Barry Sutton
Encyclopedia
Barry Sutton is an English
singer-songwriter and guitarist from Liverpool
who has performed with numerous alternative rock
bands since 1981. His career began as the songwriter and vocalist in the unsigned bands Western Diplomats (1981–1983) and Marshmallow Overcoat (1983–1987). He joined Walkingseeds
as guitarist in 1986 and played on two of their LPs: Skullfuck (1987) and Upwind of Disaster, Downwind of Atonement (1989) before leaving to join The La's
in 1988.
Sutton left The La's after one year and during the 1990s, he performed with his own bands Froth (1990–1993) and Kung Fu (1995–2001) as well as playing live and recording with several artists such as The Stairs
, Cast
, Peter Coyle and Smaller
. Since 1994, Sutton has also performed as a solo artist under the alias Fabian Rothschilde. During the 2000s, Sutton played in the bands Heavy Lemon (2002–2003) and Mirrorball (2004–2008) and he is currently playing with Beatnik Hurricane.
Sutton then formed Marshmallow Overcoat in 1983 as the band's lead singer, songwriter and guitarist with Bungle from the Diplomats , Lol Geoghegan and Mark Phythian. In 1984, having added Judith Laity and Liz Kay they played a two month residency at the re-opened Cavern, playing psychedelic pop, frequently under assumed names like 573 Blowlamps and Clive And Vera Of Heswall. The group released one EP What's Going On (Skysaw Records 1985).
Due to politics with the band, Sutton and Lol formed a brand-new lineup in April 1986 with ex-Rileymen Cammy (bass, later of The La's and Heavy Lemon) and Tony Mogan (drums). The first gig of this line up was at a party in a house facing Sefton Park an hour after a set by the newly-formed La's. The two bands performed together for the next year before employing all three members at various points.
The band performed under the name of Courderoy Cog And The Teenbeat for a 1987 Roger Hill session on Radio Merseyside containing nine songs recorded live. The band were influential in a reactionary musical climate, cited by bands like The La's, The Stairs and Shack. They broke up shortly afterwards as Cammy joined The La's.
During this period, Sutton worked as a roadie for The Fall (1983–86) and was influenced heavily by Mark E. Smith. In March 1986, he joined the psychedelic rock
group Walkingseeds
as guitarist. The band employed Lol Geoghegan on drums for a while, and he played on the January 1987 Peel session. The band recorded 'Upwind' in new York in 1988 with Kramer, former Shockabilly and Bongwater member. In 1987 the band toured with The Fall, and toured Europe, and also recorded two John Peel sessions. The band went on to record a second Kramer-produced album 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball' after Sutton left, in 1990.
Sutton was also the drummer for The Goat People in the late 1980s, who played avant-noise over tapes of the UK Top Twenty hits, who featured Bogshed's Tristan King on drums, Marshmallow Overcoat violinist Liz Kay on Guitar, and guest Marshmallow vocalist Chris Clarke on bass.
Sutton joined The La's
in August 1988 appearing in the music video for "There She Goes
" and left in July 1989 after 11 months at the conclusion of the aborted Mike Hedges
recording sessions for The La's
. TV and radio appearances followed, including Night Network in late 1988, Wide Awake Club in January 1989, The Late Show playing a cover of Buddy Holly's That'll Be The Day and a live broadcast of a Town & Country club from May 1989. He returned during a European tour in spring 1991, standing in for new dad Cammy, and again in 1992 in a short tour sponsored by Bacofoil.
standing in for Ged Lynn for a couple of months in March 1991 and Cast
for one month in late 1992.
Froth (1990–93), with Lee Webster (bass) formerly of Walkingseeds was the band where Sutton first became interested in asymmetrical time signatures, with songs like 'Theme' in 5/4 based on a riff written by Webster, which has been a feature of his playing and writing ever since. The band supported The La's in late 1991 at The Picket in Liverpool and the Boardwalk in Manchester. Ian Weldon, later of The Real People joined on guitar in summer 1992. The band split up in late 1993.
Sutton started playing under the name Fabian Rothschilde in early 1994 (Froth's Childe).
Kung Fu (1995–2001) began with Webster, and featured Ren (later of Shack) on bass. Later, Stu MacDonald joined on bass, and Ged Lynn on lead guitar, using the moniker Chutney Regis. Phil Lucking was a key member on trumpet, and the band played original material and covered such diverse artists as PiL, Ornette Coleman and The 13th Floor Elevators. Sutton also co-wrote and performed on the Peter Coyle album Earthstate, recorded in 1995, and released in 2002.
Beatnik Hurricane formed in May 2011. Members are Stu MacDonald, bass (formerly of Kung Fu)and Matt Duffy, drums.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
singer-songwriter and guitarist from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
who has performed with numerous alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
bands since 1981. His career began as the songwriter and vocalist in the unsigned bands Western Diplomats (1981–1983) and Marshmallow Overcoat (1983–1987). He joined Walkingseeds
Walkingseeds
Walkingseeds were an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England, formed after the Mel-o-Tones split up in 1986.-History:Frank Martin , Bob Parker , and John Neesam had previously worked together in the Mel-o-Tones, who released a mini-LP and an EP on Liverpool label Probe Plus...
as guitarist in 1986 and played on two of their LPs: Skullfuck (1987) and Upwind of Disaster, Downwind of Atonement (1989) before leaving to join The La's
The La's
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group is most famous for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1984 and Mavers joined soon after...
in 1988.
Sutton left The La's after one year and during the 1990s, he performed with his own bands Froth (1990–1993) and Kung Fu (1995–2001) as well as playing live and recording with several artists such as The Stairs
The Stairs
The Stairs were an English rock band formed in Liverpool around 1990 by vocalist and bassist Edgar Summertyme, guitarist Ged Lynn and drummer Paul Maguire...
, Cast
Cast (band)
Cast are an English rock band from Liverpool, formed in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split...
, Peter Coyle and Smaller
Smaller
Smaller were an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England, active during the 1990s. They had hits with "Wasted" and "Is" in 1996 and 1997.-History:...
. Since 1994, Sutton has also performed as a solo artist under the alias Fabian Rothschilde. During the 2000s, Sutton played in the bands Heavy Lemon (2002–2003) and Mirrorball (2004–2008) and he is currently playing with Beatnik Hurricane.
1980s
Barry Sutton played in his first band at school, Western Diplomats (1981–83) with Bungle and John Cornforth. They began as Cabaret Voltaire copyists, making adolescent avante-garde bedroom angst pop, then embraced pop music incrementally and recruited Phil Bliss and later Andy Parle. The band's debut was in April 1982 and they played local venues (Masonic, Warehouse), supporting The Farm at their first gig in LFC pub The Sandon in September 1982.Sutton then formed Marshmallow Overcoat in 1983 as the band's lead singer, songwriter and guitarist with Bungle from the Diplomats , Lol Geoghegan and Mark Phythian. In 1984, having added Judith Laity and Liz Kay they played a two month residency at the re-opened Cavern, playing psychedelic pop, frequently under assumed names like 573 Blowlamps and Clive And Vera Of Heswall. The group released one EP What's Going On (Skysaw Records 1985).
Due to politics with the band, Sutton and Lol formed a brand-new lineup in April 1986 with ex-Rileymen Cammy (bass, later of The La's and Heavy Lemon) and Tony Mogan (drums). The first gig of this line up was at a party in a house facing Sefton Park an hour after a set by the newly-formed La's. The two bands performed together for the next year before employing all three members at various points.
The band performed under the name of Courderoy Cog And The Teenbeat for a 1987 Roger Hill session on Radio Merseyside containing nine songs recorded live. The band were influential in a reactionary musical climate, cited by bands like The La's, The Stairs and Shack. They broke up shortly afterwards as Cammy joined The La's.
During this period, Sutton worked as a roadie for The Fall (1983–86) and was influenced heavily by Mark E. Smith. In March 1986, he joined the psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
group Walkingseeds
Walkingseeds
Walkingseeds were an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England, formed after the Mel-o-Tones split up in 1986.-History:Frank Martin , Bob Parker , and John Neesam had previously worked together in the Mel-o-Tones, who released a mini-LP and an EP on Liverpool label Probe Plus...
as guitarist. The band employed Lol Geoghegan on drums for a while, and he played on the January 1987 Peel session. The band recorded 'Upwind' in new York in 1988 with Kramer, former Shockabilly and Bongwater member. In 1987 the band toured with The Fall, and toured Europe, and also recorded two John Peel sessions. The band went on to record a second Kramer-produced album 'Bad Orb, Whirling Ball' after Sutton left, in 1990.
Sutton was also the drummer for The Goat People in the late 1980s, who played avant-noise over tapes of the UK Top Twenty hits, who featured Bogshed's Tristan King on drums, Marshmallow Overcoat violinist Liz Kay on Guitar, and guest Marshmallow vocalist Chris Clarke on bass.
Sutton joined The La's
The La's
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group is most famous for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1984 and Mavers joined soon after...
in August 1988 appearing in the music video for "There She Goes
There She Goes
"There She Goes" is a song written by British singer/guitarist Lee Mavers and recorded first by Mavers' band, The La's.In May 2007, the NME magazine placed the song at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.-Lyrics and meaning:...
" and left in July 1989 after 11 months at the conclusion of the aborted Mike Hedges
Mike Hedges
-Career:Mike Hedges started as a tape-op at Morgan Studios in London in the late 1970s. Having graduated to engineer, he went freelance in 1981 and became an engineer/producer....
recording sessions for The La's
The La's (album)
The La's, the self titled album by The La's, was the only studio release from the Liverpudlian four piece, released in 1990, but it earned them a place in the history books of British music and inspired a generation of bands, from Oasis and The Charlatans to Pete Doherty...
. TV and radio appearances followed, including Night Network in late 1988, Wide Awake Club in January 1989, The Late Show playing a cover of Buddy Holly's That'll Be The Day and a live broadcast of a Town & Country club from May 1989. He returned during a European tour in spring 1991, standing in for new dad Cammy, and again in 1992 in a short tour sponsored by Bacofoil.
1990s
Sutton briefly played with The StairsThe Stairs
The Stairs were an English rock band formed in Liverpool around 1990 by vocalist and bassist Edgar Summertyme, guitarist Ged Lynn and drummer Paul Maguire...
standing in for Ged Lynn for a couple of months in March 1991 and Cast
Cast (band)
Cast are an English rock band from Liverpool, formed in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split...
for one month in late 1992.
Froth (1990–93), with Lee Webster (bass) formerly of Walkingseeds was the band where Sutton first became interested in asymmetrical time signatures, with songs like 'Theme' in 5/4 based on a riff written by Webster, which has been a feature of his playing and writing ever since. The band supported The La's in late 1991 at The Picket in Liverpool and the Boardwalk in Manchester. Ian Weldon, later of The Real People joined on guitar in summer 1992. The band split up in late 1993.
Sutton started playing under the name Fabian Rothschilde in early 1994 (Froth's Childe).
Kung Fu (1995–2001) began with Webster, and featured Ren (later of Shack) on bass. Later, Stu MacDonald joined on bass, and Ged Lynn on lead guitar, using the moniker Chutney Regis. Phil Lucking was a key member on trumpet, and the band played original material and covered such diverse artists as PiL, Ornette Coleman and The 13th Floor Elevators. Sutton also co-wrote and performed on the Peter Coyle album Earthstate, recorded in 1995, and released in 2002.
2000s
Sutton fronted the short-lived Heavy Lemon (2002–03) with ex-La's Neil Mavers and Peter "Cammy" Camell. Sutton then went on to front the band Mirrorball (2005–08).Beatnik Hurricane formed in May 2011. Members are Stu MacDonald, bass (formerly of Kung Fu)and Matt Duffy, drums.
Associated acts
- Western Diplomats (1981–1983)
- Marshmallow Overcoat (1983–1987)
- Clive & Vera Of Heswall (1984)
- 573 Blowlamps (1984)
- WalkingseedsWalkingseedsWalkingseeds were an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England, formed after the Mel-o-Tones split up in 1986.-History:Frank Martin , Bob Parker , and John Neesam had previously worked together in the Mel-o-Tones, who released a mini-LP and an EP on Liverpool label Probe Plus...
(1986–1988) - The Goat People (1987-88)
- The La'sThe La'sThe La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group is most famous for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1984 and Mavers joined soon after...
(1988–1989) - Froth (1990–1993)
- The StairsThe StairsThe Stairs were an English rock band formed in Liverpool around 1990 by vocalist and bassist Edgar Summertyme, guitarist Ged Lynn and drummer Paul Maguire...
(1991) - CastCast (band)Cast are an English rock band from Liverpool, formed in 1992 by John Power and Peter Wilkinson after Power left The La's and Wilkinson's former band Shack had split...
(1992) - Smaller (1994-95)
- Kung Fu (1995–2001)
- Heavy Lemon (2002–2003)
- Mirrorball (2004–2008)
- Book (2008)
- Beatnik Hurricane (2011–present)
- Fabian Rothschilde (1994–present)
Session discography
- Marshmallow Overcoat – What's Going On EP (1985)
- WalkingseedsWalkingseedsWalkingseeds were an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England, formed after the Mel-o-Tones split up in 1986.-History:Frank Martin , Bob Parker , and John Neesam had previously worked together in the Mel-o-Tones, who released a mini-LP and an EP on Liverpool label Probe Plus...
– Know Too Much EP (1986) - Walkingseeds – "Marque Chapman"/"Blathering Out" single (1987)
- Walkingseeds – Skullfuck (1987)
- Walkingseeds – Upwind of Disaster, Downwind of Atonement (1989)
- SmallerSmallerSmaller were an alternative rock band from Liverpool, England, active during the 1990s. They had hits with "Wasted" and "Is" in 1996 and 1997.-History:...
– Badly, Badly (1997) - Peter Coyle – Earthstate (2002)
- The La'sThe La'sThe La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group is most famous for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1984 and Mavers joined soon after...
– BBC in Session (2006) - The La's – The La's: Deluxe Edition (2008)
- The La's – Callin' All (2010)