ESG (band)
Encyclopedia
ESG are a band that emerged from the South Bronx
, New York
, U.S.
in the early 1980's. Trouser Press
called it "one of the most dynamic bands that New York could offer at the top of the '80s." ESG have been influential across a wide range of musical genres, including hip hop
, post punk, disco
, and dance-punk
.
and issued a debut self-titled EP in 1981 that featured three live (recorded at Hurrah
) and three studio songs, the latter produced by English post-punk
producer Martin Hannett
(Joy Division
, etc.). 1982's ESG Says Dance to the Beat of the Moody EP continued in a similar vein, as did their first full-length album, 1983's Come Away with ESG
. ESG disbanded shortly thereafter, but re-formed in the early '90s, heralding their comeback with a self-titled 1991 compilation of previously released material. The group's work had become popular among hip-hop artists searching for samples
, with such acts as TLC
, the Wu-Tang Clan
, the Beastie Boys
, Big Daddy Kane
, Gang Starr
, Junior Mafia, Tricky
, Jay-Dee (J-Dilla) on his Donuts
album, and indie rock
ers like Unrest
and Liars
. The group addressed this issue on the 1992 12" EP Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills. The album, ESG Live!, was released in 1995 and featured both old and new material.
The band played their final show on Friday, September 21, 2007 at Chicago
's Abbey Pub, during the Estrojam festival.
grand jury
on charges of falsely claiming more than $13,000 in workers' compensation
payments. Scroggins, then working as a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
, told them that she suffered a shoulder injury in September 2006. In November 2006, Scroggins went on tour with ESG, where an MTA investigator filmed her playing "drums for an hour or more and on every song the band played, doing things very similar to actions she told her employers she could not perform," according to the Brooklyn DA's press release. Scroggins asserts that her injury is legitimate and that she could not safely drive a bus.
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1980's. Trouser Press
Trouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
called it "one of the most dynamic bands that New York could offer at the top of the '80s." ESG have been influential across a wide range of musical genres, including hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, post punk, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, and dance-punk
Dance-punk
Dance-punk is a music genre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the post-punk and No Wave movements.-Predecessors:...
.
History
The band originally consisted of the Scroggins sisters, Renee (vocals), Valerie (drums), Deborah (bass) and Marie (congas, vocals) and friend Tito Libran (congas, vocals). A later incarnation of the band consisted of Marie (congas, vocals), Renee (guitar, vocals), Valerie Scroggins (drums), David Miles (guitar) and Leroy Glover (bass), Chistelle Scroggins (vocals) and Nicole Scroggins (bass). ESG's music is centered around complex polyrhythms, a funky bass and pop-flavored guitar. During their first incarnation, the group signed with 99 Records99 Records
99 Records was an independent record label active from 1980-1984. 99 was run out of a record store with the same name, located at 99 MacDougal Street in New York City's Greenwich Village, and owned by Ed Bahlman...
and issued a debut self-titled EP in 1981 that featured three live (recorded at Hurrah
Hurrah (nightclub)
Hurrah was a nightclub located at 32 West 62nd Street in New York City from 1976 until 1980. Under the management of Jim Fouratt it became known as the first rock disco in New York, and pioneered the use of music videos in nightclubs, placing video monitors around the club, over a year before the...
) and three studio songs, the latter produced by English post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
producer Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett
Martin Hannett , sometimes credited as Martin Zero, was a record producer and an original partner in Factory Records with Tony Wilson...
(Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, etc.). 1982's ESG Says Dance to the Beat of the Moody EP continued in a similar vein, as did their first full-length album, 1983's Come Away with ESG
Come Away with ESG
Come Away with ESG is a 1983 album by rock band ESG. It was named the 84th greatest album of the 1980s by Pitchfork Media.- Track listing :* all songs written by ESG# "Come Away" - 3:15# "Dance" - 4:32# "Parking Lot Blues" - 2:53...
. ESG disbanded shortly thereafter, but re-formed in the early '90s, heralding their comeback with a self-titled 1991 compilation of previously released material. The group's work had become popular among hip-hop artists searching for samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, with such acts as TLC
TLC (band)
TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
, the Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
, the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
, Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
, Gang Starr
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
, Junior Mafia, Tricky
Tricky
Tricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...
, Jay-Dee (J-Dilla) on his Donuts
Donuts (album)
Donuts is an instrumental hip hop album by producer J Dilla. Donuts was released on February 7, 2006, his 32nd birthday, and only three days before his death...
album, and indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
ers like Unrest
Unrest (band)
Unrest is an indie rock band from the Washington, D.C. area. It was one of Mark Robinson's projects for what would eventually become the TeenBeat label, also created by Mark while in high school. Developing from an experimental approach of never playing the same song twice, earlier material seemed...
and Liars
Liars (band)
Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Angus Andrew , Aaron Hemphill , and Julian Gross...
. The group addressed this issue on the 1992 12" EP Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills. The album, ESG Live!, was released in 1995 and featured both old and new material.
The band played their final show on Friday, September 21, 2007 at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Abbey Pub, during the Estrojam festival.
Indictment of Valerie Scroggins
On May 9, 2007, ESG drummer Valerie Scroggins was indicted by a BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
on charges of falsely claiming more than $13,000 in workers' compensation
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
payments. Scroggins, then working as a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York)
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the U.S...
, told them that she suffered a shoulder injury in September 2006. In November 2006, Scroggins went on tour with ESG, where an MTA investigator filmed her playing "drums for an hour or more and on every song the band played, doing things very similar to actions she told her employers she could not perform," according to the Brooklyn DA's press release. Scroggins asserts that her injury is legitimate and that she could not safely drive a bus.
Albums
- 1983: Come Away with ESGCome Away with ESGCome Away with ESG is a 1983 album by rock band ESG. It was named the 84th greatest album of the 1980s by Pitchfork Media.- Track listing :* all songs written by ESG# "Come Away" - 3:15# "Dance" - 4:32# "Parking Lot Blues" - 2:53...
- 1991: ESG
- 2002: Step OffStep OffStep Off is a 2002 album by rock band ESG.-Track listing:* all songs written by Renee Scroggins and Valerie Scroggins#"Be Good To Me" - 3:54#"Talk It" - 3:58#"It's Not Me" - 3:55#"Six Pack" - 4:16#"Step Off" - 5:14#"Sensual Intentions" - 5:19...
- 2006: Keep on Moving
EPs
- 1981: ESG
- 1982: ESG Says Dance to the Beat of the Moody
- 1992: Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills
Compilations
- 2000: A South Bronx StoryA South Bronx StoryA South Bronx Story is a 2000 compilation album by rock band ESG.-Track listing:* all songs written by ESG#"You're No Good" – 3:12#"Moody" – 2:48#"UFO" – 2:56#"It's Alright" – 2:39#"Moody " – 4:18...
- 2007: A South Bronx Story 2 – Collector's edition: Rarities
- 2010: Dance to the Best of ESG
Appearance
- 2010: Renee Scroggins appears on Gaëtan RousselGaëtan RousselGaëtan Roussel is a French singer, songwriter and composer. Roussel is the former lead vocalist for the bands, Louise Attaque and Tarmac....
's 'GINGER' album - track 03- Si l'on comptait les étoiles.
- track 08- DYWD
External links
- ESG MySpace
- FAC 34 You're No Good
- [ ESG] on Allmusic
- "Drummer Snared in $13G MTA Scandal" from New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....