Andy Martin (English Musician)

The Apostles were an English experimental punk rock band, who developed within the 1980s anarcho-punk scene in the UK, but did not necessarily adhere to the aesthetics of that movement and were critical of what they saw as its ideological conformity and especially pacifism.

History

The Apostles were formed in the Islington area of London in 1979 by William 'Bill' Corbett (vocals), Julian Portinari (bass), Dan McIntyre (drums) and Pete Bynghall (guitar). This line-up of the group did not play any concerts, and only appeared in a small number of fanzines (including ''Paroxysm Fear'' and ''New Crimes'') before Bill Corbett left the group.

Andy Martin joined as vocalist in summer 1981, and the group played their first concert on 22 September 1981. This line-up of the group then recorded an eponymous demo tape later that year.

The music of the group is generally characterised by a varied eclecticism which encompasses punk and blues rock, with influences like Lemon Kittens, Five Or Six, and other avant-garde groups.

The remaining founder members left the band in early 1982. Martin recruited Dave Fanning (ex-Innocent Bystander) as bass player, along with a revolving line-up of musicians – including John Soares, Kev Apostle, Flump, Chris Low (ex-Political Asylum) and Olly Bucket (Eat Shit) – to continue the group.

Andy Martin and Dave Fanning were joined in 1984 by Malcolm "Scruff" Lewty (later of Hellbastard, Sidewinder, Nero Circus and Heavy Water) and drummer Chris "Widni" Wiltshire, which created a line-up that remained relatively stable (with the addition of Sean Stokes and Colin Murrell) until the group's demise at the end of the 1980s. The group released numerous demo cassettes, seven 7" singles and seven 12" LP's. Original guitarist Pete Bynghall re-joined the group in late 1988 for their last recordings and final concert (recorded and released as the ''Live at Thee Akademie 108'' cassette).

The Apostles split as a group in 1989. Fanning and Martin then formed Academy 23, which also included Nathan Coles (of The Unbelievables) and Lawrence Burton (formerly of Konstruktivists). Academy 23 were renamed in 1994 as UNIT. Fanning left UNIT in 2007. Both Academy 23 and UNIT reworked lyrics and music from tracks by The Apostles across multiple releases.

Andy Martin has subsequently been extremely critical about The Apostles' output and especially his own contributions:

Nevertheless, interest in The Apostles is enduring. In 2014 Ty Segall namechecked the group in an interview with Entertainment Weekly and the debut LP ''Punk Obituary'' was re-released by Spanish label Beat Generation. In 2019 a previously unreleased split EP with the band Anathema recorded in 1986 was made available as a 12" by the Inflammable Material label. Former Apostles drummer Chris Low has produced two double LP compilations by the band – 2022's ''Best Forgotten'' (Horn of Plenty) is a selection of "Early Demo, Live and Practise Tapes '81-'83" and 2024's ''There Can Be No Spectators'' (Grow Your Own Records) collects four of the early 7" EPs.

In a 2016 primer on Anarcho Punk in The Wire Magazine, Louis Pattison asserts that the band:

Political orientation and controversies

Always highly critical of anarchist movement of the times, the autonomous and extreme libertarian approach of The Apostles seemed to portray classic anarchism, as opposed to the conformity of many of their contemporaries. This led the group receiving respect from notable members of the anarcho-punk movement such as Conflict, who released three records by The Apostles, and Crass with whom the band co-operated during the squatting of the Zig-Zag Club and during the time in which The Autonomy Centre and Centro Iberico anarchist venues operated. Both Martin and Fanning worked during this period at the Little @ printers – an anarchist printers located in the same building as the Autonomy Centre in Wapping.

Early songs like 'Pigs For Slaughter' and 'Mob Violence' included lyrics about direct action which were out of step with the pacifism usual in the anarcho-punk scene of the time, as was the title of the first EP: ''Blow It Up Burn It Down Kick It Till It Breaks''. This EP's sleeve included an account of an Apostles performance at the London Musicians Collective being curtailed after objections from the pacifist owner of the PA system, as well as practical advice on squatting and constructing an incendiary device. The title of the EP was taken from "Communique 8" by left wing urban guerillas The Angry Brigade.

Cultural critic Stewart Home states that: Anarchist newspaper ''Class War'' referenced the group in its second issue:

The group's lyrics and written output covered homosexuality and homophobia:

In 1989, Martin and Fanning gave an interview with '' Homocore'' fanzine which addressed their sexuality and several examples of homophobic bigotry they had faced. The group contributed the song "Forbidden Love" to the first queercore compilation, ''JD.s Top Ten Homocore Hits'', released by '' J.D.s'' fanzine in 1990.

The anti-communist and anti-gay lyrics of 'Rock Against Communism' and 'Kill or Cure' on the 1984 ''Giving of Love Costs Nothing'' EP and other similarly themed songs on 1987's ''The Equinox Screams'' LP opened the group to charges of fascism and homophobia. As Dr Ana Raposo said about "The Giving of Love Costs Nothing" EP:

Whilst this material was intended to expose the attitudes of those within the 'anarcho punk' milieu who did not challenge such blatantly provocative sentiments (a tactic which Andy Martin had used since his entrance to the group), they undermined the coherence of the band's ideology, leading Stewart Home, in his book ''Cranked Up Really High'', to describe The Apostles as:

Discography

Studio albums

*''Punk Obituary'' (1985, Mortarhate Records) (reissued in 2014)
*''The Lives & Times of the Apostles'' (1986, Children of the Revolution Records)
*''The Acts of the Apostles in the Theatre of Fear'' (1986, Acid Stings)
*''How Much Longer?'' (1986, Acid Stings)
*''Equinox Screams'' (1987, Andy Brant Inc.)
*''Cartography / The Show Trial Asylum'' (1987, Power Cut Cassettes) (Split cassette with The Demolition Company. The Apostles' side on the album is "Cartography")
*''The Other Operation'' (1988, Active Sounds Records) (split album with Statement (Patrick Poole))
*''Hymn To Pan'' (1988, No Masters Voice)
*''Eine Antwort / Dipinti Sotterranei'', (1988) (Split cassette with Final Alternative Relation; The Apostles' side on the album is "Eine Antwort")

EPs

Chart placings shown are from the UK Independent Chart.
*''Blow It Up, Burn It Down, Kick It Till It Breaks!'' 7-inch EP (1982)
*''Rising From The Ashes'' 7-inch EP (1983, Scum Records) No. 21
*''The Curse of the Creature'' 7-inch EP (1983, Scum Records) No. 17
*''The Giving of Love Costs Nothing'' 7-inch EP (1984, Scum Records)
*''Smash The Spectacle'' 7-inch EP (1984, Mortarhate Records) No. 22
*''Anathema/The Apostles'', (Split EP with Anathema originally planned for release as a 7-inch on Fight Back Records in 1986, but eventually released as a 12" single by Inflammable Material in 2019)
*''Death To Wacky Pop!'' 1986 7-inch EP (1986, Fight Back Records) (features members of The Joy of Living)
*''No Faith No Fear'' 7-inch EP (1986, Active Sounds Records)

Live album

*''Live at the LMC'' (1987, Cause For Concern) (Split live LP with The Mob recorded 22 January 1983)

Compilation albums

*''Segments'' (cassette compiled of studio material; the release date is unknown)
*''The Acts of the Apostles'' 1985 (cassette compiled of live material; not to be confused with the 1986 album with the similar name)
*''Final Manifesto'' 1992 (cassette compiled of the band's last and unreleased studio recording sessions from March 1988 and January 1989)
*''No Faith No Fear'' 1993 (cassette compiled of recordings of an unreleased double album the band recorded in 1986; rereleased in 2006 in CD-R format with two bonus tracks)
*''The Singles & Compilation Album Tracks'' 2018 (digital collection compiled of EP material and tracks which appeared on various VA compilations; available on Unit's Bandcamp page)
*''The 1st & 2nd Studio Albums'' 2018 (digital collection compiled of the albums "Punk Obituary" and "The Lives And Times of the Apostles"; available on Unit's Bandcamp page)
*'' The 3rd & 4th Albums'' 2018 (digital collection compiled of the albums "The Acts of the Apostles in the Theatre of Fear" and "How Much Longer?"; available on Unit's Bandcamp page)
*''The 5th & 6th Albums'' 2018 (digital collection compiled of the album "Eine Antwort" and the "Final Manifesto" compilation cassette; available on Unit's Bandcamp page)
*''Make Up'' 2019 (digital collection compiled of material for a cassette the band recorded in April 1988 called by the names "Grant Munro & The Apostles" and "Make Up", which was believed to be lost for 27 years; available on Unit's Bandcamp page)
*''Cassette Chaos'' 2020 (digital collection compiled of four different recording sessions from the years 1983, 1987 and 1989; available on Unit's Bandcamp page)
*''Best Forgotten'' (2022, Horn of Plenty) (Double LP of Early Demo, Live and Practise Tapes 1981–1983)
*''There Can Be No Spectators'' (2024, Grow Your Own Records) (Double LP of four early seven inch singles)

Demo albums (cassette only)

*''The Apostles'' 1981
*''The 2nd Dark Age'' 1982
*''Libertarian Propaganda'' 1982
*''Topics For Discussion'' 1982
*''A Sudden Surge of Sound'' (retrospective on CFC Cassettes) 1983
*''Swimmers in the Sea of Life'' 1983
*''Live at the Recession Club'' 1983
*''Christ, Its The Apostles!'' 1983
*''Will I Ever Be Free?'' 1984
*''Fire in the Sky'' 1985
*''Visions of the End'' 1985
*''Punk Leftovers'' 1986
*''Private Performances'' 1987
*''Gary Cooke Was Here'' 1987
*''Strength Through Purity'' 1987
*''A.S.P.A. Demo'' 1987
*''Une Réponse'' 1987
*''Fine Antwort'' 1988
*''The Progressive Blues Experiment'' 1988
*''The 12th Gate to the Underworld'' 1988
*''Death'' 1988
*''How To Suck Seed'' 1988
*''Life '' 1989
*''A Consumer Commodity'' 1989
*''Live at Thee Academy 108'' 1989 (the last ever performance 3/2/89)

Compilation album appearances

*''Mob Violence (Part 2)'' – "We Don't Want Your Fucking War" 1986 LP Mortarhate
*''Inner Space'' – "God Save Us From The USA" 1987 LP, Happy Mike
*''Walls'' – "You've Heard It All Before" (Crass Covers compilation) 1993 LP Ruptured Ambitions Records
*''Hyde Park'' 1988 LP (released by German band Doc Wör Mirran featuring international groups, not all punk)
*''J.D.s Top Ten Tape'' – "Forbidden Love" 1990 cassette

References

External links

Website for Andy Martin's current band UNIT Article about The Apostles at uncarved.orgApostles reviews from ''Maximum Rocknroll'' magazine

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apostles, The
Cassette culture 1970s–1990s
Anarcho-punk groups
English punk rock groups
Queercore groups
British hardcore punk groups
Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom