| Rikki and the Last Days of Earth | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Rikki And The Last Days On Earth (early), Rikki And The Last Days |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Punk, New Wave, Synthpop, Post-punk |
| Years active | 1976–c. 1978 |
| Labels | DJM |
| Associated acts | Rikki Sylvan, London Cowboys, 3AM, Random Hold |
| Past members | |
| Rikki Sylvan (deceased) Valac Van Der Veene Andy Prince Nik Weiss Hugh Inge-Innes Lillingston |
|
Rikki and the Last Days of Earth (formerly Rikki and the Last Days on Earth) were a British musical group and one of the early punk groups. They are chronicled in Henrik Poulsen's book 77: The Year of Punk and New Wave. Billboard (magazine) credits them with paving the way for '80s romantic acts.[1]
Contents |
The band was formed in November 1976 by Rikki Sylvan (whose real name was Nicholas Condron) (vocals) and Valac Van Der Veene (guitars), and shortly afterwords, Nik Weiss (keyboards), Andy Prince (also called Andy Prinz) (bass) and a drummer called Nigel Bartle completed the line-up. In May 1977, Nigel was replaced by Hugh Inge-Innes Lillingston.[2]
Although the band seemed to be working-class (a stereotypical characteristic for a punk musician), they had middle-class (or upper class) upbringing. Sylvan lived in Kensington and went to public school, Prince lived with his parents in Weybridge, Weiss went to public school and Inge-Innes Lillingstone lived in Thorpe Hall, near Tamworth, being the son of a Lieutenant Commander and attended Eton School.[3]
The band official live concert debut was at "The Man In The Moon", in Chelsea, on May 28, 1977.[2]
A semi-unofficial released single called City Of The Damned was recorded at TPA studios, being one of the first singles, along Oundle RocSoc, which was released in May 1977.[4] By the late English summer of 1977, the band signed DJM Records, and there they re-recorded City Of The Damned, whose new version was released as single in November.[2]
In January 1978, the band released the single Loaded (backed with the Rolling Stones' song cover, Street Fighting Man). Later, in May, Twilight Jack was released as single, but failed to chart. Shortly afterwords, they released their 4 Minute Warning album, which according to one critic was "roundly ignored".[5] While the band were recording a second album at the CBS studio in London, they were dropped out by DJM and split up shortly after. Their records generally received bad reviews in the British press.[6]
Later, Sylvan went to mix Gary Numan's albums Replicas, with Numan's previous band Tubeway Army, and The Pleasure Principle. Later, he was soloist, releasing his "The Silent Hours" album, and then formed a band called 3AM with ex Neos Steve Wilkin on guitar and Derek Quinton on drums. Van Der Veene began to be a journalist, interviewing New Wave icons. Prince went to work with Random Hold and his ex-bandmate Sylvan in the 1980s.
They were managed by Frank Case.
According to Allmusic "when the history of the new wave finally started to get written, Rikki and the Last Days of Earth were conspicuous by their absence. No one remembered; nobody cared. Yet without them, a lot of what is now taken for granted about the early '80s might never have occurred."
All released by DJM Records (except the second disc above).