Bad Manners

For Bad Manner, Freestylers collaborator, see Adventures in Freestyle.

Bad Manners
Bad Manners performing in California in 2007.
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Ska 2 Tone
Years active	1976–present
Labels	2 Tone, Magnet, Portrait, Blue Beat, Pork Pie, Moon, Bad
Members
Buster Bloodvessel Lee Thompson Simon Cuell Tony 'Rico' Richardson Adrian Cox Matty 'Bingo' Bane Patrick Pretorious Ross Moore Colin Graham Trevor Edwards David Turner
Past members
Winston Bazoomies Louis 'Alphonso' Cook David Farren Brian Tuitt Martin Stewart Paul 'Gus' Hyman Chris Kane Andrew Marson

Bad Manners are an English 2 Tone ska band. They quickly became the novelty favourites of the UK pop scene through their bald outsized frontman's on-stage antics, earning early exposure through their Top of The Pops exploits and an appearance in the live film documentary, Dance Craze.^[1]

Formation

Fronted by Buster Bloodvessel (born Douglas Trendle), the band was formed in 1976 while the members were together at Woodberry Down Comprehensive School near Manor House, North London. They commemorated the 1981 closure of the school on the back sleeve of their Gosh It's... Bad Manners album.

Career

They were at their most popular during the early 1980s, during a period when other ska revival bands such as Madness, The Specials and The Selecter filled the charts. Bad Manners spent 111 weeks in the UK Singles Chart between 1980 and 1983^[2] and they also achieved chart success with their first four studio albums with Gosh It's... Bad Manners, Loonee Tunes! and Ska 'n' B being their biggest hits. Their chart period exceeded Culture Club, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Fats Domino and The Moody Blues.

After becoming popular in their native London, Bad Manners signed to Magnet Records in 1980 for a six figure sum, and became regular guests on TV shows such as Tiswas and Hold Tight. The band also appeared on Top of The Pops numerous times as well as appearing on other television shows including The British Music Awards (1981) and Cheggers Plays Pop. In 1985, the lads also appeared on The Time of Your Life, which was hosted by Noel Edmonds, who was rumoured to be a fan of the band.

Some of their more notable hits include 'My Girl Lollipop', Lip Up Fatty, 'Can Can', 'Special Brew' and 'Walking In The Sunshine'. One of the main reasons for their notoriety, was their outlandish huge-tongued and shaven-headed frontman, Buster Bloodvessel. His manic exploits got them banned from the British BBC TV chart show Top of the Pops.^[3] The band was also banned from Italian TV after Buster mooned a concert audience, after being told that the Pope was watching on TV.^[4]

Bad Manners left Magnet Records in 1983 and Telstar Records released a compilation album, The Height of Bad Manners, which reached number 23 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was assisted with a TV advertisement promotion, and it brought the band back to the attention of the media and the British public.

The group then went on to sign a contract with Portrait Records in the United States and Mental Notes was released in 1985. For two years the band toured continuously all over the world but decided to disband in 1986.

Break-up and reformation

In 1986, Bad Manners went their separate ways, but Buster soon reformed the band with original members Louis Alphonso, Martin Stewart and Winston Bazoomies. Another original member, Chris Kane, also remained in the band, but left in 1990. In 1988, the band licensed the name and logo of Blue Beat Records and set up office in a 50 ft barge in the back garden of Buster's former home in Spring Hill, London. Blue Beat issued a number of releases, notably by Bad Manners, Napoleon Solo and Buster's Allstars, but the label closed in 1990. Bad Manners found themselves without a recording contract but still continued to tour. In 1992, Buster travelled to Berlin and signed a deal with Pork Pie Records and Fat Sound was released in Europe. The album was initially intended to be released in the UK on Blue Beat.

In 1995, Buster moved to Margate and opened a hotel on the seafront called Fatty Towers, which catered for people with huge appetites. While living in Margate, Buster was a regular spectator at Margate F.C. and Bad Manners sponsored the club for one season. Fatty Towers closed in 1998 and did not re-open despite a facelift. After its closure, Buster immediately moved back to London.

During the late 1990s, a Third Wave ska revival renewed interest in the band and Bad Manners released Heavy Petting on Moon Ska Records in the USA in 1997. Six years later, Buster decided to set up another record label and the band released Stupidity on Bad Records in 2003, as well as ten themed albums in a box set a year later.

Bad Manners appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks in the 2004 Christmas Special, performing festive songs to Phill Jupitus' team. (Jupitus is a fan of the band, and Buster Bloodvessel had appeared as a panellist on the show earlier that year).

As of 2011, Buster still performs with Bad Manners in venues all over the world. He is the only original member left in the band, but Winston Bazoomies is an 'honorary member' of the group, meaning he can rejoin the band at any time he wishes to. The harmonica player lives in Stoke Newington and a fan page has been set up on Facebook in his honour.

Martin Stewart left Bad Manners in 1991, and performed and recorded with The Selecter for 15 years. He later went on to play in Skaville UK, along with Louis 'Alphonso' Cook, and the band released two albums on the Moon Ska World label in Britain. Louis currently lives in Paris and Martin recently formed a new band called Ska Train, who have played a couple of shows in North London. David Farren left in 1986 after the band's contract with Portrait Records finished. A gifted artist, he designed the original band logo and painted the front cover of the Gosh It's... Bad Manners album. He currently plays in The Rolling Stones' tribute band, The Rollin' Stoned, under the stage name of 'Keith Retched' ! Chris Kane is a session musician living in Wanstead. He became a music teacher in the early 90s and has also performed with The Jordanaires. Brian Tuitt also left the band in 1986, and he runs his own rehearsal studios and lives in Kent, while Andrew Marson, another band member who left the same year, has worked as a carpenter in and around London. Paul Hyman lives in Enfield and has often guested with his trumpet with the ska band, Too Many Crooks.

Bad Manners headlined their own annual music festival known as Bad Fest in 2005 and 2006 at RAF Twinwood Farm. This festival featured ska, mod-related and punk rock bands from the 1980s to the present.

Cherry Red Records has released the band's first four albums, Ska 'n' B, Loonee Tunes!, Gosh It's... Bad Manners and Forging Ahead on CD for the first time with added bonus tracks. The albums were issued on their Pressure Drop sister label.

In 2011, Bad Manners performed a world tour, playing a host of shows in Australia, Canada, USA, Germany, Austria, France, Slovakia, Japan and Spain.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Record Label	UK[2]	Certification
1980	Ska 'n' B	Magnet	34	UK: Silver
1980	Loonee Tunes!	Magnet	36	UK: Silver
1981	Gosh It's... Bad Manners	Magnet	18	UK: Silver
1982	Forging Ahead	Magnet	78	–
1985	Mental Notes	Portrait	–	–
1989	Return of the Ugly	Blue Beat	–	–
1992	Fat Sound	Pork Pie	–	–
1997	Heavy Petting	Moon	–	–
2003	Stupidity	Bad	–	–

Singles

Title	Released	UK Singles Chart[2]	Weeks in chart[2]
"Ne-Ne Na-Na Na-Na Nu-Nu"	February 1980	28	14
"Lip Up Fatty"	June 1980	15	14
"Special Brew"	September 1980	3	13
"Lorraine"	December 1980	21	12
"Just A Feeling"	March 1981	13	9
"Can Can"	June 1981	3	13
"Walking In The Sunshine"	September 1981	10	9
"The R'n'B Party Four" (EP)	November 1981	34	9
"Got No Brains"	May 1982	44	5
"My Girl Lollipop (My Boy Lollipop)"	July 1982	9	7
"Samson And Delilah"	October 1982	58	3
"That'll Do Nicely"	April 1983	49	3
"Blue Summer"	August 1985	–	–
"What The Papers Say"	December 1985	–	–
"Tossin' In My Sleep"	March 1986	–	–
"Skaville UK"	May 1989	–	–
"Gonna Get Along Without You Now"	July 1989	–	–
"Christmas Time Again"	November 1989	–	–
"Fatty's Back in Town" (EP)	September 1995	–	–
"Millennium Knees Up"	December 1999	–	–

Compilations and reissues

• Bad Manners (MCA Records / U.S.) (1982)
• Klass (MCA Records / U.S.) (1983)
• The Height of Bad Manners (Telstar Records) (1983) UK #23^[2]
• Can Can (Hallmark Records / Ireland) (1986)
• Live And Loud (Link Records) (1987)
• Return of The Ugly (Relativity / U.S.) (1991)
• Return of The Ugly (Elsoldun / France) (1992)
• Fatty Fatty (Elsoldun / France) (1993)
• Greatest Hits Live (Dojo Records) (1993)
• Fat Sound (Triple X Records / U.S.) (1993)
• Skinhead (Lagoon Records / France) (1994)
• Inner London Violence Live (Lagoon Records / France) (1994)
• This Is Ska (Dojo Records) (1995)
• Return of The Ugly (Dojo Records) (1995)
• Forging Ahead (CD re-issue / Epic Records / U.S.) (1995)
• Rare (T - Leaf Records) (1996)
• Lip Up Fatty (Castle Records / U.S.) (1996)
• Can Can (Tin Box CD) (Harry May Records) (1997)
• Anthology (FGL / France) (1997)
• Don't Knock the Baldhead: Live (Receiver Records) (1997)
• Return of The Ugly (Triple X / U.S.) (1998)
• Viva La Ska Revolution (1998) (Snapper)
• The Collection (Cleopatra Records / America) (1998)
• Mental Notes (CD re-issue / Captain Mod) (1999)
• This Is Ska ! (Moon Ska Europe) (1999)
• Eat The Beat (Moon Ska Europe) (1999)
• Rare & Fatty (re – issue / Moon Records / U.S.) (1999)
• The Singles Album (Crash Records / Germany) (2000)
• Ska 'N B (CD re-issue / DSS Records / Austria) (2000)
• Magnetism : The Best of Bad Manners (Warner Music) (2000)
• The Best, The Baddest And The Ugliest (Ceresco / France) (2000)
• Buster Bloodvessel's Bad Manners (Time Music) (2000)
• Ska Party (Platinum Records) (2000)
• Bad Manners (GFS) (2000)
• Special Brew (Harry May Records) (2000)
• Anthology (Eagle) (2001)
• Best of Bad Manners Live (Pegasus) (2002)
• Oi Our Greatest Hits (Blitz) (2003)
• Bastards (Culture Press) (2003)
• All Favourites (Brilliant Records / Netherlands) (2003)
• Bad Manners 15 Years Jubilee Edition – CD Box set (Pork Pie / Germany) (2004)
• Bad Manners Box Set Collection (10 Themed Albums / Bad Records) (2004)
• Special Brew: The Platinum Collection (Warner Platinum) (2005)
• Bad Manners Live! (Crown) 2005
• Feel Like Jumping: Greatest Hits Live! (Sanctuary Records) (2005)
• Can Can (Digipak) (Snapper Music) (2006)
• Stupidity (SOS Records) (U.S. edition) (2007)
• Walking In The Sunshine: The Best of Bad Manners (Warner Music UK / Demon Music Group) (2008) UK #196^[5]
• Bad Manners (Replay) (2011)
• The Bad Manners Collection (Marathon / OMP) (2011)
• Can Can (Vanilla / OMP) (2011)
• Special Brew (Vanilla / OMP) (2011)
• Short But Sweet (Dave Cash Collection / OMP) (2011)
• Ska 'n' B (CD re-issue / Cherry Red Records) (2011)
• Loonee Tunes! (CD re-issue / Cherry Red Records) (2011)
• Gosh It's... Bad Manners (CD re-issue / Cherry Red Records) (2011)
• Forging Ahead (CD re-issue / Cherry Red Records) (2011)
• The Best Cover Album (Ska In The World / Japan) (2011)

References

1. ^ Allmusic.com – biography by Chris Woodstra
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 39. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
3. ^ Walters, Sarah (4 September 2008). "Tongue and groove with Buster...". CityLife (M.E.N. media). http://www.citylife.co.uk/music/news/10910_tongue_and_groove_with_buster___. Retrieved 2 December 2008. 
4. ^ The Official Bad Manners Web Site
5. ^ http://zobbel.de/cluk/110813cluk.txt

External links

• Bad Manners official MySpace
• Bad Manners biography at Allmusic website
• Badmannersontour.com