The Bolshoi
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| The Bolshoi | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Post-punk, alternative rock, new wave, gothic rock |
| Years active | 1983–1988 |
| Labels | Beggars Banquet |
| Website | TheBolshoi.co.uk |
| Members | Trevor Tanner Jan Kalicki Paul Clark Nick Chown |
The Bolshoi were a London-based music group prominent mostly in the mid to late 1980s. They are best known for the hits "Sunday Morning" and "A way" or "Away" (the name is interchangeable and has been noted as both on different albums/singles).
History
The band formed in 1984 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. The original lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Nick Chown; Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow, where Trevor performed as Trevor Flynn (his mother's maiden name). Early gigs supported the likes of The Cult, The March Violets and The Lords of the New Church. In 1985, the band released their debut single, "Sob Story", followed by the mini-album, Giants and their hit song "Happy Boy". Word of mouth was such that the Bolshoi were able to sell out many of their early headlining performances.
The band moved to London in 1985, and their lineup expanded to include Paul Clark on keyboards. In 1986, they released their first full-length album, Friends, and expanded their touring schedule to the U.S., South America and Poland. It was followed in 1987 by the album Lindy's Party, on which the sound was more pop-oriented. TC Wall, reviewing the album in Underground magazine, described Lindy's Party as "completely confident, commercial, professional, and dangerously catchy" and "a fine album that'll be caressed for generations".[1]
Stylistically, The Bolshoi was difficult to categorize. It has been described as a proto-goth band, similar in their live act to fellow Beggars Banquet signees, Bauhaus. Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness.
After the release of Lindy's Party, the band recorded a fourth album, but problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded as the 1980s drew to a close. The previously unreleased fourth album, titled Country Life, had been lost for years but has now been resurrected by Beggars Banquet with extensive help from Tanner's current record label-head, Creative Director, David Paul Wyatt Perko. This new release is now available as one of five CDs in Beggar's 5 CD box set, put out via Beggar's imprint, Arkive. Tanner is now working on a follow-up to Beggar's 5 CD box set which is an acoustic project titled, Trevor Tanner's The Bolshoi Favourites No. 1, which will be released on CD and Vinyl by Tanner's label, Emperor Penguin Recordings, in early 2016.
Trevor Tanner started a new group in the early to mid '90s, Kite, who sounded similar to the Bolshoi, with Jason Stainthorpe from Then Jericho on bass and Ian Whitehead on drums, and recorded a few songs with Adrian Borland from The Sound. The project never developed into a full album and nothing was officially released.
Since the band disbanded, Trevor Tanner moved across the Atlantic to the U.S. and has continued to record both as a solo artist and as a founding member of 'cult' Celtic rock band, Rathkeltair. Trevor is currently reworking Bolshoi classics for a CD and Tour - you can fund this project via his kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/434451690/the-bolshoi-favourites-breakdown-extravaganza
Paul Clark lives in Seattle. His most recent recording, Starship Oak was released in December, 2015 and he is currently working on a new album Songs From Space mixed and co-produced by Mick Glossop.
Jan Kalicki lives in Los Angeles and Nick Chown in London.
Discography
Studio albums
- Giants (1985)
- Friends (1986)
- Lindy's Party (1987)
- Country Life (recorded 1988, released 2015)
Compilations
- Bigger Giants (1990 Beggars Banquet Records)
- A Way - Best of The Bolshoi (1999 Beggars Banquet Records)
- A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box (19 Sep 2006 Rhino Records)
- The Bolshoi 5 CD Box Set (27 November 2015 The Arkive)
References
- ↑ Wall, TC (1987) "The Bolshoi Lindy's Party", Underground, October 1987, Issue 7, p. 11
