Basement 5 were a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

fusion band from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

founded in 1978. Their first vocalist was Winston Fergus, then Don Letts. One of their early performances was a support for Public Image Ltd.'s London debut at the

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

on Christmas Day 1978. Finally in 1979 Dennis Morris - photographer of Bob Marley and the Sex Pistols, took over as creative force, lead vocalist and lyricist. He also designed the Basement 5 logo and created their image. The drums were played by Richard Dudanski, who had played in the bands 101ers, The Raincoats and Public Image Ltd. Their songs reflected the political situation of the time in Great Britain in the era of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

: youth unemployment, strikes, racism and the poverty of the working class. In 1980 they got signed to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

with vocalist Dennis Morris. The new line up played its debut gig at Clarendon Hotel in London (19 March 1980), followed by a set at Camden's Music Machine (now called KOKO) at an all night gig hosted by

ZigZag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

magazines editor Kris Needs on 31 March 1980 along with numerous other artists such as John Cooper Clarke,

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

and The Only Ones also recording a

Peel Session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

on 21 April 1980, aired on 28 April and their debut, self-produced single, "Silicon Chip," on 26 May. Following this, they recorded their début

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' 1965-1980'', with

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Martin Hannett James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991) was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy Division, the Durutti Column, A Cert ...

, releasing it on 11 August. On the first day of recording the album, the existing drummer known as Anthony "Bigga" Thompson walked out of the session. The band was in shock. Having just finished touring with

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

and The Blockheads who they became very friendly with, they then used their drummer "Gentleman" Charles Charles of the Blockheads for the album. Hannett, in an interview with Dutch music magazine '' Oor'' in 1981, said, "You have to play it very loud to enjoy it fully. It was the most difficult production, I must say, the heaviest. It was eighteen degrees in the shade, the end of August. As I recall it has been the most physical album that I've ever done. Made me feel like I'd been carrying bricks around. Heavy work. Putting the bass lines in the right place. But it was good." The sessions also yielded dub versions of several of the main tracks, released on 31 October as ''In Dub''. "Last White Christmas" was released in time for Christmas (1 December), as a 12" and 7" (the latter in Christmas wrapping paper with a silver sticker of the band logo). The band broke up shortly thereafter, with several members forming Urban Shakedown. In October 2017, the label Play It Again Sam (PIAS) re released the two Basement 5 albums: ''1965-1980'' and ''In Dub''.

Main members

* Dennis Morris -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Humphrey "J.R." Murray -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Leo "E-Zee Kill" Williams -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Richard Dudanski -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Other members

*Winston Fergus -

* Don Letts -

*Charley Charles -

- uncredited but "thanked" on ''1965-1980'' *Anthony Thompson (Tony, aka "T") -

- left August 1980 on first day of ''1965-1980'' sessions

Discography

* "Silicon Chip" / "Chip Butty" 10" (1980), Island 10WIP 6614 * "Silicon Chip" / "Chip Butty" 7" (1980), Island WIP 6614 * ''

1965–1980 ''1965–1980'' is the sole studio album by Basement 5, released in 1980 by record label Antilles. It was produced by Martin Hannett. Original drummer Tony Thompson left the band on the first day of the album sessions. Session musician Charley ...

'', LP (1980), Island ILPS 9641 * "In Dub",

Mini-LP A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

(1980), Island IPR 2038 * "Last White Christmas" / "Paranoia Claustrophobia (Part 2) 12" (1980), Island 12WIP6654 * "Last White Christmas" / "Traffic: Dub" 7" (1980), Island WIP 6654 * ''1965–1980/Basement 5 In Dub'' CD (1992), IMCD 145 * “1965–1980”, LP re-issue (2017) IASPIAS6580LP * “1965–1980 (+ “In Dub”)”, CD reissue IASPIAS6580CD (2017) * “In Dub”, EP re-issue IASPIAS1810LP (2017)

References

External links

Basement 5
on Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Basement 5 British reggae musical groups Black British musical groups English post-punk music groups Island Records artists Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 British political music groups 1978 establishments in England