
EMPIRE RECORDS
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EMPIRE ARTISTS - LISTING, DETAILS AND BIOGRAPHIES VIVA / V-SQUAD - BIOGRAPHY THE VIVA PROJECT PROBABLY SAW MORE CHANGING PERSONNEL THROUGH ITS DOORS THAN ANY OTHER EMPIRE PROJECT. ORIGINALLY FORMED FROM A VARIETY OF OTHER GLASGOW BANDS [STRASSE-THE YOUNG ONES-ZONEHEIM] THE BAND WERE A STRONGLY COMPETENT GROUP WHOSE MUSIC REFLECTED THEIR TIMES AND THE FUTURE. THE EARLY RECORDINGS WERE MUCH MORE EXPERIMENTAL AND UNUSUAL, SEEKING TO BREAK THE ELECTRONICA POP FORMULA OF EARLY 80'S MUSIC [THIS CITY / WAITING FOR THE END]. AT THE TIME SUCH ELECTRONIC BASED SCOTTISH BANDS WERE ABOUT AS POPULAR AS HERPES. UNDETERRED VIVA FUSED ELECTRONICA & PRINCE LIKE POP-FUNK TO DELIVER A SOPHISTICATED BLEND OF HOOKS, GIRL VOCALS AND SLICK IMAGERY THAT STOOD HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE OTHER WANNA BE ACTS THAT FOLLOWED LATER. JANGLY POSTCARD GUITARS WERE THE LAST THING THEY WANTED TO BECOME. THE FIRST SINGLE [NEW LOVE] WAS AN EARLY PEAK OF HARMONIES AND JAPAN-ESQUE GROOVE THAT WAS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AND HAD THE MAJOR LABELS SNIFFING IN THEIR DIRECTION! DESPITE BEING THE BRAINCHILD OF EMPIRE MAINMAN JONN HARTON, ALL THE VIVA PERSONNEL WERE THE BEST AT WHAT THEY DID. THE FIRST ALBUM [VIVA] WAS ESSENTIALLY A RERECORDING OF THE BEST SONGS AND DEMOS TO DATE REVEALING THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL - A SLICK FUSION OF DANCE BEAT FORERUNNERS AND GIRL VOCAL HARMONIES THAT SHOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE MEGA-DEAL BUT DIDN'T! VIVA NEVER FULLY RECOVERED FROM THIS DISAPPOINTMENT AND, DESPITE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP AND PROGRESS, THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL LONG BEFORE ANYONE IN THE BAND REALISED IT. 4 SINGLES AND 2 ALBUMS LATER IT WAS "GAME OVER"! THE BOAT WAS GONE [ALTHOUGH THE CORE OF VIVA RETURNED TO THE MUSICAL SUPERMARKET SOME YEARS LATER IN WHITE HEAT.] LIKE EVERY GOOD UNDEAD MOVIE THE GHOST WOULD NOT STAY BURIED AND THE CADAVER SPAWNED V-SQUAD, USING THE VIVA TEMPLATE AND REPROCESSING IT FOR THE CHANGING MID-LATE 80's MUSICAL FREE MARKET ECONOMY. THE INITIAL RELEASE [V-SQUAD SEPT 1986] REVEALS THE EARLY HYBRID OF VIVA AND V-SQUAD AS AN ELECTRO-SOUL-FUNK-DANCE FUSION HERALDING THE SINGLES [ COW / DANCE ACTION AND A RECUT OF THE VIVA TRACK LET THE RAIN COME DOWN ]. GIGS AND THE USUAL RECORD COMPANY GRIND FOLLOWED. ALL MEMBERS WERE ALSO ACITVELY INVOLVED IN OTHER PROJECTS AND THE LOGICTICS OF THIS SLOWED THE PROGRESS AND OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED. BY THE LATE 80's THE PROJECT HAD REDUCED IN IMPORTANCE TO ALL MEMBERS ONLY REVIVED BY THE CHANCE TO RELEASE A NEW ALBUM UNDER THE EMPIRE LABEL IN THE EARLY 90's. RECORDING NEW MATERIAL FOR "MOVE IT UP" ONCE AGAIN ACTIVATED V-SQUAD's HUNGER, BUT FATE WAS TO STEP IN ONCE MORE. DUE TO SOME RATHER TRAGIC PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES INVOLVING THE EXPANDED V-SQUAD LINE UP LED TO THE TOTAL DEMISE OF THE PROJECT RESULTING IN THE NON-RELEASE OF THE NEW ALBUM AND THE FINAL COFFIN NAIL IN THE VIVA / V-SQUAD STORY... SADLY THE MATERIAL NEVER SAW THE LIGHT OF DAY EXCEPT FOR SOME CD-R PERSONAL PROMOS WHICH REVEAL THEIR FINAL HOURS OF GREATNESS. ANOTHER LOST SHOT AT GREATNESS.
THE FEAR - BIOGRAPHY INSPIRED BY A LOVE OF BOWIE'S ZIGGY STARDUST ROCK AND RONSONISTIC GUITAR, THE ORIGINAL FEAR COMPOSED AND PLAYED FAST SIMPLE POP ROCK CROSSOVER MUSIC. ORIGINALLY NOTHING MORE THAN A BUNCH OF GUYS FROM OTHER BANDS PLAYING TOGETHER FOR FUN, THE FEAR GREW LIKE AN ORGANIC DISEASE, COMMANDING AND DEMANDING ITS OWN TINY FOOTNOTE IN ROCK'N'ROLL HISTORY. BY THE TIME THE FEAR WERE PLAYING LIVE AND BEGINNING THE FIRST RECORDING SESSIONS THEY HAD ALREADY ADAPTED INTO A FUSION OF FUNK / ROCK THAT POWERED THE LATTER HALF OF [V1's] REPERTOIRE. THE FIRST SINGLE [DAY BY DAY ON EMPIRE INC - THE FORERUNNER TO EMPIRE RECORDS] WAS A SLAB OF ELECTRIC ROCK THAT HERALDED THE 1989 ALBUM "ROCK'N'DROLL". FOLLOWING THIS A SECOND SINGLE [LOOKING FOR A MIRACLE / PASSION] SHOWED THE CHANGES GOING ON WITHIN THE BAND AND SOON THE INTERNAL BICKERING RESULTED IN THE SHATTERING OF THE FEAR V1 - GONE BEFORE THEY COULD GROW INTO THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL… LEAVING NOTHING MORE THAN A THIN SHADOW OF WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN. BUT LIKE ALL MONSTERS - THEY RETURNED FOR A SEQUEL! THE FEAR [V2] WERE REBORN AS A TIGHTER, PUNCHING ROCK FUNK UNIT SPAWNED BY DRUMMER McSHARKEY'S URGE TO PRESS AHEAD WITH THEIR CLAIM TO THE ROCK'N'ROLL HALL OF FAME. DRAFTING EX V-SQUAD SINGER / GUITARIST ZANE AND RECRUITING 2 NEW MEMBERS [STUART ROBINSON-BASS / IAIN LOWE ON SECOND GUITAR] AND UTILISING JACK BLADE FOR OCCASIONAL KEYBOAURD DUTIES THE NEW FEAR WERE A TIGHTER, MORE POWERFUL COMBO WHOSE RECORDINGS REFLECTED THE MORE SOPHISTICATED MUSICAL POTENTIAL THAT V1 FAILED TO ACHIEVE. THE FIRST SINGLE [PUNISH ME WITH KISSES / CRY FOR A STAR] WAS A DYNAMIC ROCK KICK THAT HERALDED THE 1992 ALBUM "HEAVEN AND MAINE". DESPITE DRAWING REASONABLE CRITICAL ACCLAIM THE NEW FEAR COULD STILL NOT ACHIEVE ITS AIMS AND BY 1994 THE LACK OF SUCCESS FINALLY SHATTERED THE NEW UNIT AND LED TO THE FINAL DEATH OF THE FEAR…LEAVING NOTHING MORE THAN A BUNCH OF UNRELEASED RECORDINGS STILL REMAINING AS UNMIXED MULTI-TRACK MASTER TAPES. ONLY ZANE CONTINUED PERSUING THE ROCK'N'ROLL DREAM LEAVING THE OTHER MEMBERS TO REJOIN MANSTREAM SOCIETY.
WHITE HEAT - BIOGRAPHY WHITE HEAT [V1] CAME ABOUT THROUGH SHEER BOREDOM BETWEEN EX-VIVA MEMBERS JONN HARTON & JIM McKENNA, RECORDING SOME BASIC TRACKS AS THE RSAMD USING EMULATORS / EMAX / AND DIGITAL RECORDING FACILITIES. THE NAME COMING AFTER THE SONGS [WITH A SHORT MUTANT NOD TO TONY BENN's WHITE HEAT OF TECHNOLOGY AND LOU REED's JISSOM!]
BY 1993 WHITE HEAT FOCUSED ALL THEIR ATTENTION ON EUROPE, PLAYING AN DPROMOTING THEMSELVES TIRELESSLY BUT INTERNAL PRESSURE AND PERSONAL PRIORITIES LED TO BODIES DRIFTING AWAY. FIRST TO JUMP SHIP WAS JIM McKENNA, KEEN TO MAXIMISE HIS OWN MATERIAL AND SET UP HIS OWN MUSICAL COMBO [JIM McKENNA WENT ONTO HEAD A VARIETY OF SYNTH BASED PROJECTS AND IS CURRENTLY TO BE FOUND DOING DJ SETS THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND]. SAX PLAYER JOHN MILLER CONTINUED AND COMPLETED HIS MUSICAL DEGREE AT THE RSAMD - GOING ONTO OTHER PROJECTS SIMILARLY TO JANE AND LOUISE. THUS IT WAS A MUCH TRIMMED DOWN WHITE HEAT THAT RE-ENTERED THE STUDIO TO RECORD THE FOLLOW UP TO "BANGKOK CRASH" [WORKING TITLE NU AMERIKA] BUT ONCE AGAIN FATE SNICKERED AND DEALT A FINAL FATAL BLOW…THE COLLAPSE OF A VARIETY OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND FINANCIAL PROBLEMS LED TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE EMPIRE LABEL WHICH, IN TURN, CLOSED DOWN THE OPERATIONS OF WHITE HEAT LEAVING 10 UNFINISHED TRACKS IN THE CAN - NEVER TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. PROJECT TERMINATED
THE PAIN CREW - BIOGRAPHY IT WAS ANTHRO WHO INITIALLY BROUGHT THE PAIN CREW MAINMAN JEAN PAUL PIERCE TO THE ATTENTION OF EMPIRE, BOTH MEN WORKED IN THE FETISH INDUSTRY [WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS STILL VERY MUCH UNDERGROUND - UNLIKE TODAY WHEN IT'S NICE AND SAFELY SANITISED FOR ALL THE PLEBS WHO CAN REPROCESS IT AS A MARKETING TOOL AND SENSATIONALISTIC SKY FODDER!] AND WANTED TO SET UP AN S&M BASED PROJECT TO PLAY THE FETISH CLUBS IN EUROPE. PIERCE QUICKLY SECURED 2 AMAZONS [ALANNA PASCALE & MICHELLE DEBECK] AND RECORDED A MASS OF BACKING TRACKS ASSISTED BY A VARIETY OF EMPIRE MUSICIANS [ANTHRO / SCOTT / McKENNA / HARTON / ELLE] AND PRODUCED A BIZARRE SLAB OF S&M ELECTRO POP GEARED TO THE FETISH CLUBS OF EUROPE, SPENDING AS MUCH TIME ON THE VISUALS AS ON THE MUSIC ITSELF. THE PAIN CREW GIGS WERE TRULY UNIQUE, THE FORERUNNERS OF GENITORTURERS AND A HOST OF SECOND DIVISION / THRID GENERATION FETISHISTS, SO MUCH SO THAT THE VIDEOS SOLD AS WELL AS THE ALBUM "CONTROLLED" [MATERIAL FROM WHICH EVENTUALLY WENT TO OTHER EMPIRE ARTISTS AND IS CURRENTLY BEING BASTARDISED BY JOHNNY ALPHA].
A N T H R O - BIOGRAPHY AN EX-MUSICIAN WHO BECAME A FETISH WRITER / ARTIST / PHOTOGRAPHER WAS THE UNLIKELY BEGINNING OF THE ANTHRO PROJECT. CLOSE FRIENDS WITH JEAN PAUL PIERCE OF THE PAIN CREW, ANTHRO ASSISTED IN ALL PAIN CREW RECORDINGS AND UNCREDITED WRITING OF SOME OF THE MATERIAL.
THE MEGA-BABES - BIOGRAPHY ISPIRED BY THE LA LESBIAN LIPSTICK COMBO FEM 2 FEM, THE MEGA-BABES BEGAN AS A SEXED OUT MUSICAL POP PROJECT DESIGNED TO BE AS VISUALLY STIMULATING AS IT WAS AUDIO SEDUCTIVE. THE ORIGINAL INCARNATION OF JANICE, KAREN AND LUCY FOUND THAT THE ORIENTATION OF THE PROJECT WAS NOT UNIFORMILY AGREED RESULTING IN THE FORMATION OF ANOTHER GROUP ENTIRELY RETAINING ONLY LUCY. PRE-DATING THE SPICE GIRLS, EMPIRE COULD SEE THAT THIS MAINSTREAM AIMED PROJECT COULD BE THE MONEY SPINNER WHICH WOULD FUND THE MORE ARTISTIC EMPIRE PROJECTS AND IT WAS PERSUED AGGRESSIVELY - THIS WAS ONE PROJECT WHERE IT THE PERSONNEL WEREN'T TOTALLY BEHIND THE CONCEPT THEY COULD COLLECT THEIR P45 AT THE DOOR!
2 YEARS LATER THESE SAME RETARDS WERE RUNNING ABOUT LOOKING FOR SECOND RATE SPICE GIRLS WHEREVER THEY COULD FIND THEM AND, TO SOME EXTENT, ARE STILL FOLLOWING THE SAME CONCEPT TODAY[BOY BANDS / GIRLS BANDS / POP IDOLS… ] . THE VERSAILLES TWINS - BIOGRAPHY DARK SUITS, GLASSES AND ATTITUDE - BUT COULD THEY SING? WHO CARES, IF THE CONCEPT IS RIGHT! STRIPPED DOWN SAMPLE BASED BACKING AND TALKING VOICE OVER RAP WERE THE VERSAILLES TWINS. A STUDIO NIGHTMARE BUT IT LOOKED AND SOUNDED GREAT. ROBERT & MICHAEL BUCHANAN LOOKED LIKE EX CIA HEAVIES AND WOULD HAVE BEEN 2 OF THE MOST UNLIKELY POP STARS SINCE "RIGHT SAID FRED". RECORDING THE FIRST PROJECTED SINGLE "HAVE U GOT THE WILL" [RECUT RECENTLY BY JOHNNY ALPHA] / SHAKE IT THESE GUYS GOT ON BOARD JUST IN TIME TO WATCH THE MELTDOWN OF EMPIRE RECORDS. SADLY THEY WERE THE RIGHT THING AT THE WRONG TIME! THEY DIED BEFORE THEY COULD LIVE.
ELLE - BIOGRAPHY SANG BACK UP FOR VARIOUS LONDON BANDS DURING 1980’S RELOCATED TO GLASGOW 1990 TO LIVE WITH THEN BOYFRIEND & FUTURE HUSBAND – JEAN PAUL PIERCE OF THE PAIN CREW. PERFORMED AND SANG UNCREDITED WITH THE PAIN CREW [S&M BAND]. 2 PROMO RELEASES AND FAILED RECORDING CONTRACTS LED HER TO SIGN TO EMPIRE RECORDS 1992. RELEASED 2 SINGLES WITH EMPIRE RECORDS. CONTINUED TO WORK WITH PAIN CREW AFTER FAILURE TO ACHIEVE SOLO SUCCESS. PARTED COMPANY WITH EMPIRE & PAIN CREW BY 1995 PROMPTED BY THE COLLAPSE OF HER MARRIAGE / DIVORCE. RETURNED TO LONDON 1996 AND CHANGED CAREER ORIENTATION. CURRENT STATUS AND WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN : 2009.
JACK BLADE – BIOGRAPHY TRAINED AND EDUCATED IN PARIS, LONDON & GLASGOW. EARLY WORK WITH SISTER JEAN BLADE IN EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC – STRONGLY ANTI COMMERCIAL ORIENTATION. RELEASED A VARIETY OF AMBIENT / EXPERIMENTAL ALBUMS DURING MID TO LATE 80’S UNDER A VARIETY OF GUISES AND PSEUDONYMS. FORMED THE ORIGINAL INCARNATION OF WHITE HEAT IN 1988 WITH KEYBOARDIST JIM McKENNA BEFORE LOSING INTEREST AND LETTING Mr McKENNA REVAMP THE ENTIRE PROJECT INTO A MORE MUSICAL ORIENTATED, FULL BAND FORMAT. PROVIDED MUSICAL ASSISTANCE TO VARIOUS EMPIRE ARTISTS BEFORE FORMING “NEWTON & BLADE” PROJECT WITH WHITE HEAT KEYBOARDIST TOM SCOTT : RELEASED 9 TRACK EXPERIMENTAL ALBUM “9 MODERN ICONS” 1992. RETURNED TO SOLO PROJECT BY EARLY 1993 – RELEASING “CHROME PHOTOS & OPERA WHALES” FOLLOWED UP BY 2 MINI-ALBUMS [SHOT / DESTINY CALLING]. CONTINUED WORKING WITH A VARIETY OF ARTISTS BEFORE RELOCATING TO LA IN 1997 WHERE HE CONCENTRATED ON PERFORMANCE ART. CURRENTLY RELEASING LIMITED EDITION RUNS OF HIS WORK AND COMPOSING FILM MUSIC FOR THE LA UNDERGROUND OF FILMMAKERS. RECENTLY BEGAN WORKING WITH JONN HARTON [OUTSIDERS] ON THE “JOHNNY ALPHA” PROJECT – AN ALBUM TO BE RELEASED AROUND MID 2004 ON EUROPEAN ART LABEL. STRONGLY NON-COMMERCIAL ORIENTATION.
JOHNNY ALPHA - BIOGRAPHY SPEARHEADING THE EMPIRE REVIVAL IS…JOHNNY ALPHA - THE OUTLET FOR THE MATERIAL THE OUTSIDERS CAN'T UTILISE. CANNIBALISING THE EMPIRE ARCHIVE AND WARPING IT INTO A 21ST CENTURY FORMAT, JOHNNY ALPHA IS A VISION OF THE FUTURE WITH ONE FOOT IN THE PAST.
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JOHNNY ALPHA SAMPLER
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