Swell Maps -

The Swell Maps were an English post-punk band that cut four singles and the 1979/80 Rough Trade albums A Trip to Marineville and …In “Jane From Occupied Europe”. Frontman Nikki Sudden launched a prolific solo career.

Members: Nikki Sudden (vocals, backing vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone, percussion, harmonica, handclaps, balloon), Epic Soundtracks (piano, drums, organ, bass, bass synth, backing vocals, violin, xylophone, saxophone, handclaps, bells, balloon), Phones Sportsman [David Barrington] (bass, guitar, cymbal, jew’s harp, vocals, backing vocals), Jowe Head (bass, guitar, backing vocals, vocals, harmonica, cymbal, saxophone, handclaps, vacuum cleaner, balloon), John “Golden” Cockrill (guitar, bass, backing vocals, 1974-80), Biggles Books [Richard Earl] (guitar, backing vocals, organ, xylophone, handclaps, vacuum cleaner, balloon, 1975-80)

Formation

The Swell Maps originated as a bedroom band formed in 1972 by Solihull brothers Adrian and Paul Godfrey, known by the respective pseudonyms Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks. Nikki (b. 1956) and Epic (b. 1959) jammed on assorted instruments with Midlands peers Richard Earl (Dikki Mint/Biggles Books), David Barrington (Phones Sportsman), John Cockrill (Golden), and Stephen Bird (Jowe Head). With the arrival of punk, they rose in the small local scene that also included The Prefects and The Television Personalities.

“Read About Seymour”

In January 1978, the Swell Maps debuted with the maxi-single “Read About Seymour” on self-press Rather Records. It features three songs by Nikki Sudden, who handled guitar, tambourine, and vocals; backed by Epic (drums, baking trays), Jowe (seven-string bass), and Phones (guitar).

A1. “Read About Seymour” (1:27)
B1. “Ripped And Torn” (1:45) Dikki Mint on vocals.
B2. “Black Velvet” (1:55)

The Swell Maps signed singer–guitarist Steve Treatment to Rather Records and backed him on the August 1978 EP 5A Sided 45. They perform under the pseudonyms Matilda Tank (Jowe), Amphibious Landing Craft (Epic), Edrun Kübelwagen (Nikki), and RJ Half-Track (Phones). It features five short songs, including the fast, fuzz-laden “Hooked On a Trend.”

On October 16, 1978, the Swell Maps recorded their first of three sessions for BBC Radio One DJ John Peel. They performed five songs for the 10/27 broadcast: “Read About Seymour,” “Harmony In Your Bathroom,” “Full Moon In My Pocket – Blam – Full Moon,” “International Rescue,” and “Another Song.”

The Swell Maps signed with the London indie label Rough Trade, which reissued the “Read About Seymour” maxi-single in December 1978 (RT 010). The song appears on Wanna Buy A Bridge?, a 1980 Rough Trade comp with cuts by Cabaret Voltaire (“Nag Nag Nag”), Delta 5 (“Mind Your Own Business”), Essential Logic (“Aerosol Burns”), Kleenex (“Ain’t You”), The Pop Group (“We Are All Prostitutes”), The Raincoats (“In Love”), Robert Wyatt (“At Last I Am Free”), Scritti Politti (“Skank Bloc Bologna”), The Slits (“Man Next Door”), Spizzenergi (“Soldier Soldier”), Stiff Little Fingers (“Alternative Ulster”), T.V. Personalities (“Part Time Punks”), and Young Marble Giants (“Final Day”).

“Dresden Style”

In February 1979, the Swell Maps released their second three-song maxi single. It features two Nikki Sudden songs and the Jowe–Phones–Epic number “Full Moon (Dub).”

A1. “Dresden Style”
B1. “Ammunition Train”
B2. “Full Moon (Dub)”

On May 15, 1979, the Swell Maps recorded their second Peel session for the DJ’s 5/22 broadcast, which aired two exclusives (“Bandits,” “Armadillo”) and two songs slated for their upcoming album (“Vertical Slum – Forest Fire,” “Midget Submarines”).

“Armadillo” appeared on Rough Trade New Releases 6, a 1982 cassette comp with cuts by Depeche Mode (“New Life”), The Fall (“Fit and Working Again”), Josef K (“Sorry for Laughing”), Killing Joke (“Tension”), Our Daughter’s Wedding (“Lawnchairs”), Pigbag (“Papa’s Got a Brand New Pig Bag”), The Red Crayola (“Kangoroo?”), Wire (“Our Swimmer”), and Zounds (“Little Bit More”).

A Trip to Marineville

The Swell Maps released their debut album, A Trip to Marineville, on June 27, 1979, on Rough Trade. The title comes from the fictional US West Coast town of Marineville in the 1964 ITV marionette sci-fi series Stingray.

Marineville features six Nikki Sudden originals and one co-write (“Vertical Slum”) with Jowe Head, who submitted “Harmony in Your Bathroom” and co-wrote the two-part “Full Moon in My Pocket” with Epic Soundtracks, who wrote “Don’t Throw Ashtrays at Me!” Each side climaxes with a group-written number: “Bridge Head, Pt. 9” and “Adventuring into Basketry.”

Marineville came with a bonus 7″ with two songs each by Sudden (“Doctor at Cake,” “Steven Does”) and Head (“Loin of the Surf,” “Bronze & Baby Shoes”).

A1. “H. S. Art” (2:21)
A2. “Another Song” (1:43)
A3. “Vertical Slum” (1:12) Jowe–Sudden
A4. “Spitfire Parade” (3:10)
A5. “Harmony in Your Bathroom” (5:24)
A6. “Don’t Throw Ashtrays at Me!” (1:16)
A7. “Midget Submarines” (4:33)
A8. “Bridge Head, Pt. 9” (1:58)

B1. “Full Moon in My Pocket” (1:30)
B2. “Blam!!” (3:31)
B3. “Full Moon (Reprise)” (1:21)
B4. “Gunboats” (8:25)
B5. “Adventuring into Basketry” (7:28)
B6. “My Lil’ Shoppes ‘Round the Corner” (0:44)

C1. “Loin of the Surf” (2:14)
C2. “Doctor at Cake” (2:05)

D1. “Steven Does” (1:45)
D2. “Bronze & Baby Shoes” (3:45)

Sessions took place at the Woodbine Mobile Recording Studio at Warwickshire’s Leamington Spa in three increments between December 1978 and April 1979. “Vertical Slum” dates from a September 1977 session at Spaceward Sound in Cambridge with engineer Mike Kemp. “My Lil’ Shoppes ‘Round The Corner” and “Steven Does” both stem from bedroom sessions at Phones’ house.

Woodbine owner John A. Rivers engineered Marineville amid singles by The Shapes and Brummie punks the Cult Figures, a band produced and supplemented by the Swell Maps on the 1979 Rough Trade maxi-single “Zip Nolan.”

Soundtracks designed the album’s cover, which shows a house aflame (front) and the song titles typed on paper cutouts over a corner of a US map (but no sign of Marineville). Sudden designed the inner-sleeve: a monochrome collage overlaid with text blocks. Jowe did the pen doodles on the bonus 7″ sleeve.

“Real Shocks”

In September 1979, the Swell Maps released Nikki’s “Real Shocks,” a recent Leamington Spa recording backed with two Sudden–Sportsman cuts, “Monologues” and “English Verse,” recorded in 1977 in Phones’ bedroom.

A1. “Real Shocks”
B1. “Monologues”
B2. “English Verse”

“Let’s Build a Car”

On February 15, 1980, the Swell Maps released “Let’s Build a Car,” a Nikki number backed with two group-writes.

A1. “Let’s Build a Car”
B1. “Big Maz In the Country”
B2. “Then Poland”

On March 3, 1980, the Swell Maps recorded their third Peel session for the April 1 broadcast, which aired “Big Empty Field,” “Bleep and Booster Come Round for Tea – Secret Island,” “(Let’s) Buy a Bridge,” and “The Helicopter Spies – A Raincoat’s Room” (repeated 5/8).

…In “Jane From Occupied Europe”

The Swell Maps released their second album, …In “Jane From Occupied Europe”, on August 16, 1980, on Rough Trade.

The album features two lengthy group-written numbers: “Big Maz in The Desert from the Trolley” and “Collision with a Frogman vs. The Mangrove Delta Plan.”

Epic Soundtracks wrote the two side-closing miniatures and co-wrote two songs (“Robot Factory,” “Big Empty Field”) with Biggles Books. Jowe Head submitted “Cake Shop.” Nikki Sudden wrote “Let’s Buy a Bridge,” “Border Country,” “The Helicopter Spies,” and the balance of Side B.

A1. “Robot Factory” (2:27
A2. “Let’s Buy a Bridge” (1:55)
A3. “Border Country” (2:12)
A4. “Cake Shop” (2:25) appears on reissues as “Cake Shop Girl.”
A5. “The Helicopter Spies” (4:20)
A6. “Big Maz in The Desert from the Trolley” (5:11)
A7. “Big Empty Field” (3:44
A8. “Mining Villages” (1:01

B1. “Collision with a Frogman vs. The Mangrove Delta Plan” (8:06)
B2. “Secret Island” (4:34)
B3. “Whatever Happens Next….” (2:58)
B4. “Blenheim Shots” (3:42)
B5. “A Raincoat’s Room” (1:42) appears on reissues as “Raining in My Room.”

Sessions occurred between June 1979 and May 1980 at Leamington Spa. “Mining Villages” stems from a July 1977 home session.

John Rivers engineered Occupied Europe amid 1980 singles by Axis, Big Daisy, Domestic Bliss, Emotion Pictures, The Mob, Phil Canning, The Wild Boys, and the second Cult Figures maxi “In Love,” a Sudden-produced record with Nikki and Epic on backing vocals.

Books and Soundtracks arranged the sepia imagery on the front and back covers.