East Village (band)

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Formed in the mid '80s by two brothers, Martin and Paul Kelly, East Village were an indie pop band from Princes Risborough, England. The band's music, which drew heavily on the influence of 1960s guitar bands such as The Byrds and The Beatles,^[1] was in stark contrast to the acid house and rave influenced output of their contemporaries.

Contents 1 History 2 Current actvity 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Compilation albums 4 References

[edit] History

After a year or so as a garage band named Episode Four, the Kelly Brothers were joined by Johnny Wood (guitar/vocals) in 1984 and Spencer Smith (drums) in 1985, and became East Village. By 1987, the band had relocated to London and recorded two EPs for Jeff Barrett's Sub Aqua label, before it folded in 1989. They also toured extensively, playing a support tour with The House of Love in 1988 and two tours with McCarthy. The collapse of Sub Aqua left the band without a deal, and they recorded their debut album using money donated by Bob Stanley, a friend of the band and an admirer of their work.^[2] The record was label-less for some time until Jeff Barrett (who was involved in the fledgling Heavenly Records with Martin Kelly) picked up on it and paid for its completion. A series of Heavenly label based gigs with The Manic Street Preachers, Saint Etienne and Flowered Up ensued, followed by a new single, "Circles", in 1991. The band played a sold out show at the New Cross Venue in South London but ended the set by splitting up on stage. The album, Drop Out (1993), was mixed and released posthumously on Heavenly. A collection of all the band's early singles (along with unreleased demos), Hot Rod Hotel, was released on the Australian label Summershine in 1995, giving the band a radio hit "Silver Train".
In 2006, Tokyo label Excellent released the first comprehensive CD of the bands recordings, and the track "Vibrato" appeared on the CD86 compilation.^[3]

[edit] Current actvity

Martin Kelly is now joint MD of Heavenly Recordings alongside Jeff Barrett.
Paul Kelly and Spencer Smith played in the Saint Etienne touring band during the 90's before Paul Kelly split to form Birdie with ex-Dolly Mixture member Debsey Wykes. Johnny Wood released a solo album Quite Storm in 2006.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• Drop Out (Heavenly Records, 1993)

[edit] Compilation albums

• Hot Rod Hotel (Summershine, 1995)
• Drop Out - Deluxe Edition (Excellent Records, 2CD, 2006)

[edit] References