know how to get hld of Radar Records ?

Also scored all the old Mark stewart stuff on CD

Love that band!

name: Jacques Kosky
date: October 13, 1999 at 22:45:55 CST
email address: jmkosky@vicxnet.net.au
from: Melbourne, Australia
Says: Pop Group Tale #1
I noticed that you mentioned on your page Nick Caves love of the Pop Group.
I live in Melbourne and was a punk in the seventies (and a ratbag in the nineties)
and used to go and see The Boys Next Door (later The Birthday Party) and had a
healthy admiration for them but not necessarily for Nick Cave whom i thought
was a bit of a prat. Anyway their manager used to run Missing Link,
a record store, and members of the band used to work there and it was Nick Cave
who served me when I bought my copy of Y. He muttered some comment along the
lines of it being a great record and one of his favorites.
Tale #2
During my Uni days myself and another guy got hired to move a library across
campus and we got talking about music and it turned out that he had some punk
poetry records by Attila the Stockbroker that i had been after for ages and
he discovered that i owned all of the Pop Groups long players so we arranged a
swap. The same dude is still one of my closest friends. When i met his brother
a few months later he didnt say hello or anything like that. He just looked me
in the face and said "you're the guy who owns the Pop Group records".
Fame of a sort i guess.

name: Graham
date: October 17, 1999 at 20:19:15 CST
email address: MOUSE6@prodigy.net
from: Miami, USA
Says: I know this is only vaguely related to The Pop Group but.... I'm trying to track down the four(?) 7" singles by The Good Missionaries. If anyone can help me with those (or even supply me with a tape) then a handsome reward will come their way. Thanks.

name: Peter Adams
date: October 21, 1999 at 00:03:37 CST
email address: pego@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk
from: Northern Ireland
Says: Good site, but how about MP3s or Real Audio instead of Wavs and AUs. They're far more economical for download.

name: johnny speed
date: October 27, 1999 at 14:37:36 CST
email address: klinik@tin.it
from: italy
Says: Finally a very good site on a great band ov the past
I suppose I am one ov the few Italians who know who the Pop Group were.
Remember: Information is like a bank...our job is to rob the bank!

name: George Shirley
date: October 31, 1999 at 19:41:45 CST
email address: shirleygreen@earthlink.net
from: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Says: They actually got to Philadelphia and played in a big ballroom in a frightening part of town called Kensington. Although they managed to get out quite a few records, it seemed that they fractured almost before they got started. I actually followed them down the various paths such as Pigbag, (who stomped when I saw them) and my personal favorite, Rip,Rig & Panic, who never seemed to make it to the states.

name: kevin
date: November 1, 1999 at 18:32:51 CST
email address: kevinkboyer@hotmail.com
from: detroit
Says: I thought it was fabulous to find this sight on line, because up until now I had very little knowledge of the group

name: Ricardo
date: November 10, 1999 at 20:59:42 CST
email address: baohomet@mtecnetsp.com.br
from: Sao Paulo - Brazil
Says: Just read the news...pity you couldn't find Mona Mona anywhere.
If you want a copy of it...just tell me.
Anybody selling "How Much Longer..."?
Want it...or maybe a copy...
Cheers

name: Ben
date: November 13, 1999 at 06:25:36 CST
email address: scrtsynth@hotmail.com
from: Los Angeles
Says: I think it is great that you've assembled such an extensive website for the Pop Group.
I was introduced to them a little over a year ago, and my only complaint was that
I wished I'd have heard them sooner (not that being 20 was by any means old). I had
just started playing in a band, and they just sort of said, "Gang of Four and
The Birthday Party are rad.....but check this out." Their sound was like nothing
I've heard (besides their influences). I was heavily intrigued by the production,
i.e. using dub techniques for an "(avant) rock" record. It was like a revelation
and it totally influenced how I played my guitar. Since our band owes so much to
them, but constantly gets naive comparisons to bands like the Make-Up, or perhaps
if the reviewer is little more well read...Can, Gang of Four, even Pere Ubu..but
very rarely (once) has someone told us that we reminded them of a "Pop Group
type thing"...which was totally flattering to us. So we decided to start doing
a Pop Group cover (we do "Trap") so we can let people know who the fuck the Pop
Group is...ya know? But anyways...I just wanted to say keep up the excellent work
....it does not go unappreaciated. Also, the band I'm in is called Gogogo Airheart
and we just finished recording for our upcoming LP...and "Trap" is on there,
so look for I guess in the spring of 2000...you might be pleasantly suprised.
Thanks for letting me splurge.
Love-
Ben White

name: Malcolm Humes
date: November 21, 1999 at 01:10:38 CST
email address: mal3@mal.net
from: High Point, North Carolina, USA
Says: I was a dj 1980-83 playing the likes of Joy Division, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Pere Ubu and so on loved the Slits when I found their first records. Then a friend said I had to hear the Pop Group's How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder and told me he had a love/hate relationship with it, having bought it three times, twice reselling it and then finally deciding he needed a copy again. Also stumbled onto the Glaxo Babies around then... and followed offshoots into the New Age Steppers, Pigbag and Rip Rig and Panic and Mark Stewarts solo work. Still have most of the lps and 7"ers but lost two of my Pop Group lps over the years... sorely missed. Just tracked down your site during another periodic search to see if I could find any CDs by them. Just ordered the We Are Protitutes CD as a japanese import, the only CD I could find anywhere. Any MP3s to be found? Saw Gary Clail/Adrian Sherwood with Tackhead in San Francisco a decade or so ago, with the Doug Wimbish/Keith LeBlanc rhyth section post Stewart...wished it had been Stewart on vocals instead of Clail.
Anyways, thanks for a great set of pages, I actually found them via one of the reviews posted (the one also mentioning Cabaret Voltaire and Nico) and it was a great read. Many thanks for a much needed site. As someone else mentioned, they predated the Red Hot Chili Peppers with a much heavier punk-funk agitprop mentality that was very refreshing. Took me til years later gettying much more into Dub and Reggae to appreciate how much the Pop Group drew also on that in a way that was excellent... I still seek out dub stuff that has the sort of searing mind-wrenching production and bite that the Pop Group had.

name: Nancy Boy
date: November 23, 1999 at 16:23:48 CST
email address: namcyboy@hotbot.com
from:
Says: Hey, are they ones that did "The Bristol Stomp"? You know, the song that goes
"The kids from Bristol are sharp as crystal, when they do the Bristol stomp..."
Anyway, I know there's some kind of Bristol connection.

name: Linus Booth
date: November 24, 1999 at 13:20:15 CST
email address: Discreets@aol.com
from: Canada
Says: Great site!
Nice to see the Pop Group related page and some Y Records discogs! Now if only all of this stuff were available! Disco Dell... if you're out there get ahold of me! I'd love to license/reissue some sort of comp/tribute to Y Records! I'm serious, so if anyone knows his whereabouts please contact me as so much of this stuff needs to be heard (again)! It is so influential on much of today's modern music that its a shame the originators are not receiving proper credit! I want to change all that! Thanks for listening!
LB

name: RMclaughlin
date: December 6, 1999 at 03:57:47 CST
email address: darthrabkenobi@hotmail.com
from: Glasgow
Says: THANK YOU

name: JP
date: December 9, 1999 at 16:56:25 CST
email address: turbots@pavilion.co.uk
from: England
Says: They played Ashton Court in June 1979. Palm Olive was playing drums for them. It was the highlight of the festival. It must have been because I remember none of the other acts. I note that a previous correspondent (Charlie) does not mention the Ashton Court gig (although he was there!). As for Phun City, well... that's another story.

name: chris hamlin
date: December 14, 1999 at 14:24:41 CST
email address: always changing
from: south africa
Says: hi

name: Sondre Sæbjørnsen
date: December 30, 1999 at 16:02:29 CST
email address:
from:
Says:

messages from 1998
messages from 2000
messages from 2001
messages from 2002
messages from 2003
messages from 2004

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