We are proud to announce a new association with Confetti Institute of Creative Technology (Confetti ICT) in Nottingham and De Montfort University (DMU) Leicester. We will be helping students to gain experience in audio archiving and restoration mastering as part of a BSc Hons degree in Audio Recording Technology.

This will initially be focused on third year students and their module in mastering and post-production delivered by Lecturer, JP Braddock who is already a significant contributor to the BMA through his own mastering facility, Formation Audio.

This partnership will not only give the students valuable industry experience and an appreciation for their musical heritage, but also increase our ability to restore material already stored in the archive and bring new sourced material to the public faster than before.

Craig Chettle, the Managing Director for the Confetti Media Group, has also kindly given access to the excellent facilities in the new Antenna building (Nottingham's Premier Media Hub) to hold meetings and seminars.

At the BMA we would like to say a BIG thank you to all those who have helped in making this association happen and we look forward to this valuable partnership growing in this and other areas in the future.

Links:

http://confetti.uk.com/

 

http://antenna.uk.com/

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate-courses/audio-and-recording-technology.aspx

Updated contact!

Nearly Famous is a book written by Ray Moody (from the band Nisa) that offers an invaluable insight into East Yorkshire's rock music scene. It features local notable musicians such as Mick Ronson, Geoff Gill, John Cambridge, Les Nicol, Michael Chapman, The Hullabaloos, Blonde On Blonde, Methusaleh and plenty more! Complete with numerous, previously unseen photographs, analytical biographies and a wide variety of memorabilia. This book has proved to be a more than worthy resource for the BMA. Copies are available direct from Rockumentary Press, 11 Cliff Top, Filey, North Yorkshire, YO14 9HG. Alternatively, you can contact the publishers directly at:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CAVERN AFTER HOURS is a new book written by Barry Cohen, one of the countless musicians who played in many bands in the 1960s. Barry also runs the website of the same name. Both outlets reveal a less familiar side to the rock group scene in Merseyside giving exposure to many unsung heroes of Merseybeat and beyond. Essential reading!

Copies of the book are available online via several outlets such as Amazon and is also available through the website: http://www.cavernafterhours.com/

 

RECENT ADDITIONS:

COCONUT MUSHROOM: Courtesy of drummer, Terry Threadingham, we can finally reveal the whole story behind one of Portsmouth's brightest hopes back in 1967. Together with some intriguing details of mismanagement and a plethora of photographic memorabilia, we are also very proud to be able to host their complete recorded output. http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/C/231-coconut-mushroom

GERANIUM POND: With much help from original band member Steve Webber and DJ Johnny Edward of Radio London and Instant Sound productions, we can now reveal the full story of one of Britain's long lost jewels of pop music from the 'psychedelic' period complete with all of their recordings.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/G/234-geranium-pond

HEAVEN: Portsmouth band that went on to record an LP with CBS records (Brass Rock) featuring members who had all played their part in the energetic local music scene before Heaven's formation in 1968. Several recordings were made by the first line-up of Heaven. These were selected for a proposed LP that sadly never materialised at the time.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/H/230-heaven

KANDY KARNIVAL: A Manchester band that recorded two songs at Radio Luxembourg studios circa 1968. Their demo has been dubbed directly from a surviving acetate

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/K/257-kandy-karnival

KIMLA TAZ: A legendary 1960s Welsh rock band featuring local guitar hero, Tich Gwilym. We proudly present their audition demo recorded in 1968 at Decca's West Hampstead recording studio in London.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/K/274-kimla-taz

MIDDLE EARTH: Recently discovered recordings from acetate source.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/M/270-middle-earth

MIND EXCHANGE: Recently discovered recordings from acetate source.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/M/271-mind-exchange

TARSUS: A late 1960s band from Northampton. Four of their early demo recordings have kindly been made available to the archive courtesy of band member, John Brassett..

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/T/272-tarsus

TEMPLE: A band from Lewes, Suffolk who recorded a handful of tracks dating from 1972 which have survived on acetate. They recorded a larger amount of songs in 1975 which have been stored on tape. All recordings are now available complete with their biography and photos contributed by band member and lead singer, Kevin Purdie. http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/T/256-temple

TUESDAY'S CHILDREN: Three recordings from 1969 have recently been discovered by Tuesday's Children before they morphed into Czar. These were discovered recently by their ex-manager and after the release of the band's anthology CD. These recordings have kindly been made available to the archive.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/T/273-tuesdays-children

SAMANTHA PROMOTIONS: Taken from the first volume of Samantha Promotions, we are pleased to be able to host all of the acts that performed for Samantha Promotions on their various artists LP released in 1970 on Transworld records.

The LP was reportedly pressed up in a quantity of no more than 50 copies as a promotional item to send to colleges and other promoters to advertise their artists. Bands featured are:

THE VYBES, JUGANAUT, CLOUDBURST, ODD FOX, HONEYSUCKLE, SITE FADE, ARANDORA'S LIFE, THE OX, FLESH, DAMASCUS, NEW DELIGHT.

AVENUE PROMOTIONS: Avenue promotions handled acts such as The Fleur De Lys, The Time, Meddy Evils, Soul Agents, Nite People and were based on the south coast of England. Avenue is still in the business of promoting acts for entertainment. Courtesy of Richard Prest (www.kernowbeat.co.uk), Terry Rolph of Avenue Artists and David St. John (www.davidstjohn.co.uk), we have been able to access certain recordings and memorabilia associated with Avenue from the 1960s. Richard Prest has kindly allowed us access to his archive of the south coast beat scene with a whole host of original memorabilia and some surviving recordings by local groups such as: The Light, The Embers and Nite People.

 

RECENT UPDATES:

THE BARRIER: Their demo recording of Shapes and Sounds has now finally been added to the Barrier band page. This follows their Purple Barrier phase from 1967.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/B/183-the-barrier

HERBAL REMEDY: More recently discovered photographs added to the page and their only recording.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/H/212-herbal-remedy

THE MANDRAKES: Three further recordings by The Mandrakes have recently been discovered and have very kindly been made available to the archive by their ex-manager, Brian Cooke. These additional recordings were originally made in Brian's front room and are now affectionately known as the 'Sitting Room Tapes'.

Brian Cooke recorded the band's final gig with Robert Palmer (before he joined the Alan Bown Set) that took place at the Penthouse Club in Scarborough on the 23rd of July, 1969. These recordings will be exclusively available to hear on Brian's fantastic website www.the-mandrakes.co.uk. N.B. These will not be available on the British Music Archive.

We have also added a press cutting to their page that was written about the band as they were recording Baby Sitting in May, 1968 at Fairview studios.

We are also very proud to be able to show footage of The Mandrakes performing (No Face, No Name, No Number) live at Cottingham Civic Hall on Saturday the 12th of July, 1969. This is available on The Mandrakes page via our youtube channel.

http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/M/197-the-mandrakes

SPRINGFIELD PARK: A hugely talented band whose life story is revealed extensively courtesy of Barry Tustin with invaluable assistance from guitarist, Andy Gee. Previously unseen photographs, press cuttings and a set of unreleased demo recordings are now available. http://www.britishmusicarchive.com/component/muscol/S/119-springfield-park

Please remember to check our UNKNOWN ARTIST section as we are continuously adding material.

Also, please remember to keep checking our links pages for valuable and informative websites and blogs related to provincial bands and musicians nationwide. This page is continuously being updated as part of our research programme.

 

FORTHCOMING:

We are very proud to announce that we will be able to host the unreleased recordings as performed by The Poets.

Andrew Loog Oldham's protégées recorded many songs in the mid-1960s that remained unreleased until recently. Together with Lenny Helsing, George Gallacher and Fraser Watson, we can reveal their full story with access to several original photographs belonging to band members and all of their unreleased recordings. We hope to bring this into the archive for summer 2012.

The British Music Archive is now working with www.punkbrighton.co.uk in hosting previously unreleased recordings by bands from the Brighton area in the punk era. Please check the highly entertaining punkbrighton website for more details and for a fascinating look into the punk rock underground music scene in that area during the 1970s.

 

Forthcoming artists:

The Pathfinders, The Relatives, Life Size Models, The Lost, The Push, The Jazzboard, The Technique, Scallywag, Mandy and The Girlfriends, The Prowlers, Graded Grains, Fridays Chyld, Fire, Free Expression (Keighley), Tonge, Peep Show, Cargo, Perfumed Garden, The Poets, East Light, Louise, The Talismen, Boss Wite, Whichwhat. John Bryant, Tintern Abbey, Kat.

Please check our Twitter page for updates to the archive (BritMusArc). We are continuously adding artists and updating information.

 

THANK YOU:

We would like to take this opportunity to convey our gratitude to the following people for their invaluable help and assistance with the archive:

Roger Bristow, Terry Peaker, Sir Henry Rawlinson, Trev Teasdel, Chris Stanbury, Nigel Grundy, Richard Prest, Nigel Lees, Nick Warburton, David Wells, Lenny Helsing, Paul Martin, Phil @ punkbrighton, 'Happening 45', 'Rock Dentist' and the 'Purple Heart Archive'. Our eternal thanks go to all of the artists and contributors over the last year whose help, generosity and foresight knows no bounds. Also, a big thank you must go to our small team of audio engineers and site technicians who have voluntarily given up their own time for the BMA and without whom, this archive would not function.

And finally, a huge thank you to our patron, Barry Fantoni.

As always, we are looking to musicians, collectors, enthusiasts, music historians, et al, for their assistance in helping to build this national archive for everyone's enjoyment. We can all play a part in preserving and celebrating the missing pieces of British rock music and therefore ensuring it's deserved recognition and place in contemporary popular history.

And finally.....

"thanks for passing that email on to me from Decor Records, I hope

next week to finally get my hands on our Konk Tape and the recording

of our single. Because of the age of the tape, I had to pay for it to

be 'baked' at FX studios in London and then transferred onto digital

disk. The tape and disk are due to arrive on Monday, from where, in the next month or so I hope to book into Keith Herd's studio to mix the tape and finally put our single onto disc after over 35 years! If this

all goes according to plan, I then hope to get an on-air interview

with BBC Radio Humberside which is one of the biggest radio stations in this area, I hope to discuss Nisa, Raw Records and the story of the

tape"

Ray Moody (Bass guitarist from Nisa)