The Primitives
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The Primitives are an English
indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...
band from
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
, best known for their 1988 international hit single " Crash". Formed in 1984, disbanded in 1992 and reformed in 2009, the band's two constant members throughout their recording career have been vocalist Tracy Tracy and guitarist Paul "PJ" Court. Drummer Tig Williams has been a constant member since 1987. Often described as an indie pop or indie rock band, the Primitives' musical style can also be seen as straddling
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
, new wave and
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 ...
.


Early career and mainstream success (1986–1994)

The Primitives were formed in the summer of 1984 by PJ Court (born Paul Jonathan Court) (vocals, guitar), Steve Dullaghan (born Stephen Anthony Dullaghan, ex–Nocturnal Babies) (bass guitar), Peter Tweedie (drums) and Keiron McDermott, ex-Nocturnal Babies (vocals). Vocalist McDermott was later replaced by Tracy Tracy (born Tracy Louise Cattell). Tig Williams replaced Pete Tweedie on drums in October 1987. McDermott left the band claiming that he could not work with new manager Wayne Morris, and so reformed the Nocturnal Babies. Needing a singer for an upcoming gig, Court wrote on a piece of scrap paper "male singer wanted" and posted it at the Coventry library. Tracy responded that afternoon. The band were part of the
indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by in ...
scene of the mid-1980s, alongside bands like
the Soup Dragons The Soup Dragons are a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series ''Clangers'', the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song " I'm Fre ...
and
the Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, by members of The Lost Pandas. The band has been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member. Closely linked to the C86 scene ...
. Their major rivals within the 'blonde pop' scene were
Transvision Vamp Transvision Vamp were a British pop rock band. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James, the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s, particularly in 1989. James, the lead singer and focal-point of the group, attracted media ...
and the Darling Buds. They received valuable publicity when
the Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...
' lead vocalist
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
was photographed wearing a Primitives T-shirt. The band's early singles were released on their own Lazy Records imprint. In late 1987, they signed the label over to
RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
, which released the band's material from then until their split. '' Lovely'' (1988), the band's debut studio album, reached No. 6 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, and produced two top 40 hit singles: " Crash" ( UK No. 5, US Modern Rock No. 3) and "Out of Reach" (UK No. 25). "Crash", and the band were described 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 ...
'' as "the perfect band who have made the perfect single". "Way Behind Me" was released as a single soon after, and was included on later versions of the debut album, as well as on the follow-up studio album '' Pure''. 1988 was the band's peak year; in addition to the hit album and singles, the band undertook a sell-out tour of the UK, ending in two nights in May at
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
's Town & Country Club. The studio album '' Pure'' (1989) was preceded by three singles: "Way Behind Me" (UK No. 36, US Modern Rock No. 8), "Sick of It" (UK No. 24, US Modern Rock No. 9) and "Secrets", (UK No. 49, US Modern Rock No. 12). In 1990, the band co-headlined a tour of the US with
the Sugarcubes The Sugarcubes () were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Benediktsson (vocals, trumpe ...
as well as a short tour of Japan. They split in 1992 following the commercial failure of their third studio album '' Galore'' (1992). Their song "Crash" was featured on the soundtrack album for the
Peter Farrelly Peter John Farrelly (born December 17, 1956) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and novelist. Along with his brother Bobby Farrelly, Bobby, the Farrelly brothers are mostly famous for directing and producing quirky comedy and r ...
film ''
Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and ...
'' in 1994.


Reformation (2009–present)

Steve Dullaghan died in Coventry on 4 February 2009, following which, after nearly 18 years of dormancy, the Primitives re-formed, with new bassist Raphael Moore. Their first live shows were in Coventry and at the Buffalo Bar in London in October 2009. In early 2010, the Primitives toured the UK and performed a single US concert at The Bell House in New York City. The Primitives supported
the Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, by members of The Lost Pandas. The band has been led by vocalist and guitarist David Gedge, the band's only constant member. Closely linked to the C86 scene ...
at Koko in Camden, London on 13 December 2010 as part of that band's ''
Bizarro Bizarro () is a supervillain or anti-hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman, and first appeared in ''Superboy (comic bo ...
'' album 21st anniversary tour. The Primitives returned to the studio with original producer Paul Sampson, recording the EP ''Never Kill a Secret'', featuring two original songs — the title track and "Rattle My Cage" — and two cover versions of lesser-known female-fronted songs — "Need All the Help I Can Get" (written by
Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...
and originally recorded by Suzi Jane Hokom in 1966) and "Breakaway" (originally recorded by Toni Basil in 1966). The EP was released on 7 March 2011. The album ''Echoes and Rhymes'' followed in 2012, featuring 14 further recordings of lesser-known female-fronted songs. The Japanese edition of ''Echoes and Rhymes'' features three additional bonus tracks, two of which are remix versions of "Need All the Help I Can Get" and "Breakaway". The third bonus track "Can't Stop the Want", also featured on the digital EP ''Turn Off the Moon''. Their original track "You Trashed My Christmas" is featured on the Elefant Records compilation album ''A Christmas Gift for You from Elefant Records''. An accompanying video for the track was released. In March 2013, the compilation album ''Everything's Shining Bright – The Lazy Recordings 1985 – 1987'' was issued. The compilation featured all of the Lazy releases; unreleased, different versions of songs that were on ''Lovely''; some 1985 demos; and the 1987 ICA show, with
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
introducing the band on stage. The single "Lose the Reason" was released on 18 February 2013 through Elefant Records. ''Spin-O-Rama'', the group's fifth studio album, was released on Elefant on 13 October 2014, and it was preceded by the release of the title track as a 7" and download single. In April 2017, the four-song collection ''New Thrills'' was released. The first 1,000 copies were personally autographed by band members. Included with the album was a code and instructions for digital download of the tracks: # "I'll Trust the Wind" # "Squeak 'N' Squawk" # "Oh Honey Sweet" # "Same Stuff" The group toured California in June 2017, playing in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. In April 2019, The Primitives visited Tokyo.


Members

Current members * Paul Court – guitars, vocals (1985–1991, 2009–present) * Tracy Tracy (aka Tracy Cattell) – vocals (1986–1991, 2009–present) * Tig Williams – drums (1987–1991, 2009–present) * Paul Sampson – bass (1989–1991, 2020–present) Former members * Steve Dullaghan – bass, guitars (1985–1989; died 2009) * Peter Tweedie – drums (1985–1987) * Keiron McDermott – vocals (1985–1986) * Clive Layton – keyboards (1988–1991) * Andy Hobson – bass (1989) * Neil Champion – bass (1991) * Raph Moore – bass (2009-2019)


Discography

* '' Lovely'' (1988) * '' Pure'' (1989) * '' Galore'' (1991) * '' Echoes and Rhymes'' (2012) * ''Spin-O-Rama'' (2014)


References


External links


Primitives Facebook
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"Buzz Buzz Buzz: Paul Court of the Primitives" - interview ''Rocker Magazine'' 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primitives, The English indie pop groups English power pop groups English post-punk music groups English new wave musical groups Female-fronted musical groups Musical groups from Coventry Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Elefant Records artists RCA Records artists 1984 establishments in England