Obituary
Early 80s student disco music par excellence. Wankers in demob suits and “interesting” hair dancing “creatively” and hoping their Rory Gallagher albums are not exposed when you visit them for a late-evenign smoke.
Mark Stewart (The Pop Group)
by 8 Comments
The music stands up, which is surely what counts.
Live they were frequently mesmerising in a ‘Crass meets James Brown’ kind of way, & the album’Y’ in particular is a stone cold classic.
What you say might have applied to other members of the Pop Group but not Mark. I knew him in the early 80’s and I have seen his record collection – mostly obscure James Brown singles from the 60’s. Mark was a bit of a nutter but a musical visionary, the Pop Group inventing the whole post punk and punk funk thing that eventually led to nearly all the “new” music you hear on Radio 6 nowadys .
His version of Jerusalem is one of my favourite pieces of music ever and his 1983 album ‘Learning to Cope with Cowardice’still sounds cutting edge. Rest in power (and influence)
You probably walked right past my flat in Montpelier then, as I often used to see the Pop Group mafia stroll past trying to look cool!
I concur.
I found their music astonishing & inspirational (I think it was just what I wanted/needed at the time) & I remain convinced that they epitomised what Punk had ‘promised’ far more than what was produced in most cases.
They also definitely prompted me to explore more ‘difficult’ music, especially on the Jazz & Dub side of things.
If they are considered ‘post punk’ then I rate them head & shoulders above the others, PiL included.
This is the right answer. My description above was rather graceless, and I likewise think, broadly, post-punk was much more interesting and challenging music than “punk”, and led to better places.
I liked the Pop Group. I see they only released 3 singles, one with the Slits. I have them all. I would like to hear Y In Dub which came out a couple of years ago.
The punk funk and jazz punk bands were part of the reason I explored other musical genres. I found that I liked jazz and funk much more than indie and post punk.
People like to identify one visionary but usually there’s a trend. Bowie was ahead of the game though with things like Stay. Art rock meets dance. Post punk took that idea and ran with it. Talking Heads loved the funk too. The dub reggae thing was big with the punks. They had it playing at gigs. The Clash embraced it. Instead of sitting down at concerts we all started dancing. Dancing into the 80s. It was great. The Pop Group were a part of that trend. You got that alternative scene of right on politics. I even ended up on a few marches shouting jobs not bombs. It was a new world. I bought She Is Beyond Good And Evil which was a brilliant debut single, Dennis Bovell giving it the dubby feel.
Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell is a crucial component in so much excellent music- particularly in the late 70s/ early 80s – LKJ, The Pop Group, The Slits & The Raincoats among others, without even mentioning Matumbi & his own superb Dub Band .
This clip always tickles me, highlighting the contribution of John & Felicity Hassell to the heaviest of reggae sound system dub plates as told by Dennis himself.