Vic Godard (born Victor John Napper) is an English singer-songwriter formerly of the punk group Subway Sect. He is now also a solo performer, while continuing to appear with various incarnations of Subway Sect.

Biography

Born Victor John Napper in

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

, Surrey, Godard was raised in nearby Barnes, London.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 75-6 In 1976, Godard formed Subway Sect with three other fans of the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

at the suggestion of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, who wanted another band for the line-up of the 100 Club Punk Festival. Despite their inexperience, Subway Sect made a successful debut at the festival and were taken on by Clash manager Bernie Rhodes. They appeared with

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

on the White Riot Tour in 1977 and released their debut single, "Nobody's Scared"/"Don't Split It", in March 1978. While recording their debut album at Gooseberry Studios, Rhodes suddenly fired the entire band except for Godard. Two tracks from the album's recording sessions, "Ambition"/"Different Story", were released by

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 ...

; the single was a major hit on the alternative charts. Godard re-formed Subway Sect in 1980 with new musicians and signed to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

sublabel Oddball, releasing the album ''What's The Matter Boy?'' Following a summer tour with

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. The ...

, Subway Sect disbanded again. Guitarist Johnny Britten formed a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

band with Chris Bostock, Sean McLusky, Rob Marche and DC Collard, but was soon forced to leave the group, at which point Godard stepped in to take his place. They recorded the album ''Songs For Sale'' in 1981, but were disappointed with the results and disbanded soon after; members of the band, without Godard, went on to form

JoBoxers JoBoxers are a British New wave music, new wave band (music), group formed in London, England in 1982 when former Subway Sect members Rob Marche (guitarist), Dave Collard (keyboardist), Chris Bostock (bassist), and Sean McLusky (drummer) teame ...

. Godard also recorded an LP at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

, called ''T.R.O.U.B.L.E.'', with a group of London

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 ...

musicians known as Working Week, which was eventually released two years later by

. In the mid-1980s, Godard retired from music and became a postman. In 1990, Godard wrote the song "Johnny Thunders", a tribute inspired by reading an obituary of the New York Dolls guitarist. It was recorded at the home of Paul Baker, a fellow postman. Godard also recorded ten other tracks and the recordings, with Paul Cook on drums, eventually became the album ''The End of the Surrey People''. Produced by Edwyn Collins, it was released on the Postcard Records label. Collins' group

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

had made the Subway Sect song "Holiday Hymn" a feature of their set in the early 1980s. Later in the 1990s, Godard formed the band The Long Decline with Kenny Wisdom and Mark Perry. The band released an album on the Overground label before disbanding in 1998, but re-formed in 2000 with Godard, Wisdom, Lee McFadden, and Mina Sassoon, among others. Godard contributed guitar and some songwriting, but not lead vocals, In 1998, Godard released the album ''Long Term side-Effect'' on Tugboat Records. A 2002 album recorded by Godard, ''Sansend'', was released under the name Subway Sect, rather than his own. Godard's label Motion Records released ''Singles Anthology'' in 2005, compiling all the A-sides and B-sides from Godard's career. In 2007, as Subway Sect, Godard recorded the songs that had been intended for the debut LP back in 1978, and released them as ''1978 Now''. The line-up includes original drummer Mark Laff as well as original bass player Paul Myers on some tracks. Godard has also contributed to tracks by The Bitter Springs, who acted as his backing band (as Subway Sect) for nine years.McFadden, Lee (2006)
IN PROFILE: The Bitter Springs
", '' The Morning Star'', 7 January 2006 In 2009 Godard recorded ''We Come As Aliens'' for Overground records (with a vinyl edition on GNU Inc) with Subway Sect, as well as an EP with Trainspotting author

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, ...

called ''Blackpool''. 2012 saw Godard & Subway Sect touring the UK & Europe extensively, while also recording ''1979 Now'' with Edwyn Collins. 2013 included a collaborative tour with the Sexual Objects (featuring Davy Henderson of The Fire Engines) and two BBC sessions with Marc Riley. He released the 7" only single "Caught in Midstream" / "(You Bring Out) The Demon in Me". 2014 began with the release of ''30 Odd Years'' a 45 track box-set on Godard's own GNU Inc records. Godard remains a busy and creative artist, but no more popular (or better) than he was 40 years ago.

Discography

with Subway Sect

Vic Godard and Subway Sect

Albums

*''What's the Matter Boy?'' (1980), Oddball/MCA *''Songs For Sale'' (1982), London *''We Come As Aliens'' (2010), Overground *''1979 Now!'' (2014), Gnu ;Compilations: *''A Retrospective (1977–81)'' (1985), Rough Trade *''Twenty Odd Years – The Story of...'' (1999), Motion *''Singles Anthology'' (2005), Motion *''Live in Stereo'' (2009), GNU Inc *''Peel Sessions'' (2011), GNU Inc *''Live + Rare Vol 2'' (2012) GNU Inc *''30 Odd Years'' (2014), GNU Inc

Singles

*"Split Up the Money" (1980), Oddball/MCA *"Stop That Girl" (1981), Rough Trade *"Stamp of a Vamp" (1981), Club Left *"Hey Now (I'm in Love)" (1982), London *"Johnny Thunders" (1992), Rough Trade *"Won't Turn Back" (1993), Postcard *"No Love Now" (1996), Garcia s 'Spirit of the Sect'*"Place We Used to Love" (1999), Creeping Bent *"Caught in Midstream" (2013), AED

Vic Godard

Albums

*''T.R.O.U.B.L.E.'' (1986), Rough Trade *''End of the Surrey People'' (1993), Postcard *''Long Term side-Effect'' (1998), Tugboat *''In T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Again'' (2002), Tugboat

Singles

*"Holiday Hymn" (1985), El *"Blackpool" (2010), GNU Inc s 'Vic Godard & Irvine Welsh'*"Better Not Turn On", download (2012) ith Georgio Valentino*"Vic to Vic" (2013), Famelic ith Mates Mates

References

External links

Vic Godard and The Subway Sect Official Homepage. New live dates, bio, video, audio, News and ongoing archive

* ttp://www.vicgodard.co.uk/sniffin_glue_int.html Original Subway Sect interview in Sniffin Glue
30 Odd Years Boxset – Vic Godard

2014 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godard, Vic Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English punk rock singers English male singers Singers from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Subway Sect members