Mass were an England
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 band consisted of Gary Asquith, Michael Allen, Mark Cox and Danny Briottet. Asquith, Allen and Cox had been members of
Rema-Rema
Rema-Rema were a short-lived English music group, consisting of Gary Asquith (guitar/vocals), Marco Pirroni (guitar), Michael Allen (bass/vocals), Mark Cox (keyboards) and Dorothy Prior (drums, generally known only as "Max").
History
Asquith ...
.
[Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 142] Mass released a 7" single, "You and I", in 1980 on
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...
record label.
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 572][Gimarc, George (2005) ''Punk Diary'', Backbeat Books, , p. 400, 499] They released the ''Labour of Love'' LP in 1981, also on 4AD, which saw comparisons made with
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...
and
The Birthday Party.
It spent five weeks on the
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...
, peaking at number 19.
Mass broke up in 1981.
[The Worriers]
(Marina Merosi, ''ZigZag'' March 1984, p12-13) Allen and Cox formed
The Wolfgang Press
The Wolfgang Press are an English post-punk band, originally active from 1983 to 1995. The core of the band during that era was Michael Allen (vocals, bass), Mark Cox (keyboards), and Andrew Gray (guitar). They reformed in 2024 with Stephen Gr ...
in 1983,
while Asquith and Briottet went on to form
Renegade Soundwave
Renegade Soundwave (sometimes shortened to RSW) were an electronic music group. Formed in London in 1986, the group originally consisted of Gary Asquith, Carl Bonnie and Danny Briottet. Their debut LP '' Soundclash'' was released in 1990 on Mu ...
in 1986. ''Labour of Love'' was reissued on CD in November 2005, with the two tracks from the single included. It was reissued on vinyl by Desire Records in 2011.
Discography
Albums
*''Labour of Love'' (May 1981),
4AD
4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...
::"Mass"
::"Why"
::"III"
::"Why"
::"Isn't Life Nice"
::"Elephant Talk"
::"F.A.H.T.C.F."
::"Cross Purposes"
::"Innocence"
Singles
*"You and I"/"Cabbage" (August 1980), 4AD
References
{{Authority control
English post-punk music groups
English new wave musical groups
4AD artists