The Fire Engines were a

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 from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. The Fire Engines were an influence on many bands that followed, including Franz Ferdinand and The Rapture, with Meat Whiplash and The Candyskins both taking their names from Fire Engines songs.Kellman, Andy
''Codex Teenage Premonition'' Review
,

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 ...

, retrieved 22 June 2012 In August 2017 the band reformed to play a benefit for Leith Theatre along with

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

and Ewen Bremner.

History

The Fire Engines comprise David (Davy) Henderson (vocals/guitar), Murray Slade (guitar), Graham Main (bass), and Russell Burn (drums). The band name was inspired by a 13th Floor Elevators song.Ankeny, Jason
Fire Engines Biography
,

, retrieved 22 June 2012Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 332-3 Henderson, Main, and Burn had previously been members of The Dirty Reds, along with Russell Burn's brother Tam Dean Burn,Buckley, Peter (2003) "The Fire Engines", in ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, , p. 373-4 while Slade had played in Station Six. The Fire Engines' debut release was the "Get Up And Use Me"/"Everything's Roses" single, released on manager Angus Groovy's Codex Communications label in 1980; The band had recorded their entire set twice in a Fife bungalow with producer Wilf Smarties, at a cost of £46, with these two tracks selected for release.Reekie, Innes (2012)
Post Punk heroes the Fire Engines
, Louder Than War, 6 January 2012, retrieved 22 June 2012 "Get Up and Use Me" was given 'Single of the Week' in both ''

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 '' Sounds''. The band's live shows rarely lasted longer than twenty minutes – Henderson said of the early live shows: "We played to our strengths which were minimal, but somehow, as a band, it worked. We never played chords and Russell didn’t use cymbals or hi-hats. It was very violent although no-one got hurt. Pure aggression, attitude and hate was what it was." The band were offered a deal by Postcard Records, but opted for Bob Last's Fast Product label.McLaughlin, Milo (2006)
Fire Engines
, '' The Skinny'', 16 April 2006, retrieved 22 June 2012 Further singles followed and a largely instrumental album, ''Lubricate Your Living Room'' (subtitled 'Background Music for Action People!'), in 1981, released on Fast subsidiary Pop:Aural. The band recorded two sessions for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

show, the first in February 1981 featuring 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 release ...

of Heaven 17's " (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang", and a second in November that year.Fire Engines
, ''Keeping It Peel'',

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, retrieved 22 June 2012 Their most successful single was "Candy Skin", released in 1981, but after the follow-up, "Big Gold Dream" failed to repeat its success, the band split up on 31 December 1981. Henderson formed the short-lived Heartbeat with Bob Last's partner Hillary Morrison, the band's only release a track on an ''NME'' compilation cassette. Burn rejoined The Dirty Reds. Henderson and Burn went on to form Win with Ian Stoddart (formerly of Everest the Hard Way) in the mid 1980s, the band continuing until 1989. Henderson and Burn then worked together on Burn's Pie Finger project, releasing an album on Creation Records in 1992. Henderson then formed The Nectarine No. 9, which continued from the early 1990s until 2004.

Reformation

In 2004, the Fire Engines reformed to support The Magic Band at The Liquid Room in Edinburgh,Legendary Beefheart band cast their spell
, ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'', 26 January 2004, retrieved 22 June 2012 and released a limited edition collaboration single with Franz Ferdinand; The seven-inch single contained a Franz Ferdinand cover of the Fire Engines song "Get Up and Use Me" with Fire Engines covering Franz Ferdinand's "Jacqueline". The band continued to play occasional concerts until 2006. On 2 October 2007, the Acute label issued ''Hungry Beat'', a collection of the band's original studio recordings, making them available for the first time on CD in the US. Henderson is now leading The Sexual Objects, featuring Ian Holford (drums), Simon Smeeton (guitar) and Douglas McIntyre (bass).Lister, Paul (2009)
New Band of the Day: The Sexual Objects (No 669)
, guardian.co.uk, 13 November 2009, retrieved 22 June 2012 Graham Wann later joined as guitarist.The Sexual Objects – Live Session
,

, retrieved 22 June 2012 The band released a single on the Creeping Bent label in 2007, two singles through a German label in 2008 and one more in 2009. Their debut album, ''Cucumber'', was released in 2010, partially produced by Boards of Canada (who produced the third single).Rogers, Jon (2012)
Fire Engines : Interview with Davy Henderson
, pennyblackmusic.co.uk, 13 March 2012, retrieved 22 June 2012 It was released on vinyl in 2011.

Discography

Albums

'' Lubricate Your Living Room'' (1981) - UK Indie #4

Compilations

*''Aufgeladen und Bereit fur Action und Spass'' (1981) *''Fond'' (1992) *''Codex Teenage Premonition'' (2005) *''Hungry Beat'' (2007) *''Chrome Dawns'' (2024)

Singles

*"Get Up and Use Me" / "Everythings Roses" (1980), Codex Communications - UK Indie #9 *"Candyskin" / "Meat Whiplash" (1981), Pop:Aural - UK Indie #7 *"Big Gold Dream" / "New Thing in Cartons" / "Sympathetic Anaesthetic" (1981), Pop:Aural - UK Indie #15 *"Discord" (2006), Domino ¹ ¹ from

session tracks "Discord" and "Candyskin"

Legacy and influence

The history of The Fire Engines from 1979 to 1981 is covered in 2015 documentary film '' Big Gold Dream'', which takes its name from the band's final release on the Pop:Aural label.

References

External links

The Fire Engines at Acute Records
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fire Engines Scottish post-punk music groups Scottish indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Rock music groups from Edinburgh