Demob (band)
Encyclopedia
1978-1983
Demob formed in late 1978 by guitarist Terry Elcock and drummer Johnny Melfah, and they were soon joined by Mike Howes (vocals), Tony Wakefield (bass) and Chris Rush (guitar). Howes ex-army skinheadSkinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
friend Andy Kanonik soon joined, also on vocals. It was this line-up that first rehearsed and played the first gigs in and around Gloucester, the Viking youth club becoming the main place of rehearsals and Tracy's night club was the first venue that Demob played in 1978, and became the local night club hangout for all the band and punks at that time. Elcock had previous experience on guitar as a member of a church band.
Demob's first big break came in the summer of 1979 when they fooled the authorities into letting them have a place in the Gloucester annual carnival parade. The ever increasing support for the band resulted in a mass riot between the punks and the bikers and, ultimately, the suspension of the carnival. The riot made national press and attracted the interest of the local record label, Round Ear Records.
In 1980, Howes was sacked from the band, and Kanonik was imprisoned for three months, leaving the band without a singer. The band had just recruited Mark "Miff" Smith to replace Rush, and he took over the role of singer, with Paul "Fatty" Price also replacing Wakefield on bass. Smith soon become an integral part, arranging and organizing gigs. With the line-up now comprising Mark Smith (vocals), Terry Elcock (guitar), Paul Price & Barry Philips (bass guitar), and Johnny Melfah (drums), the band worked on their first recordings. "Anti-Police" was Demob's first release on the independent Round Ear Records, the record supported by the late John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, and journalist Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Oi! band The Gonads and manages the New York City Oi! band Maninblack. Bushell's recurring themes are comedy, country and class...
. The record spent over two months in the UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
, peaking at number 34.
On the back of the success of "Anti-Police", Demob supported many acts around the punk circuit at this time, including U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, UK Subs
UK Subs
The U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the first street punk bands.-Career:The U.K...
, The Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock/Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. The band espoused an anti-fascist and socialist working class philosophy, and have been associated with the skinhead subculture...
, Discharge
Discharge (band)
Discharge is a British hardcore punk band formed in 1977 by Terry "Tezz" Roberts and Roy "Rainy" Wainwright. They are often considered among one of the very first bands to play hardcore punk, and to mix punk with metal...
and The Beat
The Beat (band)
The Beat are a 2 Tone ska revival band founded in England in 1978. Their songs fuse ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock, and their lyrics deal with themes of love, unity and sociopolitical topics....
. Most performances ended with a police presence and inevitable violence with their notorious hardcore followers, the Demob Riot Squad. The band's mult-racial line-up sometimes attracted hostility from Nazi skinheads who attended their gigs, and the band would play several concerts in aid of the Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
.
A second single, "No Room For You" quickly followed to add to the success, but unfortunately, like so many punk acts of the era, musical differences soon developed amongst the line up and Demob split to pursue other musical avenues in 1983.
Re-formation
Since 1983, some of the band members had gone on to other bands, while others had given up on music. Melfah had some success as a boxer and opened a boxing gym in Gloucester. Smith formed a new band called Garrison Damn. Elcock had played with several bands, including Kiss The BladeKiss the Blade
-External links:*http://www.combichrist.com/ - Combichrist official website*http://www.myspace.com/combichrist - Combichrist official myspace*http://www.outofline.de/ - Out of Line Records official website...
. Spurred on by interest from American label Grand Theft Audio in re-releasing the old material, in 2001 Elcock reformed Demob with a revised line-up to tour the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The revised line-up consisted of Terry Elcock (guitar), Andrew Kanonik (vocals), Richard Baldwin (bass), and Timothy Howkins (drums).
They were involved in recording * below. This line-up split, but in 2005, Elcock and Kanonik reformed the band again with Natalie Porter (bass) and Marcus Harley (drums), Porter soon replaced by the returning Baldwin, the band embarking on a worldwide tour.
In October 2007, the band split with Elcock leaving. Kanonik and Baldwin formed a new line-up which continued as Demob for one gig. Kanonik used various session musicians for a short while after. Elcock described them as a 'tribute act', pointing out that the band now contains none of the original Demob line-up. Kanonik and Harley went on to form the Noise Agents in 2009.
Discography
Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie ChartUK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
.
- "Anti Police" (1981) Round Ear Records 7" Vinyl (#34)
- "No Room For You" (1981) Round Ear Records 7" Vinyl (#28)
- Better Late Than Never (2002) Amber Records CD Album (1982 singles tracks plus new material)
- Contractual Obligations Grand Theft Audio CD Album *
- If It Ain't Punk It Don't Rock Amber Records CD Album *
- Live In Japan - Sanction Release Studios DVD *
- Crime Through Time Punk Records .com 33rpm Vinyl *
Further reading
- Robb, John (2006) "Punk Rock: An Oral History", Ebury Press, ISBN 978-0091905118