On This Day 25/03/1989 Fishbone

On This Day, 25 March 1989, American rock band Fishbone played Cardiff’s The Venue.

Formed in 1979, the band plays a fusion of ska, punk, funk, metal, reggae, and soul. AllMusic has described the group as "one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s. With their hyperactive, self-conscious diversity, goofy sense of humor, and sharp social commentary, the group gained a sizable cult following".

Fishbone first assembled as school students in 1979 with John Norwood Fisher (bass), his brother Philip "Fish" Fisher (drums), Angelo Moore (vocals, saxophones, theremin), Kendall Jones (guitar), "Dirty" Walter A. Kibby II (vocals, trumpet), and Christopher Dowd (keyboards, trombone, vocals). They achieved their greatest commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, after which they went through many personnel changes.

Fishbone was primarily considered a ska and funk band during their early years, but later became more guitar-driven with a focus on rock and soul music. The 1988 album Truth and Soul brought Fishbone wide critical acclaim. With this album, the band also added social commentary to their lyrics, covering topics such as the breakup of families, contemporary racism, fascism, nuclear war, and oppression in lower income housing projects.

The album was highlighted by a hard rock-inspired version of Curtis Mayfield's classic "Freddie's Dead" from the film Super Fly. The music video, directed by Douglas Gayeton, became the band's first hit on MTV. That same year, the group toured with Red Hot Chili Peppers and became nationally known in the burgeoning alternative music scene.[16] Also that year, Fishbone and Little Richard recorded the Lead Belly song "Rock Island Line" for the tribute album Folkways: A Vision Shared.

The band added former Miles Davis sideman John Bigham on guitar and keyboards in 1989.

On This Day 17/03/1989 Man From Delmonte

On this day, 17 March 1989, Manchester indie band The Man From Delmonte played Cardiff’s The Venue.

Band members included Mike West (vocals and acoustic guitar), Sheila Seal (bass), Martin Vincent (guitar and harmonica), and Howard Goody (drums).

The band members had little in common with most Manchester bands. Goody was a graduate of Winchester School of Art. Vincent had been an art critic and painter. Seal, a Glaswegian, was a classically trained musician who had run an art gallery. West, who wrote the songs, was the Australian-born son of the author Morris West.

The band played many gigs at the Boardwalk club, in Manchester, where they recorded their Big Noise live album in 1989.

They took their name from a series of 1980s television advertisements for Del Monte fruit juices, featuring the "man from Del Monte". In these, the man would visit villages to sample their fruit juices, to see if they were good enough to be included in his company's drinks. The tagline, shouted jubilantly by a villager on approval was, "The man from Del Monte, he say 'Yes!'".

At one point they were managed by journalist Jon Ronson.

After they split up in 1990, some members continued as Surfurbia. West moved to New Orleans to pursue a solo career in the early 1990s.

The band are reforming to play gigs in the UK in February and April 2025.

On This Day 16/03/1989 McCarthy

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On this day, 16 March 1989, indie pop band McCarthy played Cardiff’s The Venue. The support was provided by East Village. The band had just released their second album The Enraged Will Inherit the Earth

Formed in Barking, Greater London in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden (voice and guitar) and Tim Gane (lead guitar) with John Williamson (bass guitar) and Gary Baker (drums). Lætitia Sadier later joined the band on vocals for their final studio album.

They mixed a melodic style, dominated by Gane's 12-string guitar playing, with Eden's overtly political lyrics, often satirical in tone, which reflected the band's far-left leanings.

McCarthy were a major early influence on Manic Street Preachers, who covered three of their songs: "We Are All Bourgeois Now" appeared as a hidden track on their Know Your Enemy album; "Charles Windsor" appeared as a b-side on their Life Becoming a Landslide EP; and "Red Sleeping Beauty" appeared on their single "Autumnsong".

Nicky Wire has commented on the band and specifically the album I Am a Wallet: "McCarthy - the great lost band of the '80s they redesigned my idea of politics and pop, it could be intelligent, it could be beautiful. They were frail, tragic, romantic idealists. The songs soothed your body but exercised your brain. They were my education, my information and they are partly to blame for the realisation of the Manic Street Preachers. I still fall in love with this album every six months, it makes me feel guilty because it's so good".

On This Day 19/04/1989 The Vibrators

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On this day, 19 April 1989, British punk band The Vibrators played The Venue, Cardiff.

The Vibrators were founded in 1976 by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his label RAK Records. Most produced their first single, "We Vibrate". The band also backed Spedding on his single, "Pogo Dancing".

The Vibrators recorded sessions for John Peel at BBC Radio 1 in October 1976, June 1977, and February 1978. They were one of the pioneering punk bands that played at London's Roxy Club. They headlined in January 1977, supported by the Drones, and in February they played twice at the venue. In March 1977, the band supported Iggy Pop on his British tour. Later that year, they backed ex-Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter.

The band signed to Epic Records in early 1977. Their debut album, Pure Mania was co-produced with Robin Mayhew, the sound engineer for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust live shows, and reached the top 50 of the UK Albums Chart. The album is well regarded by some music critics and, 17 years after its release, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music named Pure Mania one of the 50 best punk albums of all time.

Their follow-up album, V2, narrowly missed the UK top 30. The only single to be taken from that album, "Automatic Lover", was the only Vibrators' single to reach the UK top 40 where it reached No. 35. It earned the band a TV appearance on the prime-time TV show Top of the Pops. The Vibrators' final single on Epic, "Judy Says (Knock You in the Head)", was released in June 1978. It reached No. 70 on the UK Singles Chart. Years later it was included in Mojo magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all time.

During the 1980s, John Ellis recorded with Peter Gabriel, as well as recording and touring frequently with Peter Hammill, then subsequently the Stranglers, eventually joining the latter full-time in the 1990s. Pat Collier went on to work closely with the Soft Boys, producing their seminal album Underwater Moonlight, and Robyn Hitchcock, producing and mixing some of his solo albums (to which Knox also sometimes contributed). Phil Ram went on to form Able Ram and brought out two singles, "Disco in Moscow" and "Hope We Make It", although without any chart success. Despite numerous line-up changes, the Vibrators continued to record and tour as a three-piece, with "Eddie" being the only original member.

On This Day 04/04/1989 Green On Red

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On this day, 4 April 1989, American alternative rock band Green On Red played Cardiff’s The Venue.

Formed in the Tucson, Arizona punk scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles, California, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground. Earlier records have the wide-screen psychedelic sound of first-wave desert rock, while later releases tended more towards traditional country rock.

The band began in 1979 as The Serfers, a four-piece made up of Dan Stuart (vocals/guitar), Jack Waterson (bass), Van Christian (drums, later of Naked Prey) and Sean Nagore (organ), quickly replaced by Chris Cacavas.

In the summer of 1980, the Serfers relocated to Los Angeles, where they changed their name to Green on Red (after the title of one of their songs) to avoid confusion with the local surf punk scene. Christian returned to Tucson and was replaced by Lydia Lunch sideman Alex MacNicol.

The band were about to release their fourth album Here Come The Snakes.

Recorded in Memphis, the album was produced by Jim Dickinson and Joe Hardy. Band members Dan Stuart and Chuck Prophet were backed by local musicians. Stuart and Prophet used the Sam C. Phillips Recording Studio, where they worked with Roland Janes.

"We Had It All" is a cover of the song made popular in part by Keith Richards.

On This Day 08/03/1989 The Band Of Holy Joy

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On this day, 8 March 1989, alternate rock/pop band The Band Of Holy Joy played Cardiff’s Venue.

The band was formed in 1984, by Johny Brown in New Cross, South London. Early experiments revolved around cheap junk shop instrumentation and rudimentary electronics. After two self-issued cassettes, they signed to South London indie label Flim Flam for a string of singles and two 1987 albums; More Tales From The City and the live LP When Stars Come Out To Play.

The band reached a commercial and critical peak after signing to Rough Trade, with Manic, Magic, Majestic in 1989, and Positively Spooked in 1990, supported by a tour of the U.S.S.R. The label was forced into receivership in 1991 following cash flow problems and eventual bankruptcy. The band re-emerged in 1992 as Holy Joy, with the album Tracksuit Vendetta. They split up in 1993 and Brown moved into freelance journalism, playwriting and production.

On This Day 13/03/1989 Spacemen 3

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On this day, 13 March 1989, English neo-psychedelia band Spacemen 3 played Cardiff’s Venue club following the release of their eagerly awaited Playing with Fire album.

The album's front cover sleeve bore the slogan, "Purity, Love, Suicide, Accuracy, Revolution". Playing with Fire was Spacemen 3's first record to chart and one of the breakthrough indie albums of the year.

Within weeks of its release, it was No. 1 in both the NME and Melody Maker indie charts. It was "their most critically and commercially successful album" (Stephen Erlewine, AllMusic).

Reviews were extremely positive and the album garnered wide critical acclaim.

Formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizer, and minimal chord or tempo changes.

Spacemen 3 had their first independent chart hits in 1987, gaining a cult following, and going on to have greater success towards the end of the decade. However, they disbanded shortly afterwards, releasing their final studio album post-split in 1991 after an acrimonious parting of ways.

They gained a reputation as a 'drug band' due to the members' drug-taking habits and Kember's candid interviews and outspoken opinions on recreational drug use. Kember and Pierce were the only members common to all line-ups of the band. Pierce has enjoyed considerable success with his subsequent project Spiritualized.

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