Medway scene is a term denoting bands and related cultural activities in the Medway Towns, north Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England. Main towns involved (from west to east in terms of geographical position) are Strood

Strood

Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....

, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham

Gillingham, Kent

Gillingham is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Rainham, Rainham Mark and Twydall....

, and Rainham.

History

Of the Medway groups, the best-known musician is Billy Childish

Billy Childish

Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...

 (from Chatham) who started with the band The Pop Rivets in the late 1970s. The music draws heavily on the tradition of garage/punk/rock'n roll/raw-blues-music from the 1950s and 1960s. His inspiration has led to many other bands forming, and they now have a worldwide cult following. Records have been released on Big Beat records, Media Burn and other small indie labels, as well as Childish's own Hangman records.

There has also been an accompanying, though not so well known, poetry scene, started by The Medway Poets

The Medway Poets

The Medway Poets were founded in Medway, North Kent in 1979. They were an English punk based poetry performance group and later formed the core of the first Stuckists Art Group. The members were Miriam Carney, Billy Childish, Rob Earl, Bill Lewis, Sexton Ming and Charles Thomson...

 also in the late 1970s. Childish was a member of this group. There is also a crossover into art with the Stuckists

Stuckism

Stuckism is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art...

 art group.

One of the longest established bands of the Rock/Blues genre is Dirtie Bertie, who advertise themselves as "Maximum Boogie", featuring one of the longest (still playing over 40 years) guitarist's Barry Archer known for his blues based lead and slide guitar playing. They have been playing for over 28 years probably a record for bands in Medway and still pack venue's wherever they play.

Bands

This list is incomplete

• All Flags Burn
• All the Flesh
• Alvin Purple
  Alvin Purple (band)
  Alvin Purple are an English Indie Rock band based in York and Leeds, UK. The band currently consists of Carly Humphries , Luke Barnfather , Ralph Sayers and Matthew Bradley ....
  
  
• The Ambience
• Andy Pandys
• Armitage Shanks
• Balance Lost
• Between the Eyes
• Blind Lemon Pie
• Bluevoid
• Brahma Bums
• The Bresslaws
• Brigadier Ambrose
  Brigadier Ambrose
  Brigadier Ambrose are an alternative pop band from Chatham, England. After releasing a series of digital only singles, the band released their debut album Fuzzo on CD in early 2010 through their own Brigadier Records...
  
  
• The Bristols
• The Buff Medways
• Carpetburn
• Cerulean Echoes
• The Claim
  The Claim (band)
  The Claim were a British band from Cliffe, Kent, England.-Biography:They formed around 1980, as part of an independent scene around the nearby Medway Valley towns of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham and influenced by classic acts such as The Kinks, The Jam, The Clash and The Smiths...
  
  
• The Clockwork Spiders
• Crystal Tips & Alastair
• The Deccas
  The Deccas
  The Deccas are a guitar based band formed in 2007 in the Medway Delta.The Deccas have played many gigs in and around Medway and London and have been described as short, sharp songsmiths with a specific style of spiky power pop that has become synonymous with the Medway scene for many years.-Ways...
  
  
• The Delmonas
• The Dentists
  The Dentists
  The Dentists were an indie/pop band from the Medway towns in England who were active from 1984 to 1995. The band's permanent members were Mick Murphy , Bob Collins and Mark Matthews . The band also had three different drummers: Ian Smith , Alun Jones and Rob Grigg...
  
  
• Dirtie Bertie
• The Drunken Popes
• The Earls of Suave
• The Effectives
• Envy
• The Flowing
• Fortune West
• The Germans
• Gin
• Groovy Uncle
• Thee Headcoatees
  Thee Headcoatees
  Thee Headcoatees is a band that was formed in the Medway Garage Scene in north Kent, England in 1991. The members of this all girl band were Holly Golightly, Kyra LaRubia, Ludella Black and "Bongo" Debbie Green.-Formation:...
  
  
• Thee Headcoats
  Thee Headcoats
  Thee Headcoats 1989 - 2000, was a band comprising Billy Childish, Bruce Brand, and Johnny Johnson. Childish was featured on guitar and vocals, Brand on drums and backing vocals, and Johnson on bass. The band was the most prolific of Childish's many musical projects, releasing fourteen full...
  
  
• Heaven Sent
• The Herbs
• The Hiding Place
• Jack Gedge
• The James Taylor Quartet
• Len Bright Combo
• The Len Price 3
• Let Our Enemies Beware
• The Long Weekend
• The Love Family
• The Lovedays
• The Masonics
• Men from Memphis
• Thee Mighty Caesars
  Thee Mighty Caesars
  Thee Mighty Caesars were a primitive garage punk group, formed by Billy Childish in 1985 after the demise of The Milkshakes. They influenced many American bands, especially The Mummies, and Sub Pop groups...
  
  
• The Milkshakes
• Millions of Brazilians
• Needs Must
• The New
• Niltones
• Nutty Gig
• The Offbeats
• On Margate Sands
• Phineas Fogg
• Planet Mushroom
• The Pop Rivets
• Power in Motion
• The Prime Movers
• The Prisoners
  The Prisoners
  The Prisoners were a band who formed in 1980 in Rochester, Kent, England. Their 1960s garage sound made them a regular live fixture in London's underground "psychedelic revival" and "mod revival" scene of the early 1980s. They often toured with The Milkshakes, who included Billy Childish on guitar...
  
  
• Quad Riot
• The Reg Varney Trio
• Robert Underwater
• Rockin' Richard and Whistlin' Vic
• The Round
• Science Noodles
• Second Sun
• Sergeants' Mess
• The Solarflares
• Sparrows
• Stabilisers
• The Stormkings
• The Strookas
• Swinging Time
• Sworn to Secrecy
• Theatre Royal
• Timmy & The Tremolos
• Tollervey and the Terminators
• The Tour
• Underground Heroes
• Univited Guests
• Unknown Impulse
• UpCDownCLeftCRightCABC+Start
• The Wild
• Wipeout
• Ye Ascoynes D'Ascoynes

Musicians

This list is incomplete

• Mark Wrangham
• Simon Bunyan
• Timmy Tremolo
• Billy Childish
  Billy Childish
  Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
  
  
• Bruce Brand
• Micky Hampshire
• Holly Golightly
  Holly Golightly
  Holly Golightly is a British singer-songwriter. Her mother christened her after the protagonist in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Her musical style ranges from garage rock to R&B.-Musical career:...
  
  
• Graham Day
• Stuart Turner
  Stuart Turner (musician)
  Stuart Turner is an English alternative blues singer. He now lives in Medway, Kent. Having formed a band and signed with the independent record label, Brigadier Records, Stuart Turner & The Flat Earth Society released the album Gin & Bitters in July 2010.-Sun Pier and early performances:Though...
  
  
• Alan Crockford
• Ludella Black
• Jon Hart
• Tim Matthews
  Tim Matthews
  Tim Matthews is a British actor who began his career in Fuente Ovejuna at the National Theatre in London and after several other stage jobs found his first television appearance in a supporting role in the premiere episode of Five Children and It in 1991.From 2001 till 2007 he played the role of...
  
  
• Andy McLane
• Martin Brown
• Wolf Howard
  Wolf Howard
  Wolf Howard is an English artist, poet and filmmaker living in Chatham, Kent and was a founder member of the Stuckists art group...
  
  
• Kyra De Coninck
• Dan Melchior
  Dan Melchior
  Dan Melchior is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who grew up in Shepperton, Surrey, , England and is often labeled a 'garage rock' musician....
  
  
• Mick Murphy
• Bob Collins
  Bob Collins
  Bob Collins was the morning man for WGN-720AM radio in Chicago. His show was the top rated morning show for WGN and kept the station at the top of the ratings. His show featured various conversation as well as some music...
  
  
• Mark Matthews
  Mark Matthews
  Mark Matthews was an American veteran of the Second World War and a Buffalo Soldier. Born in Alabama and growing up in Ohio, Matthews joined the 10th Cavalry Regiment when he was only 15 years old, after having been recruited at a Lexington, Kentucky racetrack and having documents forged so that...
  
  
• Ian Smith
  Ian Smith
  Ian Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
  
  
• Alun Jones
  Alun Jones
  Alun Jones may refer to:*Alun Jones , also known as "Alun Cilie"*Alun Jones *Alun Jones , Welsh writer*Al Jones, born Alun Jones, UK folk-rock musician*Alun Jones, Baron Chalfont , British politician...
  
  
• Rob Grigg
• Mark Reid
  Mark Reid
  Mark Reid is a Scottish retired professional footballer who played as a left back. Reid made nearly 400 appearances in the Scottish and English Football Leagues between 1980 and 1993.-Career:...
  
  
• Pete Baker
• Steve Kidney
• Terry Crowdy
• Lupen Crook
  Lupen Crook
  Lupen Crook is an English musician and songwriter who records either solo or with his backing band The Murderbirds.-Style:...
  
  
• Ben Jones
  Ben Jones
  Ben Jones may refer to:*Ben Jones , British actor*Ben Jones , British radio DJ*Ben Jones , Welsh soccer player*Ben Jones , English soccer player...
  
  
• Glenn Prangnell
• Nick Jones
• Daniel Lawrence
• Oli Burgess
• Jon Gibbs
• Robbie Wilkinson
• Brendan Esmonde
• Paul Peacock
• Nato Coombs
• David Goggin
• Brad Harmer
• Kid Harpoon
  Kid Harpoon
  Kid Harpoon is an English singer-songwriter and musician.- Career :Originally hailing from Chatham, Kid Harpoon began to play live locally at venues such as The Tap & Tin and Command House...
  
  
• Clayton Boothroyd
• Andy Harding
• Gavin Davies
• Simon Phillpotts
• Paul Fox
  Paul Fox
  Sir Paul Leonard Fox, CBE, is a British television executive, who spent much of his broadcasting career working for BBC Television, most prominently as the Controller of BBC One between 1967 and 1973.-Early life:...
  
  
• Tony Bailey
• Rene Petrovic
• Ian Snowball
• Glenn Prangnell
• Peter Jordan
  Peter Jordan
  Peter Jordan is best known for the work series It's a Living, which aired on CBC Television from 1989 to 2003.Peter was also a regular contributor to CBWT's 24Hours LateNight program in the 1980s....
  
  
• Michael aka Mike Squire
• Rick Dougall
• Phil Dillon
• Andy Webber
• Graham Day
  Graham Day
  Sir Judson Graham Day ONS is a Canadian and British business executive, lawyer and corporate director who lives in Hantsport, Nova Scotia....
  
  
• Rowlandblue Ray
• Miles Crowley
• Trevor Draper
• Steve Terry
• Paolo Bacci

External links

• Maker official site
• Ban the mind reader
• The Bluesmothers