Bath Voice Music News: Nostalgic album of lesser known local bands from Bristol and Bath of the 1980s released

By Harry Mottram: During the 1980s there were a number of bands from Bristol and Bath that nearly made it big. Now music industry journalist, Dave Massey and Bristol Archive Records owner, Mike Darby, have gone through their extensive archive of local music to create an album of ‘lost hits’. From their archive trawl they’ve uncovered pop gold including reggae, punk, post-punk, mod, goth and rock.

These acts were seen live, reviewed and interviewed for the weekly music press like Venue magazine and featured on local, and in some instances national radio, and some made it on to local and national TV. Several of those musicians had gone on to work or have links with major mainstream groups such as Queen, Bros, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Lisa Stansfield and Simply Red, or influential acts such as Goldfrapp, Portishead and PJ Harvey.

In the end there are 18 tracks on the CD and 11 on the vinyl editions of the compilation featured on “The Bristol and Bath Pop Explosion – The 80‟s”. It is released by Bristol Archive Records on Limited Edition Trans Pink Vinyl this month and distributed by Shellshock and is available from good record stores.

ARTIST: Various Artists
TITLE: “The Bristol and Bath Pop Explosion The 80‟s””
RELEASE DATE: 27-28th Feb 2025
LABEL: Archive Records
CD Track Listing:

1. Bush & Clarke „I‟m Satisfied‟
2. Wadi Vision „The Place to Be‟(demo)
3. Umo Vogue „Just My Love‟ (Extended demo version)
4. Vicious Circle „Sorry‟ (demo)
5. Hey Belaba „Can‟t Stop Running‟ (live)
6. Tania Lloyd „New Boy (At Number 48)‟ (demo)
7. Various Artists „Unlucky In Love
8. The Sidneys „Rage‟(demo)
9. Automatic Dlamini „Me and My Conscience‟
10. Great Naked „Narrow Bed‟
11. Frame by Frame „Promise Me This‟(demo)
12. Bush & Clarke „Glassy Avenue‟
13. Wadi Vision „Second Take‟(demo)
14. Lovetrain „The Way of All Flesh‟ (demo)
15. Heartland „Keep My Distance‟ (demo)
16. Hey Belaba „Crying Boy‟
17. Shrine of 8 „We All Hurt Inside‟
18. Richard Hall „It‟s a Crime‟ (demo)
    VINYL: TRACK LISTING:TRACK LISTING:
    SIDE A:
19. Bush & Clarke „I‟m Satisfied‟
20. Wadi Vision „The Place to Be‟(demo)
21. Great Naked „Narrow Bed‟
22. Vicious Circle „Sorry‟ (demo)
23. Hey Belaba „Can‟t Stop Running‟ (live)
    SIDE B:
24. Tania Lloyd „New Boy (At Number 48)‟ (demo)
25. Lovetrain „The Way of All Flesh‟ (demo)
26. The Sidneys „Rage‟(demo)
27. Frame by Frame „Promise Me This‟(demo)
28. Umo Vogue „Just My Love‟ (demo)
29. Shrine of 8 „We All Hurt Inside‟