HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

This Heat were an English
experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...
band, formed in early 1976 in
Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...
, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (drums, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Williams (keyboard, guitar, bass, vocals, tapes). This Heat were active during the ascendancy of British
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 ...
, but stood apart from that scene due to an experimental and confrontational approach. This Heat's commercial success was limited and, during the group’s existence, their discography consisted of only two albums and an EP. The band would influence genres such as
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 ...
, industrial music, and
post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
. Williams died of cancer in 2001. From 2016 until 2019, Bullen and Hayward reunited, playing under the name This Is Not This Heat.


History

This Heat first came together in 1976 by Charles Hayward and Charles Bullen. Hayward was a member of the
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band
Quiet Sun Quiet Sun were an English progressive rock/jazz fusion band from the Canterbury scene consisting of Phil Manzanera (guitars), Bill MacCormick (bass), Dave Jarrett (keyboards) and Charles Hayward (drums). History Having originated from a Dul ...
, fronted by guitarist
Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801 and Quiet Sun. ...
of
Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...
. In 1975, Quiet Sun had signed a deal with
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
to record an album entitled ''
Mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso * ...
''. ''Mainstream'' was critically acclaimed and became the
New Musical Express ''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 inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...
' album of the month, and
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
' fourth or fifth biggest seller at the time, close to sales figures of
Bad Company Bad Company were an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke (both ex- Free), guitarist Mick Ralphs (ex- Mott the Hoople) and bassist Boz Burrell (ex-King Crimson). Kirke was the only m ...
and
Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
. Whilst touring to support the record, Manzanera stepped down as his commitments with Roxy Music were taking up his schedule, so Bullen stepped in as a replacement. Quiet Sun dissolved shortly afterwards, but Bullen and Hayward, who had bonded over their similar tastes and attitude to music making, decided to continue working together. After playing in a variety of improvisational groups such as Dolphin Logic and Friendly Rifles, they were joined by visual artist Gareth Williams, who despite his lack of formal musical training had an intuitive ear for sound. Hayward had also hoped to bring Quiet Sun bassist Bill MacCormick on board; MacCormick however, declined due to personality clashes between him and Williams. The trio settled upon the name This Heat in reference to the 1976 British Isles heat wave, regarded at the time as the hottest summer on record. Hayward also stated the name had existed in Williams' subconscious since the 1960s, when he was a member of a youth gang called 'Fly Wire', whose rivals were known as 'This Heat'. This Heat's first radio airplay came in early 1977 from legendary 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 ...
, to whom they sent a demo tape recorded in the top room at Hayward's parents' house in
Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...
, prior to moving into Cold Storage - formerly the cold store room of a meat pie factory - which they converted into a studio as part of the Acme artists studios complex in
Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...
. During this time, they also recorded a session with
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
ian percussionist Mario Boyer Diekuuroh, parts of which later appeared on a 1982 split cassette with Albert Marcoeur, released by the French experimental rock magazine ''Tago Mago''. Their self-titled debut album was recorded between February 1976 and September 1978 in various studios and venues, and was released in August 1979. It was characterised by heavy use of tape manipulation and looping (especially on the track "24 Track Loop" which was a loop actually on the 2" master tape), combined with more traditional performance (including quite a lot of live stereo microphone in the room recordings) to create dense, eerie, electronic soundscapes. Despite receiving offers from several major labels to release the album, This Heat declined them all in order to maintain creative control and independence over their work. They were eventually swayed by their friend David Cunningham of The Flying Lizards to release it through his independent label Piano. Shortly thereafter, This Heat released the ''
Health and Efficiency ''H&E naturist'' (originally ''Health and Efficiency'') is a 92-page monthly commercial magazine focusing on the naturist lifestyle, through articles on travel, health and culture, as well as various features on arts and books with a naked them ...
'' EP, which foreshadowed the more rock-oriented sound of their subsequent album. This Heat then signed a record deal with
Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis, who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. It is currently run by co-managing directors Travis and Jeannette Lee and ...
, who released ''
Deceit Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deceit ...
'', the band's second and final album, in 1981. Whilst maintaining their experimental approach, ''Deceit'' found the band incorporating more coherent song structures, and consolidating the dub and world music influences in their work. The album was produced with help from noted
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
mixer Martin Frederick. Although at the time, like all of This Heat's releases, it sold poorly, ''Deceit'' is now seen as a classic of the
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 ...
era. By that time ''Deceit'' was released, Williams had exited from the band, departing for India to study
kathakali ''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...
. This Heat split up in 1982 after completing their final European tour with bassist-vocalist Trefor Goronwy and keyboardist Ian Hill joining Bullen and Hayward. Hayward went on to form Camberwell Now with Goronwy and Stephen Rickard, and remains musically active. Bullen went on to collaborate with bassist and percussionist Dub Judah on a solo venture called Lifetones, releasing an album entitled'' For a Reason'' in 1983 on his Tone of Life imprint, and in 1998 he released the album ''Internal Clock'' under the name Circadian Rhythms. Williams later formed Flaming Tunes with Mary Currie and released a cassette of material, which was later released on CD. In 1993 a new album of previously unreleased This Heat recordings was unearthed. ''Repeat'' featured three long tracks, including the title track, a 20-minute remix of "24 Track Loop". ''Out of Cold Storage'', a
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
of all the band's official recordings, was released in June 2006 on This is!, a new Recommended Records sub-label set up by Hayward and Bullen to re-release This Heat's back catalogue. The set comprises ''This Heat'', ''Deceit'', ''Health and Efficiency'', ''Made Available'' and ''Repeat'', plus ''Live 80/81'', a CD of concert recordings. In December 2001 This Heat tentatively rehearsed (with Williams); however, nothing came to fruition as Williams died later that month of cancer. In 2016, Bullen and Hayward reunited under the name This Is Not This Heat to perform a number of critically acclaimed gigs in London. The concerts featured several guests such as
Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running ...
, Alexis Taylor, Alex Ward and Daniel O'Sullivan. The reunion continued across the following three years, concluding with a small series of shows in London, New York, and Los Angeles in 2019. In August 2020, This Heat released part of its catalogue digitally on streaming services, including Bandcamp.


Legacy


Influence

Bands and artists that have called This Heat either an influence or a favourite include
Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...
, Alexis Taylor, Dan Snaith, Avey Tare, Amen Dunes,
Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
, Preoccupations, Nurse With Wound,
Palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae ** List of Arecaceae genera **Palm oil * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music ...
,
Squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
, Mark Stewart, The Dead C, Daniel O'Sullivan, Dean Blunt, Disco Inferno, Elias Rønnenfelt, Marc Hollander, Family Fodder, Matt Johnson, 23 Skidoo,
David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine (band), Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet a ...
, Volcano the Bear, Dazzling Killmen, Nisennenmondai, Korekyojinn,
Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...
, The Sound of Animals Fighting,
Yoshida Tatsuya (born 9 January 1961) is a Japanese musician, drummer and composer who is the only consistent member of the renowned progressive rock duo Ruins, as well as of Koenji Hyakkei. He is also a member of the progressive rock trios Korekyojinn and D ...
, 75 Dollar Bill,
Horse Lords Horse Lords are an American avant-garde rock band from Baltimore. The members are Andrew Bernstein (saxophone/percussion), Max Eilbacher (bass/electronics), Owen Gardner (guitar), and Sam Haberman (drums). Their first album was released in 201 ...
,
Mika Taanila Mika Taanila (born 1965 in Helsinki) is a Finnish film director and Visual arts, visual artist. His films can be categorized somewhere between the traditions of classic documentary film-making, avant-garde and video art. His most notable films ar ...
, FRIGS, Warm Ghost, Justin Pearson,
Bo Ningen BO NINGEN are a Japanese four-piece noise rock and alternative rock band, consisting of Taigen Kawabe (bass, vocals), Kohhei Matsuda (guitar, electronics), Yuki Tsujii (guitar), and Monchan Monna (drums). Though they come from Gumma, Tajimi, Ni ...
, Pinkish Black,
Young Knives Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, currently based in Wantage, Oxfordshire. The group consists of brothers Henry Dartnall and Thomas Bonsu-Dartnall (the latter known professionally as "The House ...
, AIDS Wolf, Controlled Bleeding, These New Puritans, Eyeless in Gaza,
Six Finger Satellite Six Finger Satellite (a.k.a. 6FS) is an American rock band from Providence, Rhode Island. Described by former member John MacLean as "a post-punk band utilizing dance music elements", Six Finger Satellite's eclectic sound is driven synthesize ...
, Trans Am,
Dave Kerman David Kerman (born August 24, 1959) is an American experimental rock drummer and composer, best known as the founder and member of the Los Angeles avant-rock group 5uu's. He is also a member of the Belgian progressive rock band Present and th ...
, Guapo, Chrome Hoof, Ut, Heiner Goebbels, and many others. In addition, numerous critics recognised the band's influence on the music of
Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...
,
Glenn Branca Glenn Branca (October 6, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was an American avant-garde music, avant-garde composer, guitarist, and luthier. Known for his use of volume, scordatura, alternative guitar tunings, minimal music, repetition, drone (music), dronin ...
, Public Image Ltd.,
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
, Swans,
Black Dice Black Dice is an American experimental noise music band based in Brooklyn, New York and consisting of brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland along with Aaron Warren. Formed in 1997, the group was initially inspired by hardcore and noise rock, but s ...
,
Stereolab Stereolab are an English people, Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound incorporates repetitive motorik beats with the use of vintage electronic keybo ...
,
Gang Gang Dance Gang Gang Dance is an American band based in Manhattan, New York City. They are known for their distinctive sound which blends elements of psych-rock, ambient electronics, hip-hop, and Eastern music influences with the vocals of singer Lizzi ...
, Lightning Bolt, C. Spencer Yeh, Liars,
Black Midi Black Midi (stylised as black midi) were an English Band (rock and pop), rock band from London, formed in 2017. Their most recent line-up consisted of lead vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Geordie Greep and Cameron Picton, along with drumme ...
and several other experimental and
post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
bands.


Discography


Studio albums

*'' This Heat'' (1979) *''
Deceit Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deceit ...
'' (1981)


EPs

*''
Health and Efficiency ''H&E naturist'' (originally ''Health and Efficiency'') is a 92-page monthly commercial magazine focusing on the naturist lifestyle, through articles on travel, health and culture, as well as various features on arts and books with a naked them ...
'' (1980) *''The Peel Sessions'' (1988)


Live

*''This Heat Live'' (1986; cassette-only release of 1980
Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...
concert) *''Scala'' (2006; bootleg 1979 London concert) *''Final Revelations'' (2007; final 1982 concert plus songs from Solo Projects from each bandmember respectively) *''Live at I.C.A. Club 1980'' (2007; bootleg of concert at London's
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...
)


Compilations

*'' Made Available: John Peel Sessions'' (1996; reissue of ''The Peel Sessions'' with bonus tracks) *''Out of Cold Storage'' (2006; 6-CD box set)


Various artist compilation appearances

*'' Recommended Records Sampler '' (1982)


Other releases

*''This Heat with Mario Boyer Diekuuroh'' (1982; split cassette with Albert Marcoeur) *''Repeat'' (1993) *''John Peel Shows'' (2005; bootleg of 1977 preview of first album demos) *''Face Hand Shy: Rarities'' (2006; above Peel demos plus "Health & Efficiency", Mario Boyer Diekuuroh tracks and undated live tracks)


References


External links

* {{Authority control English industrial music groups English progressive rock groups English post-punk music groups Rough Trade Records artists Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Rock music groups from the London Borough of Southwark English experimental rock groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom