The Monochrome Set are an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist.

History

Original band: 1978–1985

The Monochrome Set was formed in London in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides, whose members had included Stuart Goddard, later known as

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...

. Their first live gig was on 15 Feb 1978, at

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

in London. The original line-up consisted of Indian-born lead singer and principal songwriter Bid (real name Ganesh Seshadri), Canadian guitarist Lester Square (real name Thomas W.B. Hardy), drummer John D. Haney (formerly of The Art Attacks) and bass guitarist Charlie X. The band had two more bassists, Jeremy Harrington and Simon Croft, before Andy Warren of the Ants, a childhood friend of Bid, joined in late 1979.

Experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

maker Tony Potts began collaborating with the band in 1979, designing lighting and stage sets with film projections for their live appearances. The band's early persona was defined by the shadowy, uncertain stage images created by the films to such an extent he is often described as being the band's "fifth member". They released several singles for the

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade Records, a record label * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''American Dad!''), an episode of ''American Dad!'' *Rough trade (slang), ...

label before recording their debut studio album, '' Strange Boutique'', produced by

Bob Sargeant Robert Sargeant (20 November 1947 – 13 July 2021) was a British musician and record producer. Life and career Born in North Shields, Sargeant played keyboards in various local bands before joining regional R&B band the Junco Partners in 1966 ...

for

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

' imprint DinDisc in 1980. It peaked at No. 62 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

in 1980. Their follow-up effort, '' Love Zombies'', was produced by Alvin Clark and the band later that same year. Haney left the band in 1981, and was replaced by Lexington Crane. In 1982, the band switched labels to Cherry Red to release their third album, '' Eligible Bachelors'', produced by

Tim Hart Tim Hart (9 January 1948 – 24 December 2009) was an English folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. S ...

. Square and Crane left soon afterwards, and were replaced by keyboardist Carrie Booth and drummer Nicholas Weslowski. This line-up recorded a 1982 single, "Cast a Long Shadow", for Cherry Red, before Booth was in turn replaced by new lead guitarist James 'Foz' Foster (later of

David Devant & His Spirit Wife David Devant & His Spirit Wife are an English indie/art rock band from Brighton, England. They are named after the English magician and early film exhibitor, David Devant (1868–1941). History The band were formed in Brighton in May 1992 by M ...

). In 1983, Cherry Red released ''Volume, Contrast, Brilliance...'', a retrospective of the band's early Rough Trade singles, BBC and Capital Radio sessions, and other unreleased early sessions. In 1985, with the same line-up as on ''Cast a Long Shadow'', The Monochrome Set recorded ''The Lost Weekend'' for Warner Bros. Records. ''The Lost Weekend'' failed commercially, and after a few singles, the band officially broke up, though they served as Jessica Griffin's backing band on the first album by the Would-Be-Goods, ''The Camera Loves Me'' in 1988. Nicholas aka Nick Wesolowski, drummer with the band in the 1980s, was also a photographer for

él Records él is an English independent record label based in London that was founded by Mike Alway, later becoming a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records. Their musicians were characterized by a strong English sensibility, as well as the French influence s ...

, a subsidiary of

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as we ...

.He later worked in Risk Management.

Reformed: 1990–1998

In early 1990, Bid, Square and Warren reformed the band, with the addition of keyboardist Orson Presence and drummer Mike Urban (then known as Mike Slocombe), who was replaced by Trevor Ready. The new band toured extensively, especially in Japan where they had become very popular. The band released five albums for Vinyl Japan/Cherry Red during the 1990s, before going on hiatus in 1998. Bid recorded a number of albums with his band, Scarlet's Well. The song, "He's Frank", appeared on the TV series ''Heroes''. The recording used was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of the original, recorded by the Brighton Port Authority (aka.

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

) featuring

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

2008 reunion

The band reunited on 8 October 2008 for a one-off performance at Cherry Red's 30th anniversary party at

Dingwalls Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...

, London. It also marked the 30th anniversary of The Monochrome Set. Bid, Warren and Square were joined by Jennifer Denitto (drums) and Sian Chaffer (keyboards) of Scarlet's Well, and performed 13 songs.

2010 to present day

In 2010, Bid, Square and Warren reformed the band, with the addition of drummer Jennifer Denitto from Scarlet's Well and keyboard player John Paul Moran. Following Bid's recovery from an aneurysm in late 2010, they played dates the following year in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Japan and The Netherlands. The band continued to tour in the UK, Europe and Japan throughout 2012, playing material from their 10th studio album ''Platinum Coils'' (their first album since 1995's ''Trinity Road'') as well as selections from their extensive back catalogue. In 2011 the band were joined by Helena Johansson from Scarlet's Well on violin and mandolin, replacing John Paul Moran, and Steve Brummell (formerly of the band Luxembourg) replaced Jennifer Denitto on drums. The band completed a short tour of the east coast of the US in spring of 2013 and released their 11th studio album, ''Super Plastic City'' in the autumn of the same year. Helena Johansson left the band in the summer of 2013. In 2014, they signed to the German record label Tapete and their 12th studio album, ''Spaces Everywhere'' was released in 2015. Guitarist Lester Square left the band in late 2014, after completing recording of the album, and former member John Paul Moran rejoined. Their thirteenth studio album, ''Cosmonaut'', was released on the Tapete label in September 2016. Mike Urban, who had previously been in the band in 1990 and played on the ''Dante's Casino'' album, joined the band in September 2016, replacing Steve Brummel on drums. In 2018, the fortieth year since the band formed, their 14th studio album, ''Maisieworld'' and a box set, ''The Monochrome Set 1979–1985: Complete Recordings'', were released. In 2019 they toured the United States again, playing for the first time on the west coast as well as the east and released their 15th studio album, ''Fabula Mendax'' in September that year. In mid 2021, John Paul Moran left the band, to be replaced by Athen Ayren, and the announcement of a new album, their 16th, to be released in Spring 2022. The new album, ''Allhallowtide'', was released on 11 March 2022. Mike Urban left the band in September 2022 to be replaced by Stephen Gilchrist.

Band members

; Timeline

Discography

* '' Strange Boutique'' (1980) * '' Love Zombies'' (1980) * '' Eligible Bachelors'' (1982) * ''The Lost Weekend'' (1985) * ''Dante's Casino'' (1990) * ''Jack'' (1991) * ''Charade'' (1993) * ''Misère'' (1994) * ''Trinity Road'' (1995) * ''Platinum Coils'' (2012) * ''Super Plastic City'' (2013) * '' Spaces Everywhere'' (2015) * ''Cosmonaut'' (2016) * ''Maisieworld'' (2018) * ''Fabula Mendax'' (2019) * ''Allhallowtide'' (2022)

References

External links

Official website
*
The Monochrome Set
at

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

' website *
The Monochrome Set
photos at New Wave Photos website {{DEFAULTSORT:Monochrome Set, The English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups from London Blanco y Negro Records artists Rough Trade Records artists Cherry Red Records artists Tapete Records artists