The March Violets - Crow Baby
Ripped from a 12" vinyl EP released on Rebirth Records (RB 1812) in 1983 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.
A1 Crow Baby
A2 One Two I Love You
AA1 Long Pig
AA2 Crow Bait
The March Violets - Snake Dance
Ripped from a 12" vinyl single released on Rebirth International Records (RB INT 2112) in 1983 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.A1 Snake Dance
A2 Slow Drip Lizard
B1 Snake Dance (Extended)
B2 It's Hot
The March Violets - Walk Into The Sun
Ripped from a 12" vinyl single released on Rebirth Records (RB 2412) in 1984 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.A1 Walk Into The Sun (Extended)
B1 Lights Go Out
B2 Essence
The March Violets - Deep
Ripped from a 12" vinyl single released on Rebirth Records (VRB 2612) in 1985 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.
A1 Deep
B1 Eldorado
B2 Electric Shades
The March Violets - Turn To The Sky
Ripped from a 12" vinyl single released on Rebirth Records (VRB 27X) in 1986 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.
A1 Turn To The Sky
B1 Never Look Back
B2 Deep (Deeper Mix)
The March Violets - Natural History
Ripped from a vinyl album released on Rebirth Records (VRB 25) in 1984 to high resolution 24-bit flac audio.A1 Religious As Hell
A2 Children On Stun
A3 Fodder
A4 Steam
A5 Grooving In Green
A6 Radiant Boys
B1 Undertow
B2 Strangehead
B3 Crow Baby
B4 One Two I Love You
B5 Snake Dance
Although often believed to be dragging on the Sisters of Mercy's coat tails, The March Violets always did their own thing and were more punk and less doom than their local cohorts. They fell out with Andrew Eldrich (history says many did) and parted company with the Merciful Release label before releasing a string of goth singles on their own Rebirth label. Your blogmeister has fading memories of dancing to Snake Dance and Walk Into The Sun in a sweaty and smokey basement at Devilles in Manchester surrounded by many people overdressed in black and overdosing in hair lacquer.
The band's earliest singles are also included on the Natural History compilation of rarities.
There is a detailed history on Trouser Press.....
The March Violets began in 1981 as one of Leeds' four famous drum machine bands, alongside the Sisters of Mercy, Three Johns and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. The Violets favoured stark, primitive rhythm-box beats (as did the others), overlaid by Loz Elliott's heavy bass throb and Tom Ashton's inventively droning guitar (reminiscent of Magazine's John McGeoch). What set this quartet apart was the unique interplay (à la X or the Airplane) between the two complementary lead vocalists - big, bearded Simon Denbigh and enigmatic Rosie Garland. His dark, commanding intonations intertwined with her eerie soprano wailing, imbuing the simplistic material with a strident, almost dissonant mystery.
Before a schism with Andrew Eldritch led the Violets to start their own Rebirth label, they were on the Sisters' label, Merciful Release, starting with Religious as Hell, an establishing 7-inch. Natural History collects the band's early work, including the EP (save for the odd "Bon Bon Babies"), three follow-up 45s (the brilliant "Grooving in Green," "Crow Baby" and the insistent '84 dancefloor hit, "Snake Dance") and such rarities as the searing "Radiant Boys" (copping the riff from the Cure's "Object") and mesmerizing "Undertow." Though not a discrete album, Natural History flows magnificently.
By "Snake Dance," Garland had departed, replaced by the more upbeat Cleo Murray. The lineup held for the subsequent "Walk into the Sun" but, as 1985 dawned, Denbigh was squeezed out of the band (he immediately formed Batfish Boys). The first post-Denbigh 45 (the misnamed "Deep") laid bare the Violets' weakened condition. Electric Shades, the band's second compilation album, assembles the entire contents of the three later singles: "Snake Dance," "Walk into the Sun" and "Deep." With the dissipation of the band's intensity, Cleo's thin, pretty lead vocals simply don't carry the new material. The Violets continued to surrender to conventionality, obtaining a real drummer and crassly exploiting Cleo's beauty. After contributing two items (including an amazingly catchy rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Miss Amanda Jones") to 1987's Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack, the March Violets faded away.
Thanks to Steve for his damn fine rips.
