Medium Medium

Medium Medium was a post-punk band from Nottingham, England, initially active between 1978 and 1983.

Medium Medium
Medium Medium in 2004
Medium Medium in 2004
Background information
OriginNottingham, England
GenresDance-punk
Post-punk
Funk
Years active1978 (1978)–1983, 2004–
LabelsCherry Red Records
MembersJohn Rees Lewis
Alan Turton
Andy Ryder
Steve Harvey
Past membersNigel Stone
Graham Spink
Leslie Joachim Barrett
Julie Wood
Websitehttp://www.mediummedium.com

History

Emerging in 1978 out of the Nottingham punk/rhythm & blues band The Press,[1] Medium Medium's first single was "Them or Me", which was released in late 1978 and was still selling well enough in 1980 to appear in the UK Independent Chart.[2][3] The second single, "Hungry, So Angry", was released in February 1981 on Cherry Red Records. One of the first records to introduce slap bass - a technique borrowed from black funk music - to a generally white audience, "Hungry, So Angry" reached #48 in the Billboard Disco chart - the single and the album were released in 1981 on the New York-based indie label Cachalot Records - and has appeared on over a dozen compilations over the years.

The band released one studio album, The Glitterhouse, in late 1981. Its stark, stripped-down dub and dance rhythms and chiming, funk guitar with occasional saxophone and other sounds, failed to attract a large following.

John Rees Lewis, the lead singer and saxophone player, left at the start of 1982 to form C Cat Trance with the original drummer Nigel Stone, who had left shortly before the release of "Hungry, So Angry". The remaining members, Andy Ryder (guitar/vocals), Alan Turton (bass guitar), Graham Spink (offstage special sounds) and the replacement drummer Steve Harvey, continued to tour and were later augmented by, first, Leslie Joachim Barrett (guitar/keyboards), then Julie Wood (keyboards). Forays into a fuller, more produced sound failed to earn the band a new record deal and Medium Medium split up in late 1983.

Inspired by a Cherry Red retrospective CD release in 2001 and the subsequent dance-punk revival, Medium Medium reformed in late 2004 for several live shows, including a showcase at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York. No longer a full-time venture, the band has stated plans to continue to write, record and perform.

In 2010, Medium Medium released a split-LP with Kommissar Hjuler on the German label Der Schoene-Hjuler-Memorial-Fond, containing tracks from their concert at Part Time Punks Festival USA, followed by a second split-LP in 2011.

The band's "The Glitterhouse" was reissued in expanded form as a triple vinyl edition in 2016 by Optic Nerve Recordings.

Discography

Albums

Singles
  • "Them or Me" (1978), Apt - UK Indie #42
  • "Hungry, So Angry" (1981), Cherry Red - 7-inch single
  • "Hungry, So Angry" (1981), Cherry Red - 12-inch single, released six months later
  • "If You Touched Her She'd Smear" (1982), Intercord
  • "Splendid Isolation" (1982), Intercord

References
  1. Unterberger, Richie "Medium Medium Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2 October 2010
  2. Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 257
  3. Lazell, Barry (1998) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-9517206-9-4, p. 145

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