Tim Smith (musician)

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Tim Smith


Img_capt = Tim Smith performing live.
Background =
Birth_name =
Born = birth date and age|1961|7|3
Instrument = Vocals
Guitar
Genre = Art Rock
Psychedelic Pop
Progressive Rock
Punk Rock
Occupation = Vocalist
Lyricist
Lead Guitarist
Years_active = 1976 - Present
Label = Alphabet Business Concern
Associated_acts = Cardiacs
The Sea Nymphs
OceanLandWorld
Spratleys Japs
Panixsphere
URL = http://www.cardiacs.com
Notable_instruments =

Tim Smith was born in Chessington, Surrey on 3 July 1961, and is one of the founding members of the unique Progressive Art Punk outfit, Cardiacs, in which he is lead vocalist and guitarist. His cryptic lyrical style employs symbolism, surrealism and unconventional word structures. Vocally he has a unique high pitched punkesque style. He is also directly responsible for The Sea Nymphs and OceanLandWorld (his solo project) and is a member of Panixsphere and Spratley's Japs. He also owns his own recording studio, Apollo 8, and has a long list of production credits to his name. Younger musicians such as Mike Vennart of Oceansize and Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr Bungle have cited Tim Smith's work as a major influence.

History

In 1975, Tim Smith played guitar in a nameless punky, psychedelic instrumental band with school friend’s Mark Cawthra (Drums) and David Philpot (Keyboard). Tim was taken aback by the sound of David’s Korg synthesiser and would later use the sound early on in Cardiac Arrest/Cardiacs.

In mid-1977, Tim Smith founded The Filth (sometimes erroneously referred to as Philip Pilf & The Filth [ [http://www.angelfire.com/wy/cardiacs/cardiacs/cdxgiglist.htm Cardiacs: The Ultimate Cardiacs Gig List ] ] ) before changing the act’s name to Cardiac Arrest. Also in the band were his brother, Jim (Bass Guitar), former Fleetwood Secondary school friends, Peter Tagg (Drums) and Michael Pugh (Vocals), and Colvin Mayers (Keyboards) and Ralph Cade (Saxophone). They played their first concert at The Kaleidoscope in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. Tim would humiliate his brother, Jim, on stage and this would become a token part of all further concerts.

In 1979, Tim helped record a 7”, "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus", at Elephant Studios in London. He was later forced to look for a new vocalist and drummer after Mike Pugh, Ralph Cade and Peter Tagg left the band. He decided to take over the vocals himself and invited Mark Cawthra in to play drums. 1980 saw Tim recording the first and only Cardiac Arrest album, "The Obvious Identity". As he had little cash to invest in the project, he recorded the album onto as many old cassette tapes as he could find. Tim says of the venture that " [t] he recordings were so shit it wouldn’t matter if they were copied onto washing up sponges". [ [http://www.cardiacs.com/history/ Cardiacs Official Website » History ] ] Eventually, 1000 cassettes were recorded, but only sold at concerts to save on expenditure.

Tim decided to change the name of the band to Cardiacs in 1981. He helped record the band’s first album, "Toy World", in the same manner as the Cardiac Arrest album – on cassette tape – at a small basement studio known as The Crow. After another line up change, Tim recruited Tim Quy (Percussion), Sarah Cutts (Saxophone) and Dominic Luckman (Drums) into the fold.

In 1983, Tim saw William D. Drake performing on a piano in a public house and drafted him into the ranks of Cardiacs as keyboard player. He also married Sarah Cutts this year.

The low budget label Alphabet Business Concern was created in 1984. Tim often refers to the label as a totalitarian organisation, saying that they were in control of the band up until 1989. They would be responsible for distributing most of Tim’s recordings with various outfits. Tim was asked by vocalist Fish to support his band Marillion on their forthcoming tour near the end of the year. Tim agreed but was not prepared for the hostile audience that awaited them on all legs of the tour (forcing them off the final three days of the tour). [ [http://www.anyware.co.uk/williamddrake/biography.html William D. Drake ] ]

In 1985, Tim was approached by students Mark Francombe and Nick Elborough with an offer to shoot footage of them at one of their live concerts as part of their coursework project. The Surbiton Assembly Rooms was chosen, but Tim was unhappy with the resultant footage and canned the project. Tim then agreed to the students making a promotional video, called "Seaside Treats", which would include a 10-minute feature called "The Consultant’s Flower Garden" and three music videos. This was successful and the video was released. [ [http://www.markfrancombe.com/uncle_ian/Cardiacs/HTML/Treats3.htm Seaside Treats ] ]

In March 1987, Tim and his wife, Sarah, were embroiled in a scandal started by "The Sunday Sport" newspaper. The headline ran, "In the bizarre world of music… anything goes - even INCEST." [ [http://www.cardiacs.org/sundaysport.htm Sunday Sport ] ] The paper tried to say that Tim and Sarah were, in fact, brother and sister and that their relationship was incestuous. This was shown to be nonsense, although Tim was thought to have started the whole thing to gain some publicity for his band.

During the 1990’s, Tim took a break from Cardiacs to perform with various other projects. He got back together with ex-wife, Sarah, who was now a white witch, and together with William D. Drake, created The Sea Nymphs; who are a folkier, more ethereal and relaxed version of Cardiacs. The threesome had already recorded before in 1984 and had released a cassette album, "Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake". Tim released a solo album, "Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld", in 1995, which comprised of songs he had written during 1989 and 1991 that he had not intended to be used by Cardiacs. He also performed with Panixsphere in 1993 (although no official recordings exist yet) and [http://www.anyware.co.uk/japs/ Spratleys Japs] from 1995. Since the early nineties Smith has produced other groups extensively, many of whom belong to the so called "Cardiacs family"; these include Levitation, Sidi Bou Said, Eat, The Monsoon Bassoon, Silver Ginger 5, Stars in Battledress, Ginger, Oceansize, Howling Willie Cunt, William D. Drake, The Shrubbies, [http://www.thescaramangasix.co.uk/ Scaramanga Six] and [http://www.thetrudy.co.uk/ The Trudy] . Recently bands have been recorded in Apollo 8, his studio in Salisbury, Wiltshire, as well as setting up a new record label, [http://www.anyware.co.uk/ame/ All My Eye And Betty Martin Music] .

The 21st Century has seen Tim (with Cardiacs) release one single, "Ditzy Scene", in 2007. He has used most of the time again touring and working on new recording output for the near future. In March 2006, he toured with Ginger & The Sonic Circus as their support act, performing acoustic versions of Cardiacs songs, along with his own material.

On 25 June 2008 he suffered a heart attack, and is currently in the process of recovering.Fact|date=September 2008 As such, all plans for the new album are shelved.

Discography

Cardiac Arrest

* "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus" 7" (1979) TOR 002
* "The Obvious Identity" Cassette (1980)

Cardiacs

* "Toy World" Cassette (1981)
* "The Seaside (1st Version)" Cassette (1984) ALPH 001
* "Seaside Treats" 12" EP (1985) ALPH 002
* "Big Ship" Mini LP (1986) ALPH 004
* "Rude Bootleg" Cassette/LP/CD (1986) ALPH 005
* "There's Too Many Irons In The Fire" 12" (1987) ALPH 006
* "A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window" LP/CD (1988) ALPH 007/TORSO CD060
* "Is This The Life?" 7" and 12" (1988) ALPH 008/TORSO 70060
* "Susannah's Still Alive" 7" and 12" (1988) ALPH 009
* "Cardiacs Live" LP/CD (1988) ALPH 010
* "Night Tracks (The Janice Long Session)" 12" EP (1988) SFNT 013
* "Baby Heart Dirt" 7" and 12" (1989) ALPH 011
* "On Land and in the Sea" LP/CD(1989) ALPH 012
* "Archive Cardiacs" Cassette/CD (1989) ALPH 000
* "The Seaside (2nd Version)" LP/CD (1990) ALPH 013
* "Songs for Ships and Irons" CD (1991) AlPH 014
* "Day Is Gone" 12" and CD Single (1991) ALPH 015
* "Heaven Born and Ever Bright" CD (1991) ALPH 017
* "All that Glitters is a Mares Nest" CD (1995) ALPH 018
* "Sampler" CD (1995) ALPH 019
* "Bellyeye" CD Single (1995) ORGAN011
* "Sing to God" CD (1995) ALPH 022 (limited edition DOUBLE CD), ALPH 023 (CD One), ALPH 024 (CD Two).
* "Manhoo" CD Single (1995) ALPH 025
* "Odd Even" CD Single (1995) ALPH 026
* "Cardiacs/Camp Blackfoot" CD Single (1998) ORG056
* "Guns" CD (1999) ALPH 027
* "Signs" CD Single(1999) ALPH 028
* "Cardiacs and Affectionate Friends" CD (2001) ORG228
* " Greatest Hits" CD (2002) ALPH 029
* "The Special Garage Concerts Vol I" CD (2005) ALPH CD030
* "The Special Garage Concerts Vol II" CD (2005) ALPH CD031
* "Ditzy Scene" CD Single (2007) ORG419

The Sea Nymphs

* "Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake" Cassette (1984) ALPH 003/CD Reissue (2007) AME CD004
* "Appealing To Venus" 7" (1991) ALPH 016
* " The Sea Nymphs" Cassette/CD (1992) ALPH 021
* "Appealing To Venus" CD Reissue (1998) ORGAN044

OceanLandWorld

* "Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorld" CD (1995) ALPH 020

pratleys Japs

* "Pony" CD (2001) AME CD001
* "Hazel" CD Single (2001) AME CD002

References

http://www.cardiacs.com/

http://www.cardiacs.org/

http://www.myspace.com/cardiacs