Mark Williams more commonly known as Spike or Spike Williams is a Welsh guitarist and co-founder of South Wales'

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, Z Block Records. He was a member of the Cardiff-based band Reptile Ranch.

Career history

Named was Spike's record label set up and named after the Z-Block college building they used in

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

in 1978. In May 1979, Z Block moved to

Splott Splott () is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. S ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, where they set about organising the city's first DIY compilation LP. Titled ''Is The War Over?'', this seminal compilation was released in October 1979 and its release brought The

Young Marble Giants Young Marble Giants were a Welsh post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1978. Their music was based around the vocals of Alison Statton along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham. Their early sound was ...

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...

's attention. It also showcased many of Cardiff's best

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 ...

bands of the period. Reptile Ranch disbanded in 1980. After the split of Young Marble Giants in 1980, Spike started writing with their vocalist,

Alison Statton Alison Statton (born March 1958) is a Welsh singer best known for her work with Young Marble Giants. Fans of the singer have included Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Stephin Merritt, Belle and Sebastian and Renato Russo. Musical career Born in ...

. Later that year, Alison merged this work with a London-based project which brought in

Simon Emmerson Simon Emmerson (12 March 1956 – 13 March 2023) was an English musician and record producer. He founded the bands Working Week, Weekend, and Afro Celt Sound System. Early life and education Simon was born in London, the son of Alan Emmerso ...

to create a new band named

Weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

. At the same time Spike was working in Cardiff with Lewis Mottram and Debbie Debris as Table Table. When Weekend split in 1983, Spike returned to Splott and formed Bomb and Dagger with singer Debbie Debris and a handful of Cardiff musicians - the original line-up included both Alison Statton and Phil Moxham, and Andrew Moxham. Bomb and Dagger performed regularly throughout South Wales including the Brecon Jazz Festival before splitting up in 1989 following a gruelling European tour. Spike moved to London in 1990 and worked with folk musician Charlotte Grieg. After an eight-year break, Spike and Alison Statton returned to the studio thanks to the support of

founder,

Geoff Travis Geoff Travis (born 2 February 1952) is the founder of both Rough Trade Records and the Rough Trade chain of record shops. A former drama teacher and owner of a punk record shop, Travis founded the Rough Trade label in 1976. Biography Travis wa ...

. Between 1991 and 1997 Statton and Spike produced ''Weekend in Wales'' (EP) and two home made studio albums, ''Tidal Blues'' and ''The Shady Tree'' for Vinyl Japan. In 2006, the Alison Statton & Spike material was re-released by LTM while the Weekend material was re-released by the Cherry Red

. In 2018, Alison Statton & Spike released a new album, ''Bimini Twist'', while Spike also issued a compilation of his work with Debbie Debris, ''Always Sunshine, Always Rain''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spike Welsh guitarists Musicians from London Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Cardiff