Bang Bang Machine were a cult indie band from

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

, Worcestershire in England. They formed in 1989 and split up in 1996 after record company troubles. After 17 years they re-released their back catalogue on iTunes in 2013.

Career

The band experimented with different styles of music, for which reason the media found them hard to categorise. Musically they covered alternative rock,

Goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

. They were sometimes classed as a

Shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

band, but musically fell between the Britpop and

Grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

camps. They were signed to their own "Jimmi Kidd Rekords" then to "Parallel Records" and lastly to "Ultimate Records". BBM were managed by Wayne Perkins for "Chaos Theatre Productions". Their most famous song, "Geek Love", was inspired by the book by Katherine Dunn about a family of freaks in a travelling circus. The artist

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, who drew the ''Geek Love'' book cover, also illustrated the band's ''Eternal Happiness'' album cover. "Geek Love" also uses audio samples from the controversial Tod Browning film ''

Freaks Freak has several meanings: a person who is physically deformed or suffers from an extraordinary disease and condition, a genetic mutation in a plant or animal, etc. Freak, freaks or The Freak may also refer to: Fictional characters * Freak (Ima ...

''. "Geek Love" on CD regularly sells for £25-£35 on www.ebay.co.uk. In 2007 "Geek Love" was voted number 16 on the cult radio station B92's "Top 20 best singles ever" on www.firerecords.com. "Geek Love" was championed by BBC Radio One DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

as a perfect example of a band self-financing their debut single; he famously stated, "Even if they never made another record, they'll have achieved more than most of us do in our entire lives." It was voted number one in his Festive Fifty in 1992. The band also recorded a

Peel Session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

at Maida Vale 4 which was engineered and produced by Mike Robinson, but this has never been released. The band were known for creating moving songs about unusual topics. Their song "16 Years" was about the

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case, where an innocent man was jailed for a crime he did not commit. They appeared on the Channel 4 programme '' The Word'' doing a live version of their song "Technologica" in 1993. They were also featured in '' Deadline'' comic and '' Volume'' magazine. They did cover versions of

T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...

's " Life's a Gas", Jane's Addiction's "Jayne says" and Psychic TV's " Godstar." Bang Bang Machine made the unusual choice of having different songs on the B-sides of some of their 7-inch singles. Songs such as "I smile" and "You're no good to yourself" only appear on vinyl and not any of their CDs. Usually bands put extra tracks on CDs. The "Evil Circus E.P." spent 2 months in the Indie Charts and reached number 13 in the

MELODY MAKER ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

and number 16 in the NME charts. The Evil Circus E.P. was also "Single of the week" in the NME. The re-released "Geek Love" spent 7 weeks in the Indie charts. Bang Bang Machine recorded with the music producers

John Fryer John Fryer may refer to: *John Fryer (physician) (died 1563), English physician, humanist and early reformer *John Fryer (physician, died 1672), English physician *John Fryer (travel writer) (1650–1733), British travel-writer and doctor *Sir John ...

, Ray Shulman,

Craig Leon Craig Leon (born 7 January 1952) is an American-born record producer, composer and arranger currently living in England.International Who’s Who in Classical Music 2005'', Routledge, 2005. Leon was instrumental in launching the careers of many ...

and Angus Wallace. Bang Bang Machine toured with Pulp, Catherine Wheel and Eight Storey Window. There was a Bang Bang Machine fanzine called "Bangman" created by BBM fan Leigh Smith. Steve Eagles now plays with the jazz-psycho-funk-poetic-punk band Blurt and teaches guitar. Lamp is a DJ in Brighton and qualified as a sound engineer. Stan Lee married Elizabeth Freeth in 2005; in 2007 their baby son was born. Stan Lee A.K.A. Marc Angel now plays with Psychowrath, a new incarnation of

Wrathchild Wrathchild (sometimes known as Wrathchild UK in the United States due to a naming conflict with Wrathchild America) were an English glam metal band. Formed in 1980, the group was an early band of the glam metal genre, starting off about the s ...

. In 2007 articles appeared in '' The Evesham Journal'' and ''

The Worcester News The ''Worcester News'' is a local newspaper, and the only daily newspaper in Worcester (UK), reporting on breaking news and local matters covering the City of Worcester and surrounding areas within the county. It was previously named ''Worcest ...

'' about possible future one-off gigs. Steve Eagles also plays with The Bad Boys, a covers band made up of professional musicians. Elizabeth and Stan/ Marc have also had another child. BBM fans are still waiting and hoping for Bang Bang Machine to reform. Respected music writer and photographer Mick Mercer brought out a Bang Bang Machine photo book in 2012. The Sunday Times Magazine ran an article on Bang Bang Machine in July 2013 written by Krissi Murison. Also in 2013 Steve Eagles unearthed a box full of "lost" BBM DAT tapes. BBM fans Robert Andersen and Leigh Smith helped him to convert them to CD for possible future online downloads on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. Bang Bang Machine made 49 tracks from their back catalogue available on iTunes from 21 October 2013. In 2015 Steve Eagles re-emerged with a new Evesham band called JUPITRONZ.

Band personnel

*Steve Eagles: Guitar *Elizabeth Freeth: Vocals *Stan Lee: Bass *Lamp: Drums

Discography

Early Demos (1989-1990)

* Aim For The Heart (Ramone) * Planet * Crystal Town * White Swan * Love You More * Cosmic Kiss * A Love That Burns * Divine (Released on cassettes)

Albums

* (1994) ''Eternal Happiness'' * (1995) ''Amphibian''

Singles

*"The Geek" EP (500 promo copies) *"Geek Love" EP *"Evil Circus" EP *"Technologica" EP *"Geek Love Remixes" EP *"Give You Anything" *"Godstar" (Given away free at gigs) *"Breathless" *"Love It Bleeds" *"Show me Your Pain"

Music Videos

*"Aim for the heart Ramon". *"Geek Love" Directed by Andy Lee. *"Lovely Lily" Directed by Rob Crabtree. *"Technologica" Directed by Rob Crabtree. *"Give you anything" Directed by Kinofist Productions. *"Breathless" Directed by Mark Nunnely. *"Show me your pain".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bang Bang Machine British indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Culture in Worcestershire