The Lines

The Lines were an English post-punk band from London that cut the 1978 DIY single “White Night,” followed by the 1980 EP Cool Snap! and the 1981–83 albums Therapy and Ultramarine on Red Records. Drummer Nick Cash played concurrently in pragVEC and Fad Gadget.

Members: Rico Conning (vocals, guitar, trombone), Joe Forty (bass), Hywel Phillips (guitar, 1977-?), Pete Harker (drums, 1977-?), Nick Cash (drums, 1979-?), Mick Linehan (guitar, 1979-?)

Background

The Lines formed in London in 1977 when guitarist-vocalist Richard “Rico” Conning and bassist Jo Forty renamed Proof, the trio they started with drummer Bill Cran. Conning and Forty met on an English-literature course around 1976 and began playing together that year. The pair won a competition that gave them studio time at PSL Studios, owned by Phil Manzanera, for their first recordings. Early in 1978, Pete Harker replaced Cran on drums, and Hywel Phillips joined on lead guitar.

Drummer Nick Cash studied on a foundation course at St Martin’s from 1974 to 1975 as an art student. In 1978, Cash co-founded pragVEC with vocalist Sue Gogan, guitarist John Studholme, and keyboardist David Boyd. Frank Tovey recruited Cash in 1979 for the first Fad Gadget album, Fireside Favourites, while Cash continued with The Lines. Guitarist Mick Linehan played with Alternative TV in 1978 and joined The Lines by the January 1980 Peel session at BBC Maida Vale.

On February 24, 1978, Conning, Forty, Phillips, and Harker recorded “White Night” and “Barbican” at Clubland Studios. The group issued the single in April through the self-run Linear Records and distributed copies directly to Rough Trade, Step Forward, and other outlets. Conning travelled to the United States later that year, and The Lines suspended activity. In January 1979, Step Forward subsidiary Illegal Records reissued “White Night.” Conning returned to London and regrouped with Forty and Cash. On September 2, 1979, the trio recorded the three-song On the Air single at Soundsuite in Camden for Red Records under manager Steve Brown.

On January 8, 1980, the quartet recorded “Don’t Need Surgery,” “Time to Go,” “Two Split Seconds,” and “False Alarm” for John Peel at BBC Maida Vale. The Lines played their first headline date that month at the 101 Club in Clapham. In May, the quartet cut demos of “Blisstability,” “Uneasy Affair,” and “Time to Go.” The band recorded the five-track Cool Snap EP at Pathway Studios in Islington across four June sessions. The Lines issued Cool Snap on Red Linear in August.

The group recorded “Over the Brow” at Matrix in October and “Nerve Pylon” at the Barge in November. On January 20, 1981, the quartet returned to the BBC for a second Peel session at Regent Street. From April 5 through April 8, 1981, the quartet worked at Blackwing Studios with Eric Radcliffe and John Fryer on “Transit” and “Part II.” The quartet continued work at Blackwing with Radcliffe and Fryer on the first album, Therapy, ahead of an October release through Fresh Records.

Album discography:

• Therapy (1981)
• Ultramarine (1983)
• Hull Down (archival, 2016)

Singles discography:

• “White Night” / “Barbican” (1978)
• “On the Air” / “Not Through Windows” / “Dance for a Drop of Blood” (1979)
• “Nerve Pylon” / “Over the Brow” (1980)
• Cool Snap! (EP, 1980)
• “House of Cracks” / “Old Town” (1981)
• “Transit” / “Pt. II” (1981)

Sources

• Acute Records — Memory Span: the most useful source for the recording chronology. The reissue notes give the February 24, 1978 Clubland session, the Linear release, the 1979 Soundsuite recordings, the personnel changes, the Cool Snap sessions, the Matrix/Barge dates, and the April 1981 Blackwing session. (Acute Records)
• Cold War Night Life — Rico Conning interview: Conning states that he met Jo Forty on an English-literature course, dates their decision to start a band to roughly 1976, and identifies Eric Radcliffe and John Fryer as major participants in the first two Lines albums at Blackwing. (Cold War Night Life)
• The Lines / Acute booklet material: the fuller archival account dates the first show to July 1977 under the name Proof, identifies Bill Cran as the original drummer, and places the Harker/Phillips lineup in early 1978. It also records the direct distribution of the first Linear single and the pause caused by Conning’s trip to the United States. (tribe4mian’s weblog)
• Nick Cash artist biography: Cash gives Oxford as his birthplace, places his St Martin’s foundation course in 1974–75, and identifies pragVEC as the group he formed with Sue Gogan, John Studholme, and David Boyd in 1978. The same biography places his work with Frank Tovey/Fad Gadget alongside The Lines. (bookend)
• Punk Brighton: this is the source for the competition that yielded PSL studio time and for the early Proof-to-Lines sequence. I found no equally detailed independent account of the competition, so this is the least firmly corroborated sentence in the draft. (Punk Brighton)
• John Peel session archive: confirms the January 8, 1980 and January 20, 1981 BBC sessions and their respective song lists. (Peel)
• Jungle Records label history: identifies Steve Brown as manager of The Lines and dates his establishment of Red Records to 1979. (Jungle Records)
• Acute Records / Fresh Records discography: Acute dates Therapy to October 1981, while the Fresh discography identifies the album as FRESH LP 7. (Acute Records)
• Trouser Press — Alternative TV: places Mick Linehan in Alternative TV prior to his work with The Lines. (Trouser Press)