Bad Manners
are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald, enormous-bodied frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops
TV exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze
. [1]
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BAD MANNERS TICKETS
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Career
Fronted by
Buster Bloodvessel (born Douglas Trendle), the band was formed in 1976 while the members were together at Woodberry Down Comprehensive School near
Manor House,
North London. They were at their most popular during the early 1980s, during a period when other ska revival bands, such as
Madness and
The Specials and
The Selecter, filled the
charts. Bad Manners spent 111 weeks in the
UK Singles Chart between 1980 and 1983.
After becoming popular in their native London, Bad Manners signed to
Magnet Records in 1980 for a six figure sum, and became more well known. Some of their more notable
hits include "
My Girl Lollipop", "
Lip Up Fatty", "Ne Ne Na Na Na Na Nu Nu", "Lorraine", "Just A Feeling", "Walking In The Sunshine", "Can Can" and "Special Brew". One of the main reasons for their notoriety, was their outlandish huge-tongued and shaven-headed
frontman, Buster Bloodvessel. His manic exploits got them banned from the
British BBC TV chart
show Top of the Pops
.
[2] The band was also banned from
Italian TV after Buster
mooned a
concert audience, after being told that the
Pope was watching on TV.
[3]
Break-up and reformation
In 1987 Bad Manners went their separate ways, but Buster reformed the band with original members Louis Alphonso,
Martin Stewart and Winston Bazoomies a year later, after he licensed the Blue Beat Records name and
logo. He set up office in a 50ft
barge in the back garden of his former home in Spring Hill, London. He closed the
record label in 1990, and two years later moved back to
Stoke Newington. By the mid 1990s, a Third Wave ska revival renewed interest in the band, and they released a new album in America and Germany.
In 1995, Buster Bloodvessel moved to
Margate opening a
hotel on the seafront called "Fatty Towers", which catered for people with huge appetites. While living in Margate, Buster was a regular spectator at
Margate F.C. and Bad Manners sponsored the club for one season . "Fatty Towers" closed in 1998. It did not re-open after a facelift. The hotel sold meals like steak & mushroom pie sandwiches and mega sized English breakfasts. After its closure, Buster immediately moved back to London. As of 2009, he still performs with Bad Manners in venues all over the UK and
Europe. He is the only original member left in the band, but Winston Bazoomies is an 'honorary member' of the group, meaning he can rejoin Bad Manners at any stage he wishes to. The harmonica player currently lives in Hackney.
Louis Alphonso and Martin Stewart went on to play in Skaville UK, who released two
albums on Moon Ska World in the UK. Martin announced his retirement from the music business in January 2009, and lives in North London. David Farren now plays in
The Rolling Stones'
tribute band The Rollin Stoned, while Chris Kane is now a session musician. Brian Tuitt runs a
recording studio in
Surrey, and Andrew Marson now works as a carpenter in and around London. Paul Hyman lives in Enfield and he has often guested with his
trumpet with the ska band, Too Many Crooks.
Bad Manners headlined their own annual
music festival - 'Badfest' in 2005 and 2006. This festival featured ska,
mod-related music and
punk rock bands from the 1980s to the present.
On 12th May 2008, the Demon Music Group (via
Warner Bros.) released a 36 track best of
compilation album, entitled
Walking In The Sunshine: The Best of Bad Manners
, featuring all the bands hits plus album tracks and
b-sides from their heyday on Magnet Records.
[4] Bad Manners are currently
recording a new album.
Discography
Studio albums
- Ska 'n' B
(Magnet) 1980 UK # 34
- Loonee Tunes!
(Magnet) 1980 UK # 36
- Gosh It's... Bad Manners
(Magnet) 1981 UK # 18
- Forging Ahead
(Magnet) 1982 UK # 78
- Mental Notes
(Portrait) 1985
- Return of the Ugly
(Blue Beat) 1989
- Fat Sound
(Pork Pie) 1992
- Heavy Petting
(Moon) 1997
- Stupidity
(Bad Records) 2003
An album,
Eat The Beat
, was released in 1988. Only 1000 copies were printed, and sold to members of the Bad Manners Fan Club. Some of the tracks later appeared on
Return of the Ugly
in 1989.
[5]
Singles
| Title
| Released
| UK Singles Chart position
| Weeks spent in top 75 UK Singles Chart
|
| "Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu"
| February 1980
| 28
| 14
|
| "Lip Up Fatty"
| June 1980
| 15
| 14
|
| "Special Brew"
| September 1980
| 3
| 13
|
| "Lorraine"
| December 1980
| 21
| 12
|
| "Just a Feeling"
| March 1981
| 13
| 9
|
| "Can Can"
| June 1981
| 3
| 13
|
| "Walking in the Sunshine"
| September 1981
| 10
| 9
|
| "The R'n'B Party Four" (EP), lead track - "Buona Sera"
| November 1981
| 34
| 9
|
| "Got No Brains"
| May 1982
| 44
| 5
|
| "My Girl Lollipop (My Boy Lollipop)"
| July 1982
| 9
| 7
|
| "Samson and Delilah"
| October 1982
| 58
| 3
|
| "That'll Do Nicely"
| April 1983
| 49
| 3
|
| "Blue Summer"
| August 1985
| -
| -
|
| "What the Papers Say"
| December 1985
| -
| -
|
| "Tossin' in My Sleep"
| March 1986
| -
| -
|
| "Skaville UK"
| May 1989
| 87
| -
|
| "Gonna Get Along Without You Now"
| July 1989
| -
| -
|
| "Christmas Time Again"
| November 1989
| -
| -
|
| "Fatty's Back in Town E.P"
| September 1995
| -
| -
|
| "Millennium Knees Up"
| December 1999
| -
| -
|
Compilations and reissues
- Bad Manners
(MCA Records / U.S.) (1982)
- Klass
(MCA Records / U.S.) (1983)
- The Height of Bad Manners
(Telstar Records) (1983) UK # 23
- Can Can
(Hallmark Records / Ireland) (1986)
- Live And Loud
(Link Records) (1987)
- Return of The Ugly
(Relativity / U.S.) (1991)
- Return of The Ugly
(Elsoldun / France) (1992)
- Greatest Hits Live
(Dojo Records) (1993)
- Fatty Fatty
(Lagoon Records / France) (1993)
- Fat Sound
(Triple X Records / U.S.) (1993)
- Skinhead
(Lagoon Records / France) (1994)
- Inner London Violence Live
(Lagoon Records / France) (1994)
- This Is Ska
(Dojo Records) (1995)
- Return of The Ugly
(Dojo Records) (1995)
- Forging Ahead
(CD re-issue / Epic Records / U.S.) (1995)
- Rare
(T - Leaf Records) (1996)
- Lip Up Fatty
(Castle Records / U.S.) (1996)
- Can Can
(Tin Box CD) (Harry May Records) (1997)
- Anthology
(FGL / France) (1997)
- Don't Knock the Baldhead: Live
(Receiver Records) (1997)
- Return of The Ugly
(Triple X / U.S.) (1998)
- Viva La Ska Revolution
(1998) (Snapper)
- The Collection
(Cleopatra Records / America) (1998)
- Mental Notes
(CD re-issue / Captain Mod) (1999)
- This Is Ska !
(Moon Ska Europe) (1999)
- Eat The Beat
(Moon Ska Europe) (1999)
- Rare & Fatty
(re - issue / Moon Records / U.S.) (1999)
- The Singles Album
(Crash Records / Germany) (2000)
- Ska 'N B
(CD re-issue / DSS Records / Austria) (2000)
- Magnetism : The Best of Bad Manners
(Warner Music) (2000)
- The Best, The Baddest And The Ugliest
(Ceresco / France) (2000)
- Buster Bloodvessel's Bad Manners
(Time Music) (2000)
- Ska Party
(Platinum Records) (2000)
- Bad Manners
(GFS) (2000)
- Special Brew
(Harry May Records) (2000)
- Anthology
(Eagle) (2001)
- Best of Bad Manners Live
(Pegasus) (2002)
- Oi Our Greatest Hits
(Blitz) (2003)
- Bastards
(Culture Press) (2003)
- All Favourites
(Brilliant Records / Netherlands) (2003)
- Bad Manners 15 Years Jubilee Edition
- CD Box set (Pork Pie / Germany) (2004)
- Bad Manners Box Set Collection
(10 Themed Albums / Bad Records) (2004)
- Special Brew: The Platinum Collection
(Warner Platinum) (2005)
- Bad Manners Live!
(Crown) 2005
- Feel Like Jumping: Greatest Hits Live!
(Sanctuary Records) (2005)
- Can Can
(Digipak) (Snapper Music) (2006)
- Stupidity
(SOS Records) (U.S. edition) (2007)
- Walking In The Sunshine: The Best of Bad Manners
(Warner Music UK / Demon Music Group) (2008)
References
- Allmusic.com - biography by Chris Woodstra
- Tongue and groove with Buster...
- The Official Bad Manners Web Site
- Allmusic.com - album overview
- British Hit Singles & Albums