The Primitives In session for Andy Kershaw – June 18, 1986 – BBC Radio 1 –
The Primitives in session for Andy Kershaw at BBC Radio 1 tonight – broadcast on June 18, 1986.
The Primitives are an English indie pop band from Coventry, best known for their 1988 international hit single “Crash”. Formed in 1984, disbanded in 1992 and reformed in 2009, the band’s two constant members throughout their recording career have been vocalist Tracy Tracy and guitarist Paul Court. Drummer Tig Williams has been a constant member since 1987 and the reformed line-up is completed by bassist Raph Moore. Often described as an indie pop or indie rock band, The Primitives’ musical style can also be seen as straddling power pop, new wave and post-punk.
The Primitives were formed in the summer of 1984 by PJ Court (born Paul James Court) (vocals, guitar), Steve Dullaghan (born Stephen Anthony Dullaghan, ex-Nocturnal Babies) (bass), Peter Tweedie (drums) and Keiron McDermott, ex-Nocturnal Babies (vocals). Vocalist McDermott was later replaced by Tracy Tracy (born Tracy Louise Cattell).Tig Williams replaced Pete Tweedie on drums in October 1987.
According to legend, which seems to be true, McDermott left the band claiming that he could not work with new manager Wayne Morris and so reformed the Nocturnal Babies.<4> Needing a singer for an upcoming gig, Paul went with a strategy which was most likely to succeed: on a piece of scrap paper he wrote “male singer wanted” and posted it at the Coventry library. That afternoon there was a knock at his door, Tracy was responding to the ad. The rest is history.
The band were part of the indie music scene of the mid-1980s alongside bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, The Soup Dragons and The Wedding Present. Their major rivals within the ‘blonde pop’ scene were Transvision Vamp and The Darling Buds. They received valuable publicity when The Smiths singer Morrissey was photographed wearing a Primitives t-shirt.
The band’s early singles were released on their own Lazy Records imprint. In late 1987, they signed the label over to RCA, who released the band’s material from then until their split. Their first album, Lovely (1988) reached No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart, and produced two Top 40 hit singles: “Crash” (UK No. 5, US Modern Rock No. 3) and “Out of Reach” . “Way Behind Me” was released as a single soon after, and was included on later versions of the debut album, as well as on the follow-up. Towards the end of 1988, the band had a sell-out tour of the UK, climaxing in two nights at London’s Town & Country Club.
The band’s second album Pure (1989) was preceded by three singles – “Way Behind Me” (UK No. 36, US Modern Rock No. 8), “Sick of It” (UK No. 24, US Modern Rock No. 9) and “Secrets”, (UK No. 49, US Modern Rock No. 12).
In 1990, the band did a co-headlining tour of the USA with The Sugarcubes as well as a short tour of Japan.[3] They split in 1992 following the commercial failure of their 1991 album, Galore.
Hit the play button and crank it up – Tomorrow is Friday and you really shouldn’t care what the neighbors think.
