Glaxo Babies -

The Glaxo Babies were an English post-punk/dub band from Bristol cut the 1979 EP This Is Your Life and the single “Christine Keeler,” followed by the 1980 album Nine Months to the Disco.

Guitarist Dan Catsis held dual membership in The Pop Group. He and members of both bands formed Maximum Joy.

Members: Robert Chapman (guitar, vocals), Dan Catsis (guitar, vocals), Geoff Allsop (drums), Tom Nichols (bass), Tony Wrafter (saxophone, vocals), Charlie Llewelyn (synthesizer, drums, vocals), Tim Aylett (vocals, percussion), Alan Jones (guitar, synthesizer, vocals)

Background

The Glaxo Babies formed in late 1977 when Bristol guitarist Dan Catsis (b. November 30, 1959) teamed with bassist Tom Nichols and drummer Geoff Alsopp, both of The Vultures, a local punk band that cut one track (“She’ll Be Back”) later included on the archival comp Bristol Boys Make More Noise!: The Bristol Music Scene 1974-1981. By November, they on-boarded singer Rob Chapman (b. 1954).

In December, the Glaxo Babies played their first show at the Dockland Settlement in St Pauls. Soon after, they linked with Bristol-based producer Simon Edwards, whose indie upstart Heartbeat gained national distribution (via Cherry Red) on the strength of “Europeans,” the debut single by local synth-punks The Europeans (with future Specimen guitarist Jon Klein).

This Is Your Life (EP)

In February 1979, the Glaxo Babies debuted with This Is Your Life, a 12″ EP with four songs written by Rob Chapman.

A1. “This Is Your Life” (3:02)
A2. “Stay Awake” (4:54)
B1. “Because of You” (4:37)
B2. “Who Killed Bruce Lee?” (3:08)

Edwards co-produced the EP at Bath’s newly opened Crescent Studios. The 12″ appeared in a monochrome sleeve with a collage of small children (front) and the face of a toddler (back) who became the band’s mascot.

This Is Your Life was Heartbeat’s third release (12 PULSE 3) behind “Europeans” (PULSE 2) and “I Don’t Want My Heart to Rule My Head,” a one-off by the label’s inaugural act, Social Security.

On April 17, the Glaxo Babies cut their first session for BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, whose 4/26 broadcast aired four songs: one from the EP (“Who Killed Bruce Lee?”) and three fresh cuts — “It’s Irrational,” “Burning,” and “She Went To Pieces.”

Heartbeat included “It’s Irrational” on Avon Calling (The Bristol Compilation), a 1979 document of the local punk/new wave scene with cuts by Essential Bop, Moskow, Stereo Models, and Vice Squad. For this release the band stylized their spelling as ‘Gl✳xo Babies’ to avoid complaints by Glaxo, the pharmaceutical company. Before sessions commenced on their album, Alsopp cleared for Welsh drummer Charles Llewelyn.

“Christine Keeler”

On August 24, 1979, the Gl✳xo Babies released a 7″ single: “Christine Keeler” backed with “Nova Bossanova,” both Rob Chapman songs.

A. “Christine Keeler” concerns the model involved in the 1963 Profumo affair (portrayed by actress Joanne Whalley in Scandal, a 1989 dramatization).
B. “Nova Bossanova”

The Glaxo Babies recorded the single in June at Crescent with co-producer Tim Aylett. Crescent owner David Lord engineered “Christine Keeler” in sequence with 1979 studio recordings by The Korgis (a Stackridge spinoff) and singer Kim Beacon (ex-String Driven Thing).

The sleeve identifies Glaxos Tom Nichols and Dan Catsis by the respective pseudonyms Slow Death and Melancholy Baby.

Though intended for their first album, Rob Chapman left the band upon completion of the two songs. Aylett stepped in and steered the Glaxo’s in a looser, avant-garde dub direction. Chapman joined The Transmitters for their 1981 album And We Call That Leisure Time.

Limited Entertainment

On April 19, 1980, the Glaxo Babies cut their second Peel session for the DJ’s 3/4 broadcast, which aired rough-takes of four new group-written numbers: “Jihad,” “Limited Entertainment,” “Permission to Be Wrong,” and “There’ll Be No Room for You In the Shelters.” By now, the Glaxos included a fifth member, tenor saxophonist Tony Wrafter.

Later in 1980 (after the Glaxos album appeared), the second Peel session appeared as Limited Entertainment, a 7″ maxi-single issued on Y Records, a London-based indie distributed by Rough Trade.

A1. “Limited Entertainment”
A2. “Dahij”
B1. “There’ll Be No Room In the Shelter”
B2. “Permission to Be Wrong”

Meanwhile, Catsis doubled as a member of The Pop Group for their 1980 second album For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?

Nine Months to the Disco

The Glaxo Babies released their sole proper album, Nine Months to the Disco, in March 1980 on Heartbeat.

Nine Months features ten pieces and one interlude, all group-credited to bassist Tom Nichols, drummer Charles Llewelyn, guitarist (and now singer) Dan Catsis, saxist Tony Wrafter, and sundry instrumentalist Tim Aylett.

1. “Maximum Sexual Joy” (3:10)
2. “This Is Your Vendetta” (4:11)
3. “Seven Days” (4:24)
4. “Electric Church” (2:12)
5. “Nine Months to the Disco” (5:09)
6. “Promised Land” (2:39)
7. “The Tea Master and the Assassin” (2:54)
8. “Free Dem Cells” (3:31)
9. “Dinosaur Disco Meets the Swampsstomp” (4:08)
10. “Conscience” (2:40)
11. “Slim” (0:11)
12. “Shake (The Foundations)” (3:55)

Heartbeat lifted “Shake (The Foundations)” as a single, backed with “She Went to Pieces,” a live number by the earlier lineup from April 28, 1979.

The Glaxo Babies recorded Nine Months to the Disco in one day at Crescent with David Lord, who also engineered 1980 albums by Peter Gabriel (“melt”) and Peter Hammill (A Black Box). Nine Months features cover art by Danica Gacesa, a designer of contemporary sleeves for Vice Squad and fellow Bristol acts Stormtrooper (NWOBHM) and The Electric Guitars.

Nine Months to the Disco reached No. 8 on the UK Indie Chart. Between the album’s completion and release, Catsis summoned Wrafter, Llewellin, and Pop Group guitarist John Waddington into a new band, Maximum Joy, with singer Janine Rainforth.

Put Me on the Guest List

In late 1980, Heartbeat issued Put Me on the Guest List, a collection of early Glaxo Babies rarities with their toddler mascot on the cover.

Guest List features nine Rob Chapman originals, including five demoed at on January 12, 1978, at GBH Studios in Backfields Lane, Bristol, and three (“Who Killed Bruce Lee,” “She Went To Pieces,” “Flesh”) from a March 9, 1979, engagement at The Bunker. Only one track (“Puppet Patrol”) post-dates Geoff Alsopp’s tenure.

The GBH demos include three songs later re-recorded for their first EP.

A1. “Avoiding the Issue”
A2. “Because of You”
A3. “This Is Your Life”
A4. “Police State”
A5. “Who Killed Bruce Lee” (Version)
B1. “Stay Awake”
B2. “She Went to Pieces”
B3. “Burning”
B4. “Flesh”
B5. “Puppet Patrol”

Post-Glaxo Babies

Maximum Joy cut four singles and the 1982 album Station MXJY. Catsis next played on Bop Art, the 1983 debut album by Blue Aeroplanes, an Art Objects spinoff.

In 1985, Rob Chapman reformed the Glaxo Babies with Dan Catsis and Charlie Llewellin. They gigged through 1990 but issued no new music. Recordings from this second period later surfaced on The Porlock Factor: Psych Dreams and Other Schemes 1985–1990, an 18-track disc issued in 2007 on Cherry Red. Chapman later worked as a music journalist for Mojo and Uncut.

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