Essential Bop

about

Essential Bop was formed in the spring of 1978 by a disparate bunch of musicians, mostly refugees from assorted Bristol bands like The Cortinas (Mike Fewings, guitar), The Biros (Steve Bush, singing) and, er, Dragon Sandwich (Simon Tyler, keyboards). Dave Robinson (who was responsible for starting the band) was a bluesman who had played bass with the likes of 'Champion' Jack Dupree and Joe Cocker. Nick Tufnell had never played drums before, but really wanted to so, like, why not The band also featured 'visualist' Seng-gye, whose job it was to create bizarre and arty stage happenings The band debuted at The Stonehouse (alongside the Art Objects) and soon developed a very enthusiastic live following, assisted by well-received appearances at the Ashton Court Festival and a track on the 1979 'Avon Calling' compilation ('Chronicle'). Record company interest was hard to come by so in 1980 the band released the 'Eloquent Sounds' EP (Eloquent Sounds/Raider's Blues/Failsafe/Mandarin Whores) on their own Monopause label. This garnered some press interest, and the NME's famous Paul Morley trekked down to the sticks to interview Steve Bush, subsequently proclaiming Essential Bop as one of the bands that would make it in the 1980's. Having the kingly wig thus laid upon them made the band even more popular within the BS postal area, and further recordings were issued in the form of two tracks on the Bristol Recorder 3 compilation (Tin and Plastic/Love is a Loud Noise) and a single (Croaked

top songs

albums

Chronicles

Eloquent Sounds

Avon Calling: The Bristol Compilation

Avon Calling

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Western Stars - The Bands That Built Bristol Vol. 1

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An Hour of Eloquent Sounds

Croaked

The Flick Was Boss

The Bristol Post Punk Explosion (1978-1982)

Moving Away From The Pulsebeat: Post-Punk Britain 1977-1981

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Avon Calling 2

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Avon Calling - The Bristol Compilation Cd1

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