Bang Bang Machine were a British indie band from Evesham, Worcestershire. They formed in 1989 and experimented with different styles of music, for which reason the media found them hard to categorise. Musically they covered alternative rock, Goth, pop, ambient and dance. They were sometimes classed as a Shoegaze band. Their most well known song, "Geek Love", which entered at number one on the 1992 Festive Fifty was inspired by the book by Katherine Dunn about a family of freaks in a travelling circus. The artist David Hughes, who drew the Geek Love book cover, also illustrated the band's Eternal Happiness album cover. "Geek Love" also uses audio samples from the controversial Tod Browning film Freaks. The band performed at gigs and also on Channel Four's television programme The Word. After going through different record companies, the band split in 1995.
Links To Peel[]
"Geek Love" was championed by BBC Radio One DJ John Peel as a perfect example of a band self-financing their debut single; he famously stated:
- "Even if they never made another record, they'll have achieved more than most of us do in our entire lives."
It was voted number one in his Festive Fifty in 1992. The band also recorded a Peel Session at Maida Vale 4 which was engineered and produced by Mike Robinson, but this has never been released commercially.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- 1992 Festive Fifty: Geek Love #01
Sessions[]
1. Recorded: 1992-01-28. Broadcast: 15 February 1992. Repeated: 02 May 1992
- Justine / Monkey / A Charmed Life / Say It Again Joe
Other Shows Played []
BANG BANG MACHINE - Geek Love
'Geek Love', #01 in the 1992 Festive Fifty
(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add further information if known.)
- 1992
- 04 January 1992: Geek Love (12") Jimmy Kid (JP - 'Stone me that's so good I can hardly believe it exists')
- 05 January 1992: 'Geek Love (12 inch)' (Jimmi Kidd Rekordz) (JP: 'What a mighty mighty record that is...next weekend, I shall have some kind of a mind-boggling competition so you can win copies of that.')
- 11 January 1992: 'Geek Love (12 inch-The Geek EP)' (Jimmi Kidd Rekordz)
- 12 January 1992: Geek Love (12" - The Geek EP) Jimmi Kidd Rekordz (JP: "Next weekend I'll try and control myself and only play it once.")
- 19 January 1992: Geek Love (12") Jimmi Kidd Rekordz (JP: "A stupendous record, that. No question about it.")
- 20 January 1992 (BBC World Service): Geek Love (12" - The 'Geek' EP) Jimmi Kidd Rekordz
- 01 February 1992: Flower Horse (The Geek EP) Jimmi Kidd Rekordz
- 02 February 1992: Geek Love (EP - The Geek) Jimmi Kidd Rekordz
- 03 February 1992 (Ö3): 'Geek Love (12 inch-The Geek EP)' (Jimmi Kidd Rekordz) (JP: 'Makes you feel grateful you lived long enough to hear it, really, doesn't it?')
- Peel Early Feb 1992: A Changed Life (session)
- 24 October 1992: 16 Years (12" - Evil Circus E.P.) Parallel LLLX 1 (white label)
- 22 November 1992 (BFBS): 16 Years (EP - Evil Circus) Parallel
- 1993
- 01 January 1993: 'Geek Love (12 inch)' (Jimmi Kidd Rekordz) FF #01 (JP: 'I suppose it was almost inevitable that that was gonna be number 1, but it only just made it, though.')
- 24 July 1993: Life's A Gas (v/a album - Volume Seven) Volume
- 01 August 1993 (BFBS): Life's A Gas (v/a album - Volume Seven) Volume
- 10 August 1993 (BBC World Service): Life's A Gas (v/a CD Album - Volume Seven) Volume
- 13 August 1993: 'Life's A Gas (Compilation CD-Volume Seven)' (Volume)
- 21 August 1993 (BFBS): Life's A Gas (v/a album - Volume Seven) Volume
- 1994
- 27 May 1994: ‘Give You Anything (Edit) (CD Single )’ Ultimate Records
- 11 June 1994: Give You Anything (CDS - Give You Anything) Ultimate
- 1998
- 14 April 1998: Geek Love (12") Jimmy Kidd
- 1999
- 31 August 1999: Geek Love (12") Jimmy Kidd
- 2003
- 07 October 2003: 'Geek Love (12")' (Jimmi Kidd)
- Others
- Peel Out In The States: Life's A Gas (v/a album - Volume Seven) Volume