Apollinaires In Session – 1982 – Past Daily Soundbooth

Apollinaires – in session for John Peel – rec. July 7, 1982 – broadcast, August 25, 1982 – BBC Radio 1 –

Apollinaires to end the week. From their first (and only) session for John Peel, recorded on July 7, 1982 and broadcast August 25 and rebroadcast on September 21, 1982.

The Apollinaires were a British 2 Tone/post-punk group from Leicester, England, signed to 2 Tone Records.They formed in Leicester as a six-piece, composed of musicians from various local bands and students from the Leicester School of Art. Four members of the band had previously been in an industrial band named I Y A Volkswagens, which had released one single on Rough Trade Records called “Kill Myself”. After the demise of that band they reformed as The Volkswagens, and as their sound moved from post-punk to a more dance sound, they worked with members of another Leicester band called The Swinging Laurels as their horn section.

In 1982 the band signed to Coventry’s 2 Tone Records and changed their name to The Apollinaires, expanding to a ten-piece at the same time with the addition an in-house horn section. They recorded their first single, “The Feeling’s Gone” with Jerry Dammers, featuring vocals from Rhoda Dakar of The Bodysnatchers.

After this the band toured extensively in the UK with bands including The Higsons and The Beat, and also played concerts in France, recorded BBC Radio 1 sessions for John Peel and Kid Jensen, and released a second single entitled “Envy the Love”. Their TV appearances included Channel 4’s The Switch. They also released a third single in 1983 on a small Birmingham independent label entitled “Put People First”. Eventually, however, the band split up due to the difficulties of co-ordinating their large number of members.

In case you missed them the first time around – here’s your chance to listen to what you missed. Two-Tone Funk at its best – I suggest you crank this one up and prepare to dance your ass off.  Just sayin’ . . .

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