Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977. There were 3 distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break up again in 1990. The band reformed once again in 2015 for the Un-Peeled 2015 event with Steve Street on bass and Tony Wrafter's son Oscar on vocals. Some members also ended up in Maximum Joy.
The band was formed by Tom Nichols (bassist), Dan Catsis (guitarist) and drummer Geoff Alsopp (previously Nichols and Alsopp had been in another Bristol based band called The Vultures). The initial band line-up was completed by Rob Chapman (singer) joining in November 1977, and their first gig was held just 3 weeks later in The Dockland Settlement, St Pauls, Bristol. The band signed to local label Heartbeat Records (marketed by Cherry Red), with their first release being the This Is Your Life EP in February 1979. This led to them recording their first session for BBC radio's John Peel the following April, and the track "It's Irrational", from this session, opened the seminal 1979 Bristol Compilation album "Avon Calling". For this release the band had been forced by pharmaceutical company Glaxo to change their name, and this resulted in the use of "Gl*xo Babies", with an asterisk replacing the "a", although subsequent recordings have used a mixture of the two forms.
(read more on Wikipedia)
Links to Peel[]
Peel seemed to have first played Glaxo Babies in March 1979 via their 'Who Killed Bruce Lee ?' song from the 'This Is Your Life' EP. Further material from the group were played on his radio shows including two sessions they recorded for his programmes between 1979 and 1980. After 1982, Peel rarely played any tracks from the group, which by that time, the band had initially split before briefly reforming in 1985.
Glaxo Babies singer Rob Chapman later became a music journalist and academic, producing Peel-related books including 'Selling the Sixties: The Pirates and Pop Music Radio'(1992), which contains plenty of material on JP's career on Radio London and the early years of BBC Radio One, and 'Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head' (2010). He also recorded with the Transmitters[1]. In addition, he compiled a collection of off-air recordings from the pop pirate stations and the early years of Radio 1, including many Peel shows. Some of his Perfumed Garden collection was eventually made available online.
Sessions[]
Glaxo Babies - Peel Session 1979
1. Recorded: 1979-04-17. First Broadcast: 26 April 1979. Repeated: 23 May 1979, 09 April 1981
- It's Irrational / Who Killed Bruce Lee / Burning / She Went To Pieces
2. Recorded: 1980-02-19. First Broadcast: 04 March 1980. Repeated: 26 March 1980
- Jihad / Limited Entertainment / Permission To Be Wrong / There'll Be No Room For You In The Shelters
Other Shows Played[]
- 1979
- 26 February 1979: 'Who Killed Bruce Lee? (12"-This is Your Life)' (Heartbeat)
- 27 February 1979: Who Killed Bruce Lee? (12" EP - This Is Your Life)] Heartbeat
- 12 March 1979: This Is Your Life (12" EP) Heartbeat
- 10 April 1979: Because Of You (12" EP - This Is Your Life) Heartbeat
- 25 April 1979: Who Killed Bruce Lee ? (12" - This Is Your Life) Heartbeat
- 11 September 1979: Christine Keeler (7") Heartbeat
- 02 October 1979: It's Irrational (album - Avon Calling) Heartbeat
- 22 October 1979: It's Irrational (LP – Avon Calling) Heartbeat
- 1980
- 03 September 1980: Stay Awake (album - Put Me On The Guest List) Heartbeat
- 09 September 1980: Avoiding The Issue (album - Put Me On The Guest List ) Heartbeat
- 1982
- 08 March 1982: Maximum Sexual Joy (album - Nine Months To The Disco) Heartbeat