The Transmitters were a British
art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...
/
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 active during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Mixing elements of
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and
psychedelia
Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...
, the band were critical favourites throughout their lifetime and played support slots for a wide variety of underground and mainstream bands, although this did not translate into substantial commercial success.
The Transmitters are also notable for featuring future members of
Loop Guru
Loop Guru is a worldbeat group consisting of bassist/guitarist Salman Gita (born Sam Dodson) and programmer Jamuud (born David Muddyman). They first met around 1980 and initially played together in The Transmitters (band), The Transmitters and r ...
and
Transglobal Underground
Transglobal Underground (sometimes written as Trans-Global Underground) is an English electro-world music group, specializing in a fusion of Western culture#Music, western, Music of Asia, Asian and Music of Africa, African music styles (someti ...
and for sharing two members with cult pop band
Furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
, as well as a guest stint by
Glaxo Babies
Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977.Strong, Martin C: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, ...
vocalist
Rob Chapman. Their sound was compared to (among others)
The Fall,
XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...
,
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...
,
This Heat
This Heat were an English experimental rock band, formed in early 1976 in Camberwell, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Willi ...
and
Magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
.
(This band should not be confused with the other British indie band called The Transmitters, who are a more conventional indie rock band with an entirely different line-up, and were formed in 2006.)
History
1970s Transmitters
Formation and early releases
The band formed in
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
, West London in 1977. The original line-up was John Quinn (vocals – also known as "John Clegg", "John Grimes" or "John X"), Sam Dodson (guitar, aka "Sam Dodds"), Simon "Sid" Wells (bass), Amanda de Grey (keyboards), Jim Chase (drums) and Dexter O'Brian (lyrics – real name
Christopher McHallem). Guitarists Steve Walsh (Manicured Noise) and John Guillani (from O'Brian's other band The Decorators) also stood in as live members at various times. Rick Kemp was initially on drums.
The band's debut single was "Party", released on Ebony Records in 1978. This was followed in the same year by the album ''24 Hours''.
On 29 December 1978, the band played a concert at the
Electric Ballroom
The Electric Ballroom is a 1,500-capacity performance venue (primarily for rock and roll, rock bands) and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London, England.
History
The Electric Ballroom started as an Irish ballr ...
, Camden, supporting
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...
. On 15 February 1979, they supported an early line-up of
The Human League
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...
at the Nashville Rooms, West London. (Other bands played with during this period include
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band formed in 1977 in Leeds by singer-songwriter Green Gartside, who is the sole remaining member of the original band.
Initially formed as a punk culture, punk-aligned underground act influenced by leftist poli ...
,
The Birthday Party,
Dolly Mixture
Dolly Mixture were an English rock band, formed in 1978 by the bassist and vocalist Debsey Wykes, guitarist and vocalist Rachel Bor, and drummer Hester Smith. They had a taste of top 40 success performing backing vocals for the Captain Sensib ...
,
The Slits
The Slits were a punk/post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Rom ...
,
Alternative TV
Alternative TV (sometimes known as ATV) are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules".
History
Alternative TV were fo ...
,
The Fall and
Blurt
Blurt is an English post-punk band, founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Background
Blurt was founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire by poet, saxophonist and puppeteer Ted Milton along with Milton's brother Jake, formerly of ...
.)
A concert at the
Greenwich Theatre
Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.
Theatre first came to Greenwich at the beginning of the 19th century during the famous Eastertide Greenwich Fair at which the Ri ...
on 18 March 1979 was reviewed by both NME and
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...
Review. Writing in the latter, Chris Westwood said "The Transmitters were, as is their forte, unpredictable, uncalculatedly comic, inspiring and brilliant... The sound is open, free, off-the-cuff, bound together through all the stumbling, fumbling chaos that their approach entails. "The One That Won The War", par example, a personal favourite, damn near falls apart at the seams, with clattering whining guitar thrashes mating with probably the most essential bass phrase this side of any other Transmitters number you care to name."
[Record Mirror review of 1979 Transmitters concert at Greenwich Theatre](_blank)
by Chris Westwood – hosted on The Transmitters' MySpace page. Retrieved 29 December 2008 NME's
Paul Morley
Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...
described the music as "feverish and jumpy" and stated "The Transmitters are the cheekiest group I've seen since
The Mekons
The Mekons are a British Post-punk band formed in 1976 as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.
The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of co ...
; the wackiest I've seen since
Public Image (and almost as sinister). They were, of course, great. Naturally, their music is of
Velvets' ancestry; deceptively nonchalant, barely controlled, repetitive, erratic and intoxicating, presented with an odd, wry condescension."
[NME review of 1979 Transmitters concert at Greenwich Theatre](_blank)
by Paul Morley – hosted on The Transmitters' homepage. Retrieved 29 December 2008
The same reviews paid plenty of attention to the band's stage presence, in particular that of the charismatic John Quinn. Describing Quinn as "inscrutable", Morley also claimed that he had "the comedy timing of a
Dave Allen, the detachment of a
Devoto, the amused poise of a
Mark Smith, the cool of a
Sinatra."
Meanwhile, Westwood was entertained by the group's ramshackle presentation – "A serious set? That may have been the intent, but one look at John, the vocalist, and a crowd can crack up. He stumbles around, fag in mitt, flanked by a drunken bass player (Simon Wells), a drunken guitarist (Sam Dodson), a workmanlike drummer (Jim Chase), and the strangely sombre on-stage persona of keyboardist, Amanda De Grey."
During 1979, Dodson (along with de Grey and Wells) sometimes performed in The Good Missionaries – the art rock band led by
Mark Perry, which had evolved out of Perry's previous band
Alternative TV
Alternative TV (sometimes known as ATV) are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules".
History
Alternative TV were fo ...
. Perry occasionally returned the favour by playing with The Transmitters.
First Peel Session, further releases and initial split
Gaining the attention and approval of DJ
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 ...
, the band recorded a
Peel Session
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 ...
in 1979, following which Dexter O'Brian left the band. (Under his real name of
Christopher McHallem, he would retrain as an actor and spend three years in the BBC soap opera "
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
", playing the character "
Rod Norman" between 1987 and 1990, before branching out into screenwriting.)
In September 1979, The Transmitters released two singles within the same month. The first was their last release on Ebony Records, "Nowhere Train", of which Lenny Kaye (in
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
) commented "The Transmitters, in an eerie, dronal tune, call up the ghosts of serpent power, a neat bit of seance, just following tracks…”
The second of the September singles was the four track EP "Still Hunting for the Ugly Man" (on new label Step-Forward Records) which reached Number 2 in the Our Price New Wave Charts. In NME,
Paul Morley
Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...
described it as "an obsessive, frustrated record. Consistently effective and annoying, it rummages restlessly out on lunatic fringes. It's difficult, discomforting and oppressively manic, but worth exploring." Morley also drew comparisons to
The Fall, noting that "both groups are cynics and critics. Both groups are fronted by hurried, mocking inciters. Both groups deal with instabilities, abnormalities, ambitious truths... and make demented shell-shocked music."
The Transmitters played a pro-National Abortion Campaign benefit gig at the Hope & Anchor,
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
, London on 28 October 1979. Reviewing the concert in
Sounds, Nick Tester reflected "The Transmitters were a useful choice for a movement (all about choice) fighting a pitiful and regressive male intrusion. They borrow from a wide source – early psychedelia,
Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...
, through to even
Essential Logic – but furrow the influences into a style which demands to be taken on its own merits. Comparisons are so limited that I find it hard to avoid the much mistaken and inflexible term 'progressive'. Further to this, their music, whether cautious or dissipated, is always underlined by a devilishly impulsive awareness and wicked streak of unpredictability. They play a serious game of musical hide and seek... In a set that switched with as much consistency as a knackered fluorescent light the Transmitters were always compelling and somehow evaded a possible self-destructive urge."
The Transmitters broke up in 1980.
Transmitters Presumed Dead
Soon after the split a new Ealing-based band emerged, called Transmitters Presumed Dead. As the name implied this was a merger between members of Transmitters (Dodson, Wells and Chase) and members of the similarly defunct band Missing Presumed Dead (Mikel Lee and Dave Baby). Tim Whelan (one of the two singers of
Furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
) was recruited to sing lead vocals.
Chris Westwood reviewed the new band's concert at the Trafalgar, Shepherds Bush in Record Mirror, concluding "The ramshackle remnants of The Transmitters and Missing Presumed Dead have assembled in the name of fun, chaos and roo-beat enterprise. The end – and beautifully unrehearsed – result is a temporary six piece, sax and flute and guitars and drums, that quite honestly asks questions of all our established and revered leaders. Why is everyone else so sober? We're working on a smale scale here; in a
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, its ...
pub with people being silly, playing sloppily but with undeniable width, stamina, ingenuity. Mikel (Presumed Dead) sings and dances, spins tinny guitar in the path of writing saxophone (Dave, Presumed Dead) and more jarring, clashing guitar (Sam, presumed drunk) while the conglomorate stagger from number to number: "Q-Tips" and "Catholics", "Kill the Postman" and "Change Gear". There’s even a ska-like destruction of "Sugar Sugar", where everything is so bad but brilliant – guitars out of tune, vocals all over the shop – but the actual point of TPD lies not in their affected clumsiness but in transforming clever and demanding music into a touching, entertaining sort of hobby.”
1980s Transmitters
Launch of second line-up and second album
Transmitters Presumed Dead soon transformed into the second Transmitters line-up of Sam Dodson (guitar), Sid Wells (bass), Dave Baby (saxophone) and
Julian Treasure (drums, ex Fish Turned Human) with Mikel Lee leaving and
Rob Chapman (lead vocals, ex
Glaxo Babies
Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977.Strong, Martin C: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, ...
) replacing Tim Whelan. This band recorded a second
Peel Session
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 ...
in 1981, as well as releasing the second Transmitters album – ''And We Call That Leisure Time'' – on Bristols'
Heartbeat Records
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of ...
later in the year.
(In parallel, Mikel Lee (guitar, vocals), Julian Treasure (drums), Tim Whelan (guitar, vocals) and Ian Hawkridge (bass) came together as a reinvented Missing Presumed Dead, gigging and recording their own John Peel Session in the same year which was produced by
Bob Sargent and included a strong version of the original Transmitters song "0.5 Alive".)
Transmitters in transit (1982–1987)
The line-up of The Transmitters continued to change over the years. Baby, Wells and Treasure all left at various points during the 1980s; Treasure was replaced by the returning Jim Chase, and Whelan also returned to the line-up (replacing Chapman). Several more musicians passed through The Transmitters during this period – including guitarist Vince Cutcliffe and keyboard player Bob Sargeant (aka "the Hand of Borgus Wheems"). Live performances were augmented by several other "floating" members – Joe Sax and theremin player John Woodley.
In 1985, a Transmitters song called "Sheep Farming" became the first song to be
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ed by a new
worldbeat
Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...
outfit called
Loop Guru
Loop Guru is a worldbeat group consisting of bassist/guitarist Salman Gita (born Sam Dodson) and programmer Jamuud (born David Muddyman). They first met around 1980 and initially played together in The Transmitters (band), The Transmitters and r ...
(which happened to be led by head Transmitter Sam Dodson).
Final line-up and recordings
The band's final line-up (between 1987 and 1989) was Dodson, Whelan, Chase, James McQueen (bass), Dave "Mud-Demon" Muddyman (keyboards/accordion/sampler, ex-Birdloom) and Whelan's
Furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
colleague
Hamilton "Hami" Lee (drums,
sampler). This line-up recorded tracks for a third Transmitters album which was not released during the band's lifetime. This music finally saw the light of day as ''Count Your Blessings (1987/89)'', which was released as a free download album in 2006 by Portuguese digital record label
You Are Not Stealing Records.
Reviewing a gig at Subterrania, London in 1988, Melody Maker's Chris Roberts claimed "Tim Whelan is the most restless man alive and demonstrates this by dancing like a young
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
Places Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson oil field in Durham, ...
, pacing like
Mark E Smith
Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistol ...
, and hurling himself at the floor like any-age
Iggy. He spits forth his topical angst ("there's a hole in the world") while his lanky henchmen beat manifold drums, extract Haitian war chants from keyboard thingies, and scratch shrill guitars like jaguars assaulting sandpaper. They tangle with the
Velvets' "Ferryboat Bill" quite swimmingly and, all things assimilated, are a cathartic anglepoise on the heart of darkness. Highly wrecked and mended."
The Transmitters released a 12-inch single, "The Mechanic", on yet another label (9CC/Craving Co Productions) in 1989. Writing in Music Week, Dave Henderson described it as "like
Stump never happened, wanton artiness, expressing-yourself tendencies and other such angles are exposed.”
The band split up for the second time later in 1989.
Post-split
Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee (Transglobal Underground)
Whelan and Lee continued to write and play with their other band,
Furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
, until 1990. They launched their own
worldbeat
Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...
project
Transglobal Underground
Transglobal Underground (sometimes written as Trans-Global Underground) is an English electro-world music group, specializing in a fusion of Western culture#Music, western, Music of Asia, Asian and Music of Africa, African music styles (someti ...
two years later in 1992.
Sam Dodson and Dave Muddyman (Loop Guru etc)
Dodson and Muddyman (under the pseudonyms of "Salman Gita" and "Jamuud") continued with their
worldbeat
Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...
project
Loop Guru
Loop Guru is a worldbeat group consisting of bassist/guitarist Salman Gita (born Sam Dodson) and programmer Jamuud (born David Muddyman). They first met around 1980 and initially played together in The Transmitters (band), The Transmitters and r ...
), launching the project in full in 1992.
Dodson also teamed up with
Loop Guru
Loop Guru is a worldbeat group consisting of bassist/guitarist Salman Gita (born Sam Dodson) and programmer Jamuud (born David Muddyman). They first met around 1980 and initially played together in The Transmitters (band), The Transmitters and r ...
singer Linda Finger,
Damned's drummer
Rat Scabies
Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned.
Career
Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...
,
Psychic TV
Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...
's Jim Daly (aka "Jym Darling") and jazz singer Liz Fletcher to form Slipper, an electronica-and-vocal project with elements of gospel and jazz. Described as "Portishead with a sense of humour" the project released two albums (2000s ''Invisible Movies'' and 2002's ''Zoon Sandwich'', both on Rephlex Records) and a mini-album called ''Earworms'' (released on the Mechanism label in 2002). Another Transmitters player, theremin player John Woodley, was a frequent contributor.
Dodson and Daly also teamed up as Thaw, another electronica project blending urban trance techno with ancient vocal chants and "tribal rhythms". Thaw released the ''Holy Cat'' album on Dodson's record label Elsewhen in 2005.
Most recently, Dodson has teamed up with Neil Sparkes (ex-
Transglobal Underground
Transglobal Underground (sometimes written as Trans-Global Underground) is an English electro-world music group, specializing in a fusion of Western culture#Music, western, Music of Asia, Asian and Music of Africa, African music styles (someti ...
and a current Temple of Sound member) to form Loungeclash, whose debut album ''Dread Time Story'' was released on Warlock Records/Sony Red USA on 19 February 2008.
In addition to his Loop Guru membership, Dave Muddyman is currently a member of Hoopy Froods, Round Way Wrong and MuudMap.
Various members (The Flavel Bambi Septet)
Circa 1991, Whelan and Lee reunited with Julian Treasure, Jim Chase and James McQueen in The Flavel Bambi Septet, a light-hearted Ealing-based
world music
"World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
band named after a gas cooker and perform Arabic and Middle Eastern pop music standards, oriental classics, Russian polkas, Nigerian brass band favourites and
Klezmer
Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...
tunes. During its existence, the band made regular performances at Club Dog and Waterman's Art Centre (in West London) and also made an appearance at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
as the house band for a variety theatre show.
2007 reunion
The Transmitters reunited in March 2007 to promote the compilation album ''I Fear No One'', which included the recordings from their first Peel session in 1979. This album was released on 12 March 2007 on the Dodson-owned record label Elsewhen Records.
The band performed a reunion gig at The Inn on the Green, Ladbroke Grove, West London on 40 March 2007. The band line-up on this occasion was similar to the final 1980s line-up, consisting of Sam Dodson (guitar), Tim Whelan (vocals), James McQueen (bass), John Woodley (theremin and keyboards), Jim Chase (drums) and Hamilton Lee (drums and sampler).
Evidence from live bootleg
played on Pat Duncan radio show on WFMU 91.1FM, 17 May 2007 (retrieved 31 December 2008)
Discography
Singles and EPs
*"Party" (Ebony, 1978)
*"Nowhere Train" (Ebony, 1979)
*"Still Hunting for the Ugly Man" (1979, Step-Forward Records)
*"The Mechanic" (1989, 9CC/Craving Co Productions)
Albums
*''24 Hours'' (1978, Ebony Records)
*''And We Call That Leisure Time'' (1981, Heartbeat, UK, LP, HB4)
*''Count Your Blessings (1987/89)'' (2006, You Are Not Stealing Records – download-only album containing material originally recorded between 1987 and 1989).
*''And We Call That Leisure Time'' eissue + 4 Bonus Tracks(2007, Birdsong, Japan, CD, BIRD-2008)
Compilation albums
*''I Fear No-One…'' (Elsewhere Records, 2007)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transmitters, The
English psychedelic rock music groups
English art rock groups
English experimental musical groups
English post-punk music groups
English new wave musical groups
Musical groups established in 1977
Rock music groups from the London Borough of Ealing