Medium Medium
Encyclopedia
Medium Medium were a post-punk
band from Nottingham
, England, initially active between 1978 and 1983.
/rhythm & blues band The Press, Medium Medium's debut single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in 1980 to place in the UK Independent Chart. The second single, "Hungry, So Angry," was released in February 1981 on Cherry Red Records. One of the first records to introduce slap-bass - a technique borrowed from black funk music - to a generally white audience, "Hungry, So Angry" reached the #48 spot in Billboard
's Disco chart and has appeared on over a dozen compilations over the years.
The band released one studio album, late-1981's The Glitterhouse, and its stark, stripped-down dub and dance rhythms and chiming, funk guitar with occasional saxophone and other sounds failed to ignite a large following.
Lead singer/sax player John Rees Lewis left at the start of 1982 to form C Cat Trance
with original drummer Nigel Stone, who had left shortly before the release of "Hungry, So Angry". The remaining members, Andy Ryder (guitar/vocals), Alan Turton (bass), Graham Spink (offstage special sounds) and replacement drummer Steve Harvey, continued to tour and were later augmented by, first, Leslie Joachim Barrett (guitar/keyboards), then Julie Wood (keyboards). Forays into a fuller, more produced sound failed to garner the band a new record deal and Medium Medium split up in late 1983.
Inspired by a Cherry Red retrospective CD release in 2001 and the subsequent dance-punk
revival, Medium Medium reformed in late 2004 for several live shows, including a showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York. No longer a full-time venture, the band has stated plans to continue to write, record and perform.
In 2010 Medium Medium released a Split-LP with Kommissar Hjuler
on the German label Der Schoene-Hjuler-Memorial-Fond containings tracks from their concert at Part Time Punks Festival USA, followed by a second Split-LP in 2011.
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...
band from Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, England, initially active between 1978 and 1983.
History
Emerging in 1978 out of Nottingham punkPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
/rhythm & blues band The Press, Medium Medium's debut single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in 1980 to place in the UK Independent Chart. The second single, "Hungry, So Angry," was released in February 1981 on Cherry Red Records. One of the first records to introduce slap-bass - a technique borrowed from black funk music - to a generally white audience, "Hungry, So Angry" reached the #48 spot in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Disco chart and has appeared on over a dozen compilations over the years.
The band released one studio album, late-1981's The Glitterhouse, and its stark, stripped-down dub and dance rhythms and chiming, funk guitar with occasional saxophone and other sounds failed to ignite a large following.
Lead singer/sax player John Rees Lewis left at the start of 1982 to form C Cat Trance
C Cat Trance
C Cat Trance were a post-punk band from Nottingham, England, formed by John Rees Lewis after his departure from Medium Medium. They released five albums before splitting up in the mid-1990s.-History:...
with original drummer Nigel Stone, who had left shortly before the release of "Hungry, So Angry". The remaining members, Andy Ryder (guitar/vocals), Alan Turton (bass), Graham Spink (offstage special sounds) and replacement drummer Steve Harvey, continued to tour and were later augmented by, first, Leslie Joachim Barrett (guitar/keyboards), then Julie Wood (keyboards). Forays into a fuller, more produced sound failed to garner the band a new record deal and Medium Medium split up in late 1983.
Inspired by a Cherry Red retrospective CD release in 2001 and the subsequent 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:...
revival, Medium Medium reformed in late 2004 for several live shows, including a showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York. No longer a full-time venture, the band has stated plans to continue to write, record and perform.
In 2010 Medium Medium released a Split-LP with Kommissar Hjuler
Kommissar Hjuler
Kommissar Hjuler works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist and film maker at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together with his wife Mama Baer as Kommissar Hjuler und Frau. As self-taught artist he began making...
on the German label Der Schoene-Hjuler-Memorial-Fond containings tracks from their concert at Part Time Punks Festival USA, followed by a second Split-LP in 2011.
Albums
- The Glitterhouse (1981), Cherry RedCherry RedCherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978.-History:Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens...
- Live in Holland (1988), Trance
- Hungry, So Angry (2001), Cherry Red - compilation
- Fluxus and Funk (2010), Split-LP with Kommissar HjulerKommissar HjulerKommissar Hjuler works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist and film maker at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together with his wife Mama Baer as Kommissar Hjuler und Frau. As self-taught artist he began making...
on (SHMF) - Fluxus and Funk 2 (2011), Split-LP with Kommissar HjulerKommissar HjulerKommissar Hjuler works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist and film maker at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together with his wife Mama Baer as Kommissar Hjuler und Frau. As self-taught artist he began making...
on (SHMF) with cover art by Clayton PattersonClayton PattersonClayton Patterson is a Canadian-born artist, photographer, videographer, and folk historian. Since moving to New York City in 1979, his work has focused almost exclusively on documenting the art, life and times of the Lower East Side in Manhattan.-Early life:Before moving to New York City in...
Singles
- "Them or Me" (1978), Apt - UK Indie #42
- "Hungry, So Angry" (1981), Cherry Red - 7-inch single
- "Hungry, So Angry" (1981), Cherry Red - 12-inch single, released six months later
- "If You Touched Her She'd Smear" (1982), Intercord
- "Splendid Isolation" (1982), Intercord
External links
- www.mediummedium.com Official site
- Cherry Red Records Hungry, So Angry
- http://www.asylum-lunaticum.de/ Split-LP with Kommissar HjulerKommissar HjulerKommissar Hjuler works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist and film maker at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together with his wife Mama Baer as Kommissar Hjuler und Frau. As self-taught artist he began making...
Video
- PUNKCAST#593 live @ Knitting FactoryKnitting FactoryThe Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
NYC on 16 October 2004. (RealplayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
)