The Count Bishops were a British rock band, formed in 1975 in London and which broke up in 1980. The Count Bishops had limited commercial success, but forged an important stylistic and chronological link between the root

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

band Dr. Feelgood and the

proto punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

sound of

Eddie and the Hot Rods Eddie and the Hot Rods are a pub rock band from Essex founded in 1975. They are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit " Do Anything You Wanna Do", released under the shortened name Rods. The group broke up in 1985, but reformed in 1996. Sin ...

; together forming the foundation of the pub-rock scene, which influenced the emergence of

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

. The group made history in England by releasing the first record from independent label

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era". It rel ...

. They splintered following the death of guitarist Zenon DeFleur on 18 March 1979.

History

The Count Bishops formed in spring 1975 when members of the group Chrome joined the American vocalist Mike Spenser. In July of that year, Spenser (née Scolnick) called fellow countryman Johnny Guitar from Paris for five days straight and finally convinced him to pack up two Les Pauls and fly to the UK and join up with Spenser and Zenon DeFleur (so named by Johnny after seeing him passed out on the floor at their first recording session). They found Steve Lewins (bass) and Australian drummer Paul Balbi – formerly of Buffalo – within a few weeks. The new line-up recorded the next month at

Pathway Studios Pathway Studios was an independent recording studio in North London. Founded in 1970, the studio became an early favourite of Stiff Records' Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera, and was the location for early recordings by The Damned, The Count B ...

with Barry Farmer at the desk and of these 13 tracks, four became the ''Speedball'' EP, the first release of

. Shortly before the release (on Dutch label Dynamite) of the single "Taking it Easy" (In the UK "Train, Train" was the A side and Taking it Easy the B), Spenser left the band after an incident involving a glass door and his boot. Johnny and Zen handled lead vocals for the next year, including on the Dutch release "Good Gear" on the Dynamite label. After recording the backing tracks for their first LP on Chiswick, they asked Dave Tice, a former bandmate of Balbi in Buffalo, to travel from Australia and join them as lead singer. With this lineup, the group finished recording its debut UK album, and toured heavily making a name for themselves and bringing to a new level their traditional influences of the 1960s:

beat music Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music Music genre, genre that developed around Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from British rock and roll, British and Music of the United St ...

(

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

) and

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

(

the Standells The Standells are an American garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as a "punk band of the 1960s", and are said to have inspired such groups as the Sex Pistols and ...

the Strangeloves The Strangeloves were a band created in 1964 by the New York City, New York-based United States, American songwriter, songwriting and record producer, production team of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein (producer), Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Go ...

). For the rest of 1977, the Count Bishops toured continuously (including the support slot on the first

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

tour and

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

's tour that year, as well as their own shows) and built a formidable army of fans - despite the fact that they did not fit the mould considered against the backdrop of old-fashioned punk movement. In the spring of 1978, they signed up for a live album with the participation of six groups of the Chiswick Records roster. The project was not fully realised, but the label released it as a mini-album called ''Live Bishops'', reducing the band name to the Bishops. With this material (and a new bass player Pat McMullan, who replaced Steve Lewins) the Count Bishops toured extensively. In 1978, two singles ("I Take What I Want" and "

I Want Candy "I Want Candy" is a song written and originally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965 that reached No. 11 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It is a famous example of a song that uses the Bo Diddley beat. Original version "I Want Candy" ...

") led the Count Bishops to an appearance on the TV show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. A few days after the release of their album ''Cross Cuts'', which had been a year and a half in production, Zenon Hierowski crashed his

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...

and died on 17 March 1979, and instead of the anticipated "breakthrough" the Bishops were forced to retrench. They toured with Blitz Krieg (of Blast Furnace fame) deputising for Zen. As the band returned from a Spanish festival, Paul Balbi (drums) was detained and deported to Australia. They carried on with Charlie Morgan (Tom Robinson Band, Elton John) on drums and just Johnny on guitar for some months, including a tour of Australia with Balbi, but Zen's death had taken much of the impetus away and they split up.

Discography

EPs

*''Speedball'' (1975) *''Rollin' with the Count Bishops'' (2006)

Albums

*''The Count Bishops'' (1977) *''Good Gear'' (1977) *''Live'' (1978) *''Cross Cuts'' (1979) *''Speedball Plus 11'' (1995)

Compilation albums

*''The Best of the Count Bishops'' (1995)

Reception

*"The Count Bishops were a fine, energetic, R&B-based band capable of kicking out a fierce racket of noise that sounded like a grimier version of seminal British R&B revivalists Dr. Feelgood." (John Dougan,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

) *"The sound of the Bishops in sensitive rockabilly mode has a swirling darkness and a restless rhythm, and it rattles by as hellbound as any classic blues locomotive." (Dave Thompson, Allmusic) *"This solid, unpretentious debut album belongs in the home of every fan of English R&B from the Yardbirds to the Pretty Things to Dr. Feelgood." (John Dougan, Allmusic) *"A laconic sneer, a greaseball grind, and one of the hottest guitarists of the age." (Dave Thompson, Allmusic)

References

External links

*
Homepage
(out of date) {{DEFAULTSORT:Count Bishops, The English pub rock musical groups English garage punk groups English new wave musical groups Rock music groups from London Chiswick Records artists