Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

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Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genre(s)	Rock Post-punk Alternative rock
Years active	1984 - Present
Label(s)	Mute Records
Associated acts	The Birthday Party Grinderman
Website	Official Website

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is a successful rock band with international personnel.

[edit] History

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds was originally formed in 1984 by two former members of the Australian band The Birthday Party: Nick Cave (vocals, songwriter, keyboards, harmonica) and multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey. They were joined by Einstürzende Neubauten member Blixa Bargeld (guitar), Hugo Race (guitar), and former Magazine member Barry Adamson (bass, piano). With this line-up, the band recorded and released their debut album, From Her to Eternity (1984). The group has been through many personnel changes, with Cave and Harvey remaining the constants. During their initial Australian tour, Birthday Party bass guitarist Tracy Pew also performed with the band.

Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Steve Huey write, "With the Bad Seeds, Cave continued to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America, and violence with a bizarre, sometimes self-consciously eclectic hybrid of blues, gospel, rock, and arty post-punk, although in a more subdued fashion than his work with the Birthday Party."[1]

[edit] Line-up

[edit] The core foursome

• Nick Cave - vocals, piano, organ, harmonica, percussion (1984—)
• Mick Harvey - guitar, bass, vocals, drums, organ, percussion, string arrangements, piano (1984—)
• Blixa Bargeld - guitar, vocals (1984–2003); original member who quit after almost 20 years^[2]
• Thomas Wydler - drums, percussion (1985—)

Apart from the remaining core members of Harvey, Cave, and Wydler, the group is comprised of musicians selected personally by Cave:

[edit] Regulars on band's records

• Martyn P. Casey - bass (1991—)
• Conway Savage - piano, vocals, organ (1991—)
• Warren Ellis - violin, bouzouki, mandolin, accordion, flute (1993—)
• Jim Sclavunos - drums, percussion, vocals, organ (1996—)
• James Johnston - organ, guitar (2004—)

In addition to his performances with the Bad Seeds, Cave has, since the '90s, performed live 'solo' tours with Cave on piano, Ellis on violin and a fluctuating bass/drums line-up. The current trio are Bad Seeds' Martyn P. Casey, Jim Sclavunos and Warren Ellis (nicknamed the Mini-Seeds).

[edit] Past members, guest and touring musicians

• Anita Lane - lyrics
• Barry Adamson - bass, vocals, drums, guitar, organ, piano
• Hugo Race - guitar
• Rowland S. Howard - guitar
• Tracy Pew (deceased) - bass
• Kid Congo Powers - guitar
• Roland Wolf (deceased) - piano, organ, guitar

[edit] Line-up chronology

• May 1984–September 1984: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Barry Adamson, and Hugo Race.
• October 1984–March 1985: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, and Barry Adamson.
• June 1985–July 1986: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Barry Adamson, and Thomas Wydler.
• July 1986–September 1986: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, and Thomas Wydler.
• September 1986–September 1989: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Kid Congo Powers, Roland Wolf, and Thomas Wydler.
• October 1989–May 1990: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Kid Congo Powers, and Thomas Wydler.
• May 1992–April 1994: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Conway Savage, Martyn P. Casey, Thomas Wydler.
• February 1996–September 2001: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Conway Savage, Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey, Thomas Wydler, Jim Sclavunos.
• February 2003–March 2003: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey, Thomas Wydler, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos.
• April 2003—: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Warren Ellis, Martyn P. Casey, Thomas Wydler, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, James Johnston.

[edit] Nationalities

Band leader Cave moved from Melbourne to London in 1980. Since forming The Bad Seeds in 1984 he has lived in Berlin, São Paulo, London, and Brighton (UK). The various international members of the band meet to record and tour. Nationalities of the current and ex-members are:

• Australian: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Hugo Race, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, and Warren Ellis
• British: Barry Adamson and James Johnston
• German: Blixa Bargeld and Roland Wolf
• Swiss: Thomas Wydler
• United States: Kid Congo Powers and Jim Sclavunos

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

• Chart Positions are for the UK

1. From Her to Eternity (1984) #40
2. The Firstborn Is Dead (1985)
3. Kicking Against the Pricks (1986)
4. Your Funeral, My Trial (1986)
5. Tender Prey (1988)
6. The Good Son (1990)
7. Henry's Dream (1992) #29
8. Let Love In (1994) #12
9. Murder Ballads (1996) #8
10. The Boatman's Call (1997) #22
11. No More Shall We Part (2001) #15
12. Nocturama (2003) #20
13. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2CD) (2004) #11
14. TBA (To be recorded in mid-2007)

[edit] Live albums and compilations

• Live Seeds (1993)
• The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1998) #11
• B-Sides & Rarities (3CD) (2005)
• Abattoir Blues Tour (2CD/2DVD)(2007)

[edit] Selected list of Video & DVD releases

• The road to god knows where - US tour documentary film
• Live at the Paradiso - live in Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: The videos
• God is in the house - live in Lyon, France
• The Abattoir Blues Tour - 2DVD/CD, Live @ The Brixton Academy, Hammersmith Apollo, etc.

[edit] See also

• Nick Cave
• Mick Harvey
• Blixa Bargeld
• Warren Ellis
• Anita Lane
• Grinderman
• Original Seeds

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

• Official website
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on MySpace
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Discogs
• Bad-Seed.org - Fan site