Biography of 25 band

As a result After Image became their first song released in vinyl, appearing on Hicks from the Sticks, a compilation issued on the Rockburgh label. Heat, Modern Eon and Music for Pleasure. Thanks to the Factory connection After Image was cut with in-house producer Martin Hannett, and earned the band a favourable notice from Kevin Fitzgerald in NME: "With the exception of Section 25, virtually none of the bands on this album actually appear to want to move out of indie chart obscurity After Image boasts the loudest rhythm section on the album, which overshadows the glum bawlings of the vocals, and for once the bassline isn't straight off the robotic rhythms production line Section 25 appear to have some idea of what they're doing, and more to the point, why they're doing it.

Sadly, this initial burst of enthusiasm from the fourth estate proved short-lived, as we shall see. Although Section 25 had yet to biography of 25 band a record on the label, Factory's limitless critical kudos and close relationship biography of 25 band London booking agencies such as Final Solution ensured that the band received a healthy degree of live exposure during late and early As well as supporting Joy Division at many of their later British dates, the eager trio also travelled back and forth to London to open for acts as diverse as Toyah, Classix Nouveaux and The Cure, as well as playing two dates in Scotland with Talking Heads on their Fear of Music tour in November Together with Joy Division and a cast of thousands, the group also performed with The Stranglers at the Rainbow in Novemberat the second of two gigs which marked the incarceration of Hugh Cornwall in Pentonville prison.

Although the music is rolling, the vocals are harsh and packed with false anger. The overall effect is unattractive and abrasive, although given time Section 27 should smooth out their rough edges and begin to sound clean and powerful. They do show a considerable strength of character which should be channelled directly into the song themes, and not wasted by their present over-zealous vocal stance.

Section 25 also appeared at the Moonlight Club in London on the first of three Factory nights in Aprilin effect media showcases for the national music press. Sharing a first-night bill with Crawling Chaos and The Royal Family and the Poor and following an unannounced appearance by Joy Divisionthe band stood little chance of winning over their audience.

The small, austere bass player orated doomed and distant vocals over angular riffs and thrashing guitar chords. My ears politely refused to accept any more and I wasn't alone in heading for the tube. Back home, the press were scarcely kinder when the band played at the Scala Cinema later that month, in company with Ratio, Durutti Column, Blurt and Kevin Hewick.

For Chris Bohn: "Section 25 are the sort of band that work well in theory but are less interesting to actually listen to. Their austerely wrought rhythms are minimally embellished by a guitarist more interested in sound than conventional technique, and their bass-playing singer intones monotonous mainly one-line songs with only slight variations.

The record was housed in a novel tracing paper sleeve designed by Peter Saville and Ben Kelly, and assembled in a workshop for the deaf. Curiously this powerful single also attracted several negative reviews:. Manchester lads, they make that wonderfully old-fashioned sound which relies on synths for synths sake. They probably watched too much Tomorrow's World as kids and sincerely wanted to be Raymond Baxter.

Most points for the sleeve - an intriguing concoction of architect's drawing paper and bright coloured ink. Maybe they should sell it without the contents. Stark reality, and buzzes and blips with Tony Wilson and other things to turn you off. Others drew unfavourable comparisons with Public Image Limited. One can only wonder how different things might have been had Dirty Disco been biography of 25 band as the first single, and released with greater speed by Factory.

The group had, after all, been playing this driving, Krautrock-y dance track as early as July If they have any similarity problems it is with Public Image and Public Image alone. The b-side of their new single is unfortunately reminiscent of certain aspects of Metal Box; unfortunate for them since it was recorded at Cargo Rochdale in September '79, and Metal Box was [released] in November ' A more melodic vocal pattern, and a different approach to the guitar drone overdubs between Levine and Section 25 nevertheless allow Section 25 ample creativity space in which to work.

They remain more original than 99 per cent of other bands per cent of other London bandsand certainly they don't sound anything like the two to which they are belied by false compare. Choosing to remain in Blackpool condemned the group to splendid isolation. Comfort, albeit of a cold kind, would later be provided by Fall frontman Mark E. Smith, musing on the relative merits of seaside resorts his book Renegade.

There's no cultural elitism there, thank fuck. They've got some smashing fish and chip shops as well. It gets a lot of stick for some reason. I think it's because it knows what it is - it's not striving to ape elsewhere. I like places that know themselves. Not like Brighton In December FAC 18 was sensibly re-pressed in 12" format, with improved sound quality.

The new edition appeared in a trio of different sleeves all 'horrendous' in the opinion of Wilsoneach graced with a photograph of three different girls: Angela Cassidy, Jenny Ross and Julie Waddington. Angela later to join the band herself was the brothers' sister, while Jenny and Julie were girlfriends to Larry and Paul respectively.

Even with their single finally available, the London press remained largely hostile to Section For Sounds, Nick Tester complained: "Whatever happened to serious fun? The stint of closet austerity was opened by Section 25, whose droning rhythms are obsessively relentless. A bassist faces the drummer while a guitarist, standing sideways, defaces both with occasionally reckless stabs of rusty treble.

It's no comforting mixture, but neither is it as confrontational as they think. They suffer from a massive overdose of PiL and are dryly uninspiring. The chances they take are limited. In truth, early live performances by Section 25 inclined toward the static and austere, and with few records available to counteract a generally negative press, Section 25's relative ubiquity on the gig circuit in was perhaps both a blessing and a curse.

Furthermore the late Ian Curtis was no longer around to set about hecklers and critics with his fists, as at a Factory New Year's Eve party in Nevertheless, a turnaround of sorts began that summer with two new tracks that marked the group's first substantial collaboration with Martin Hannett. Again recorded at Cargo, Charnel Ground and Haunted were two of the best tracks in the early Section 25 repertoire, and thanks to Hannett's production marked a significant progression from FAC Rather than appearing on Factory proper, or holding the tracks back for the first album, the single appeared in October as the third release on a new imprint, Factory Benelux.

Despite such enticements, reviews were still negative, with NME again damning: "More horror flick soundtracks. Remember those toys with a green luminous skeletal hand reaching from a tin coffin to grab your money? I'm sure Martin Hannett doesn't know what 'holiday' means. There's a good package tour to Transylvania, Martin. An insightful essay by Larry Cassidy written on his return to Blackpool is included in the sleevenotes to the CD release of Always Now.

Hurst moved his eight-track recording equipment into the band's Blackpool warehouse facility SSRU aka Singleton Street Rehearsal Unitand would play a decisive role in shaping their sound over the next two years. Now the band set about perfecting material for their first album. We thought we needed an extra track for the album as well!

Martin was really into the idea so he joined in and played some synth on a Korg keyboard he used to bring to the sessions. He always exercised full options to heavily treat our sound, but on this track he pushed the boat even further out and was much more involved, hence the use of 'collective' to include him. I wish I had a tape of that.

As released, Always Now presented more as an art installation than a conventional album, thanks to Larry's background as a sculptor, and some lavish Peter Saville packaging. Constructed in the form of a waxed card pochette, and with a marbled interior printed under licence from a French supplier in Rouen, the album boasted one of the finest and costly sleeves in industry history.

As if this extravagance were not enough, photographic prints were also mooted, and triple-fold poster inserts actually produced, only to be abandoned. The record eventually appeared in August and quickly sold its initial run of 10, despite a dearth of reviews in the UK. However, the high cost of the packaging meant that what was actually a strong-selling independent album took some time to recoup its costs.

Factory adds it on to the expense of the album, and you don't get any money until you've gone past that mark. He managed to drape exactly the right little wrapping of echoes around the few unsteady, doubtful notes which the group produced. Section 25 always had something paper-thin about it - a sound, or rather an absence of sound, giving the impression that the slightest breeze would blow it away.

While this may be true of certain slender, improvised tracks such as Inside Out and C. I think their associations took control of them and they said: 'oh - gloomy, Joy Division-like' etc. Don't get us wrong, we enjoyed working with Martin at the time. It was a great, big studio in London and that. But if the producer is finally not on the same level as yourself, it won't work as it should With a North American tour already planned, his fear of flying made his departure inevitable.

Factory label boss Tony Wilson then tried and failed to recruit then-unknown guitarist Johnny Marr as a replacement. Abandoning much of the existing live set, the Cassidy brothers prepared for an upcoming European tour with backing tapes and an extra percussionist John Grice. The band then undertook their first North American tour, albeit restricted to the East Coast.

Joined by percussionist Lee Shallcross, Section 25 gradually evolved with a more electronic-dance direction, a process which culminated in the album From the Hip and remix single "Looking From A Hilltop", both released in and produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order. The five-piece completed a lengthy second tour of North America in Januarywhere the single "Looking From A Hilltop" achieved a measure of club success.

Bad News Week was also released as a 12" single, remixed by Bernard Sumner. There have also been several live and rarity CDs released by the same label. In the band regrouped and started composing new material. It was originally expected that this would form the basis for a new album, but these plans were derailed when Jenny Ross, after a long fight with cancerdied on 20 November at age Now with Ian Butterworth formerly of fellow Factory act Tunnelvison on guitar and Roger Wikeley on bass and keyboards, the Cassidy brothers performed their first live show in nearly two decades at their hometown Poulton-Le-Fylde in May followed by dates in Blackpool, Paris, Brussels, Leicester, London and Athens.

Larry and Vin Cassidy also featured in the Factory documentary film Shadowplayersand a BBC television documentary on the label. It was then proposed that Hook and Section 25 play further shows together, performing a mixture of Section 25, Joy Division and New Order songs. Roger Wikeley left Section 25 in and was replaced by Stephen Stringer.

Stephen Stringer moved on to guitar and Section 25's sound engineer and programmer Stuart Hill moved on to bass guitar. Both were no strangers to Larry and Vin, who had helped them record demos in and Several tracks featured vocals by Bethany Cassidy, daughter of Larry and Jenny, who joined the group as co-vocalist and keyboards player.

On 27 Februaryit was announced that founding member, singer, and bass player for the group, Larry Cassidy, had died at the age of Prior to Larry Cassidy's death, the band had completed work on a new album, Retrofitwhich was released on 14 September This was recorded in January and would be Larry's last visit to a recording studio. The band opted to continue to perform with their current line up.

June saw a deluxe vinyl reissue of From the Hip Fact 90issued as a special edition on Factory Records with 'remixed' artwork by Peter Savilleas well as a split coloured-vinyl 12" with Stereograph featuring two dub versions of "Colour Movement Sex and Violence" and "Inner Drive". Back home, the press were scarcely kinder when the band played at the Scala Cinema later that month, in company with Ratio, Durutti Column, Blurt and Kevin Hewick.

The record was housed in a novel tracing paper sleeve designed by Peter Saville and Ben Kelly, and assembled in a workshop for the deaf. Curiously this powerful single was not well received, attracting negative and inaccurate reviews:. Count me out. Manchester lads, they make that wonderfully old-fashioned sound which relies on synths for synths sake.

They probably watched too much Tomorrow's World as kids and sincerely wanted to be Raymond Baxter. Most points for the sleeve - an intriguing concoction of architect's drawing paper and bright coloured ink. Maybe they should sell it without the contents. Stark reality, and buzzes and blips with Tony Wilson and other things to turn you off. Others drew unfavourable comparisons with Public Image Limited.

One can only wonder how different things might have been had Dirty Disco been chosen as the first single, and released with greater speed by Factory, since the group had been playing this driving, Krautrock-y dance track as early as July If they have any similarity problems it is with Public Image and Public Image alone. The b-side of their new single is unfortunately reminiscent of certain aspects of Metal Box; unfortunate for them since it was recorded at Cargo Rochdale in September '79, and Metal Box was [released] in November ' A more melodic vocal pattern, and a different approach to the guitar drone overdubs between Levine and Section 25 nevertheless allow Section 25 ample creativity space in which to work.

They remain more original than 99 per cent of other bands per cent of other London bandsand certainly they don't sound anything like the two to which they are belied by false compare. Only in December was FAC 18 sensibly re-pressed in 12" format, with improved sound quality. The new edition appeared in a trio of different sleeves all 'horrendous' in the opinion of Wilsoneach graced with a photograph of three different girls: Angela Cassidy, Jenny Ross and Julie Waddington.

Angela later to join the band herself was the brothers' sister, while Jenny and Julie were girlfriends to Larry and Paul respectively. Even with their single finally available, the London press remained largely hostile to Section For SoundsNick Tester complained: "Whatever happened to serious fun? The stint of closet austerity was opened by Section 25, whose droning rhythms are obsessively relentless.

A bassist faces the drummer while a guitarist, standing sideways, defaces both with occasionally reckless stabs of rusty treble. It's no comforting mixture, but neither is it as confrontational as they think. They suffer from a massive overdose of PiL and are dryly uninspiring. The chances they take are limited. In truth, early live performances by Section 25 tended to be static and austere, and with few records available to counteract a generally negative press, Section 25's relative ubiquity in was perhaps both a blessing and a curse.

Furthermore the late Ian Curtis was no longer around to set about hecklers and critics with his fists, as at a Factory New Year party in Nevertheless, the turnaround began that summer with two new tracks which marked the group's first substantial collaboration with producer Martin Hannett. Again recorded at Cargo, Charnel Ground and Haunted remain two of the finest tracks in the early Section 25 repertoire, and thanks largely to Hannett marked a significant progression from FAC Rather than appearing on Factory proper, or holding the tracks back for the first album, the single appeared in October as the third release on a new venture, Factory Benelux.

Besides which, in a foreign release on a label based in Brussels afforded a certain aspirational cachet. Despite such intrigues, reviews still tended to be negative, with NME again damning: "More horror flick soundtracks. Remember those toys with a green luminous skeletal hand reaching from a tin coffin to grab your money? I'm sure Martin Hannett doesn't know what 'holiday' means.

There's a good package tour to Transylvania, Martin. An insightful essay by Larry Cassidy written on his return to Blackpool is included in the sleevenotes to the CD release of Always Now. Hurst moved his eight-track recording equipment into the band's Blackpool warehouse facility SSRU aka Singleton Street Rehearsal Unitand would play a decisive role in shaping their sound over the next two years.

Now the band set about perfecting material for their first album. While tracks such as Dirty Disco, Friendly Fires originally titled Cambodia and Be Brave continued to mine a driving, rhythmic vein, looser compositions such as Babies in the Bardo and Melt Close offered spacey, acid-psych atmospherics which, although out of step with the prevailing musical climate ofwere perfectly at home in the studio constructed and owned by Pink Floyd.

We thought we needed an extra track for the album as well! Martin was really into the idea so he joined in and played some synth on a Korg keyboard he used to bring to the sessions. He always exercised full options to heavily treat our sound, but on this track he pushed the boat even further out and was much more involved, hence the use of 'collective' to include him.

I wish I had a tape of that. He managed to drape exactly the right little wrapping of echoes around the few unsteady, doubtful notes which the group produced. Section 25 always had something paper-thin about it - a sound, or rather an absence of sound, giving the impression that the slightest breeze would blow it away. While this may be true of slender, improvised tracks such as C.

It's worth remembering, too, that Larry was a first class sculptor, and that Fact 45 - as released - was as much an art installation as an album. Indeed the appearance of Always Now would be much delayed by the lavish Peter Saville packaging. Constructed in the form of a waxed card pochette, and with a marbled interior printed under licence from a French supplier in Rouen, the album boasted one of the finest and costly sleeves in industry history.

As if such extravagance were not enough, photographic prints were also mooted, and triple-fold poster inserts actually produced, only to be abandoned. The record eventually appeared in August and quickly sold its initial run of 10, despite a dearth of reviews in the UK. However, the high cost of the packaging meant that what was actually a strong-selling independent album took some time to recoup its costs.

According to Larry and Vin:. Vin: "We were inexperienced about how much covers can actually cost a band, and how much you get cooked down the road. Factory adds it on to the expense of the album, and you don't get any money until you've gone past that mark. Larry: "At the start every Factory band had to be produced by Martin Hannett and have their artwork done by Pete Saville.

It was like a package, a system. Vin: "You could tell it was a Factory record just by glancing at it from across a room Don't get us wrong, we enjoyed working with Martin at the time. It was a great, big studio in London and that. But if the producer is finally not on the same level as yourself, it won't work as it should For a lot of other groups the Joy Division formula just won't do anything.

Vin: "The last track on the album was called New Horizon and it was, very obviously, about new hope for the future. I don't think the people who reviewed that record could even have noticed that track was there. I think their associations took control of them and they said: 'oh - gloomy, JD-like' etc. The latter piece, an extended percussive mantra that would remain a staple of their live set until the following year, was also cut at Britannia Row, but left off Always Now.

Another album outtake, Human Puppets, remained unissued for two decades. A 7" only, the curious floral sleeve was lifted direct from a garden seed packet by Larry in best Marcel Duchamp 'readymade' tradition. During the first half of Section 25 also recorded a large number of semi-improvised tracks at SSRU, which would form the basis of their second album, The Key of Dreams.

Recorded between gigs throughoutthese jams reflected the improvised element of their live shows. Indeed guitarist Paul Wiggin would suggest that Section 25 improvise every gig from beginning to end, although prudently this idea was vetoed. Wiggin's eventual departure in September was triggered by an altogether different problem with live performance.

Biography of 25 band

With the group booked to open for New Order in Helsinki, Wiggin refused to fly, and instead swallowed up most of their fee by travelling overland. With a North American tour already being planned, this fear of flying made his departure from the group inevitable. Tony Wilson failed to recruit then-unknown teenage guitarist Johnny Marr as a replacement, leaving the Cassidy brothers in musical limbo.

S25 have performed all over the world in their 47 years and are perfect for festivals to club venues. Live they are ready to explore the band's rich Factory Records back catalogue Vin Cassidy: "We experiment with vocals, electronics and percussion effects, non-rock guitar and keyboards. Archive list of instrumentation prepared by Larry and Jenny.