Goldblade
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Goldblade are an English
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 ...
band from
Manchester 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 ...
, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes
frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former Membranes and
A Witness A Witness are an English post-punk/indie rock band, who were originally active in the mid-1980s alternative music scene. Their first EP ''Loudhailer Songs'' and début album ''I am John's Pancreas'' brought them to the attention of BBC Radio 1 ...
vocalist Keith Curtis on bass, Rob Haynes (ex Houndgod and Killing for Pleasure/K.F.P.) on drums and Jay Taylor on guitar.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p.414-5 The band signed to Ultimate Records and released their first single, "Soul Power", before releasing several more singles and two
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 ...
s - ''Home Turf'' (1996/97), and ''Goldblade Drop the Bomb'' (1998) before Simmons departed. In 2000, Goldblade recruited a new percussionist, Martin Gray, into the line-up and recorded two singles, "AC/DC" and "Who Was the Killa?", together with a third album ''Do You Believe In The Power Of Rock 'n' Roll''. These recordings released in 2002 on a new
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...
, Twenty Stone Blatt. In 2001, Jay Taylor left the band to concentrate on his Bonebox project, and two new members Johny Skullknuckles and Pete 'Gorgeous' Byrchmore (ex-Nightingales, and U.K Subs) were recruited to begin work on the next album, ''Rebel Songs'' (2004). Second percussionist Gray left shortly after the recording sessions, and the album was released in 2005 on the Captain Oi! label. The band continued gigging and recording as a five-piece, with the next album ''Mutiny'' (also on Captain Oi! Records) released in 2008. Both ''Rebel Songs'' and ''Mutiny'' were also issued internationally. Goldblade continue to tour extensively. They regularly appear at major UK
music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
s, including
Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...
,
Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...
, Wickerman Festival and Rebellion Festival, and several smaller ones (Strummercamp). They have played in
St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
to 25,000 people, in Serbia and, in early 2010, in Algiers (being one of only a handful of Western bands to do so). In March 2010, Skullknuckles was replaced by another guitarist, Andy Taylor (no relation to the
Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...
member.) In September 2010, Goldblade released a
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
, ''Beyond God & Elvis'', on Kids-Union Records. The album was exclusive to China, and was accompanied by tour dates in Beijing. On 20 May 2013 Goldblade released the album ''The Terror of Modern Life'' on Overground Records in CD, vinyl and download formats. Since the release of the 2014 album ''Acoustic Jukebox'', Goldblade's activities have taken a backseat to the reformed Membranes, a band featuring John Robb, Peter Byrchmore and Rob Haynes. They have reunited on several occasions to play festival sets, including two charity shows at Manchester pub the Star & Garter in 2018 and 2019. Both of these shows featured the return of Johny Skullknuckles.


History

Goldblade formed in Manchester in the mid 1990s playing what they called "punk rock hooligan blues", and what was described in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' as "a shamelessly fundamentalist collision of The Ramones, James Brown and The Stooges".Price, Simon (2002)
The Breeders, Academy, Birmingham/Gold Blade, Garage, London/Le Tigre, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 2 June 2002
The band toured a lot and signed to Ultimate Records. Their debut single, "Soul Power", was single of the week in the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', and their third single "Strictly Hardcore" was a minor UK UK Singles Chart hit. The band's debut album ''Home Turf'' was released in 1997 on the Ultimate Records label, produced by multiplatinum producer Gavin Monaghan. Their second album, ''Drop the Bomb'', was recorded in Brighton at The Levellers' studio, and again released on Ultimate Records (TOPP CD071) in May 1998. The single "Hairstyle" saw an improbable live appearance on children's Saturday morning TV on CD:UK. ''Do You Believe in the Power of Rock n' Roll?'' was released in summer 2002 on the independent label Twenty Stone Blatt Records. The band toured Germany previewing new songs for the album. Guitarist Jay Taylor left shortly after recording, to concentrate on his own band Bonebox. ''Rebel Songs'' was released in the UK by Captain Oi! Records (AHOY CD252) in 2005, and in Germany via KB-Records. ''Mutiny'' was released in the UK by Captain Oi! Records (AHOY CD305) in September 2008. The album was also released in Germany via KB-Records (KB 037) in a vinyl only edition. "Riot! Riot" was used on the
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
for the film '' Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground''. The band's world tour included a stadium gig in Russia and a headline show in Algeria where they were the first western rock band to play the country for 20 years. ''The Terror of Modern Life'' was released by Overground Records] (OVER132) on 20 May 2013, and was followed by the release of an acoustic album, ''Acoustic Jukebox'' the following year. On Sunday, August 9, 2015, GOLDBLADE and friends hired a vintage tram for 40 guests and took them on a trip filled with laughs and great songs, as a temporary get-away from Rebellion Festival 2015, where the band had stormed the Empress Ballroom the previous day. Starting with an acoustic set from THE MEMBRANES in HMV, Goldblade then took to the streets of Blackpool for a sing-song, before boarding the tram to Fleetwood and back. Along the way was a TV SMITH acoustic set, some poetry, chit-chat, and a break for ice creams, before the trip back up along the promenade. The band went on semi-hiatus after this, while members focused on The Membranes reunion, and the recording of the Membranes albums ''Dark Matter/Dark Energy'', ''Inner Space/Outer Space'', and ''What Nature Gives/Nature Takes Away'', in 2015, 2016 and 2019 respectively. Since 2015, they have intermittently reunited for occasional live shows, most notably the 2018 and 2019 charity gigs ''F**k Cancer'' and ''F**k Cancer 2'' in support of Kathy Rocker, owner of Manchester alternative store Rockers, who died in late 2019. These shows saw the return of Johny Skullknuckles in support of Kathy.


Discography


Albums

*''Home Turf'' (1997, Ultimate) *''Drop the Bomb'' (1998, Ultimate) *''Do U Believe In The Power of Rock 'n' Roll?'' (2002, Twenty Stone Blatt) *''Strictly Hardcore'' (2002, Navena Muzik, Brazil only) *''Strictly Hardcore'' (2003, Thick Records, USA only) *''Rebel Songs'' (2005, Captain Oi!) *''Strictly Hardcore - The Best Of Goldblade'' (2006, Captain Oi!) *''Punk Rockers in the Dance Hall'' (2006, SOS Records, US only) *''Kiss My Ass'' (2004, Antrop, Russia only) *''Mutiny'' (2008, Captain Oi!) *''The Terror of Modern Life'' (2013, Overground) *''Acoustic Jukebox'' (2014, Overground)


Singles

*"Introducing...Goldblade" EP (1996) Ultimate *"Black Elvis" (1996) Ultimate *"Strictly Hardcore" (1997) Ultimate - UK Chart No. 64 *"Not Even Jesus" (1997) Ultimate - UK Chart No. 86 *"16 Tons" (1998) Ultimate *"Hairstyle" (1998) Ultimate *"AC/DC" (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt *"Who Was The Killa?" (2002) Twenty Stone Blatt (limited edition) *"Psycho" (2005) Captain Oi! Records *"City Of Christmas Ghosts" (2008) Damaged Goods (featuring
Poly Styrene Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex. She was recognized as rock's original Riot grrrl, t ...
) *"Jukebox Generation" (2008) Captain Oi! (split with Argy Bargy) *"Riot! Riot!" (2009) KB-Records (Germany) (split with Krawall Bruder)


DVDs

*''Testify! Live'' (2006) Cherry Red - Recorded live at The Royal Oak, Poulton nr Blackpool, Lancashire late 2005.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Rock music groups from Manchester English punk rock groups