ESG (band)
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ESG (Emerald, Sapphire & Gold) is an American dance punk/
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
/
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band formed in the
South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...
in 1978. ESG has been influential across a wide range of musical genres, including
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
, and
dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984. Simon Reynolds.Faber an ...
. The band's track "UFO" is one of the most
sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...
songs in history.


History

The band originally consisted of the Scroggins sisters, Renee (vocals), Valerie (drums), Deborah (bass) and Marie (congas, vocals) and friend Tito Libran (congas, vocals). The band's name stands for emerald, sapphire, and gold. Emerald and sapphire are Valerie and Renee Scroggins'
birthstone A birthstone is a gemstone that represents a person's birth period, usually the month or zodiac sign. Birthstones are often worn as jewelry or a pendant necklace. History of birthstones Western custom The first-century historian Josephus bel ...
s, and gold refers to the
record certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. Ed Bahlman discovered ESG while serving as the judge for a talent show and became the band's unofficial manager.Reynolds 2006, p. 272.
Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and impresario, and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder ...
from
Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...
approached the band after a performance at Hurrah on the
Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, and three days later they began recording with
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 ...
in
Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. They recorded "Moody" and "You're No Good" in their first session. Hannett had three minutes left on the
master tape Master recordings, or simply masters, are the original recordings—including Mastering (audio), post-recording mixes and Record production, production edits—of audio performances, from which all analog and digital copies of the audio are derived ...
, so he had the band record "UFO". The recordings helped bring Bahlman's focus to the band. On December 3, 1980, he recorded ESG's performance at Hurrah, which became the B-side for ''ESG''. Bahlman formed a partnership with Factory so that his
99 Records 99 Records was an American independent record label, active from 1980 to 1984. The label was home to musicians in the no wave, post-punk, post-disco, and avant-garde scenes in New York City. History British designer Gina Franklyn sold British fas ...
label could release the EP in 1981. In July, they made a second pressing of the record. It was received positively by music critics. Robert Palmer called it one of 1981's "freshest records". ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' placed ''ESG'' second on its list of the best EPs and cassettes of 1981, and ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' placed the EP third on its
Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...
critics' poll. 1982's ''ESG Says Dance to the Beat of Moody'' EP continued in a similar vein, as did their first album, 1983's '' Come Away with ESG''. Renee Scroggins retains the rights to ESG's new music and publishing. The group's work had become popular, mainly among hip-hop artists searching for samples, with such acts as
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
, the
Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...
,
Kool Moe Dee Mohandas Dewese (born August 8, 1962), better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, songwriter and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of ...
, the
Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...
,
Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American Rapping, rapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influe ...
,
Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston-based rapper Guru (rapper), Guru. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and is considered a widely influential MC-and-pr ...
, Junior Mafia, Tricky, Jay-Dee, MF Doom, as well as
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
ers like Unrest and Liars all sampling the group. The group addressed this issue on the 1992 12" EP ''Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills''. The album, ''ESG Live!'', was released in 1995 and featured both old and new material. ESG announced shows in Sweden and France in September, 2011. To celebrate Analator, an ESG show in March 2012 was announced as their final west coast show to promote their 2012 album ''Closure''. ESG still continue to tour, primarily performing in London. In September 2017, ESG released the album ''What More Can You Take?'' which was billed upon release as their final studio album.


Style and influences

ESG's sound incorporates elements from funk, hip-hop and punk music. The group has been described as being "driven by economical drumming, tersely phrased bass, and minimal ..guitar." Lead vocalist Renee Scroggins has cited
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
as a major influence, in particular when his songs "take it to the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
"—Scroggins described these instrumental sections as "that giant bass and the drums and letting it rip for that instant ..so I said, man, if you could just take a song and make it just the bridge, wouldn't that be hot!" Renee Scroggins has said that ESG's sound is influenced by the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
music she and her sisters would hear in the neighbourhood when they were growing up. She doesn't define the band as one
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
, saying "if I really had to put a label on it, we consider it to be music that makes you dance.".


Legacy and influence

LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, comparing ESG to
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...
band The Fall, said that "both of them do things that are almost impossible to copy. They’re irreducible."
Jennifer Herrema Jennifer James Herrema is an American rock music singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and model best known for her work as one half of the rock band Royal Trux. Career Herrema formed Royal Trux with her partner Neil Hagerty and lived w ...
, singer for
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
duo
Royal Trux Royal Trux was an American alternative rock band active from 1987 to 2001, and again from 2015 to 2019 consisting of Neil Hagerty (vocals, guitar) and Jennifer Herrema (vocals). History While still a teenager, Hagerty joined Washington D.C. g ...
, noted the band as an influence on her, calling their music "not just any one thing...it's its own thing." Neil Finn, who plays in
Crowded House Crowded House are an Australian-New Zealand rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Paul Hester (drums), who were both for ...
and
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
, was inspired by the "simple and down-home" sound of ESG to form his band Pajama Club, saying that " SGgave us encouragement to be funky, when we really had no right to be." David Best, lead singer of Fujiya & Miyagi, cited ESG's minimalism as one of his influences, saying " there was a blueprint for our group's sound, a large chunk of it would come from ESG."


Discography


Albums

*1983: '' Come Away with ESG'' *2002: '' Step Off'' *2006: '' Keep on Moving'' *2013: ''Closure'' *2017: ''What More Can You Take?''


Live albums

*1995: ''ESG Live!''


EPs

*1981: '' ESG'' *1982: ''ESG Says Dance to the Beat of Moody'' *1992: ''Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills''


Compilations

*2000: '' A South Bronx Story'' *2007: ''A South Bronx Story 2 – Collector's edition: Rarities'' *2010: ''Dance to the Best of ESG''


Appearances

*2010: Renee Scroggins appears on Gaëtan Roussel's ''Ginger'' album **track 03- Si l'on comptait les étoiles. **track 08- DYWD *2011: Franz Ferdinand – '' Covers''


References


External links


ESG Facebook

ESG MySpace


* ESGon
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 ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:ESG American funk musical groups American dance-punk musical groups Factory Records artists Musical groups established in 1978 Fire Records (UK) artists Musical groups from the Bronx African-American punk rock musical groups