The Pop Group -

The Pop Group was an English post-punk band that released the 1979 single “She Is Beyond Good and Evil” and the album Y on Radar Records. They singed to Rough Trade for the single “We Are All Prostitutes” and the 1980 album For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? Guitarist–saxist Gareth Sager and drummer Bruce Smith formed Rip Rig + Panic.

Members: Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (guitar, saxophone), Bruce Smith (drums, percussion), John Waddington (guitar, 1978-81), Simon Underwood (bass, 1978-80), Dan Catsis (bass, 1980-present)

Background

The Pop Group formed in Bristol in late 1977 when teenager Mark Stewart envisioned a musical hybrid of punk, funk, dub, and free jazz. He enlisted two classmates, guitarist John Waddington and bassist Simon Underwood; soon joined by drummer Bruce Smith and second guitarist Gareth Sager. In 1978, they cut an acetate of six songs:

A1. “Words Disobey Me”
A2. “We are Time”
A3. “Kiss the Book”
B1. “Sense of Purpose”
B2. “Trap”
B3. “Colour Blind”
B4. “Dreams”

They performed the first three songs for their sole session with BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel; recorded on July 3, 1978, and broadcast on August 10.

The Pop Group tackled the local live circuit and impressed Radar Records, a WEA-backed Liberty–UA spinoff label dedicated to new wave music (Bette Bright, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Yachts).

“She Is Beyond Good and Evil”

On March 9, 1979, The Pop Group released their debut single: “She Is Beyond Good and Evil” backed with “3.38,” both group-written numbers produced by reggae soundman Dennis Bovell, the Matumbi guitarist who recorded as Blackbeard.

A. “She Is Beyond Good and Evil” (3:23)
B. “3.38” (3:38)

The a-side appears on Sharp (16 Sharp New Rock Acts), a 1979 WEA comp with cuts by The Rezillos (“Cold Wars”), Television (“Ain’t That Nothing”), and Richard Hell & The Voidoids (“The Kid With the Replaceable Head”).

Y

The Pop Group released their first album, Y, on April 20, 1979, on Radar Records.

Y features nine group-written songs co-produced with Dennis Bovell. Gareth Sager plays guitar, saxophone, and piano.

Musically, Y contains fractious spins on funk (“Thief of Fire,” “Words Disobey Me”) and free jazz (“Snowgirl”) amid dissonant soundscapes that complement Mark Stewart’s expressionist vocals.

1. “Thief of Fire” (4:35)
2. “Snowgirl” (3:20)
3. “Blood Money” (2:56)
4. “Savage Sea” (3:01)
5. “We Are Time” (6:29)

6. “Words Disobey Me” (3:25)
7. “Don’t Call Me Pain” (5:34)
8. “The Boys From Brazil” (4:15)
9. “Don’t Sell Your Dreams” (6:37)

Sessions occurred in late 1978 and early 1979 at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey, where Bovell produced Y in sequence with Cut, the debut album by The Slits, who utilized Bruce Smith for banter on “Love und Romance.” Both albums were engineered by Mike Dunne, a soundman on early Seventies albums by Badger, Flash, Hugh Hopper, Darryl Way’s Wolf, and Yes (Close to the Edge). Most recently, Dunne and assistant engineer Brian Gaylor worked on Of Queues and Cures, the second album by National Health.

Y uses an image of a Papa New Guinea tribal gathering by photographer Donald McCullin for the Sunday Times. Graphic artist Ian Denning designed the photo collage on the back-cover and the poster-insert sold with early copies.

Y impressed Rough Trade, a London indie steeped in the radical end of post-punk (Cabaret Voltaire, Essential Logic, pragVEC, Scritti Politti). Underwood cleared out for Glaxo Babies bassist Dan Catsis.

“We Are All Prostitutes”

In November 1979, The Pop Group released their debut single: “We Are All Prostitutes,” an anti-consumerist song with a self-explanatory b-side.

A. “We Are All Prostitutes” (3:11)
B. “Amnesty International Report” (3:08)

“We Are All Prostitutes” appears on the 1979 Rough Trade singles comp Wanna Buy A Bridge?, which also features a-sides by Delta 5 (“Mind Your Own Business”), Robert Wyatt (“At Last I Am Free”), Scritti Politti (“Skank Bloc Bologna”), Spizz Energi (“Soldier Soldier”), Swell Maps (“Read About Seymour”), and the Young Marble Giants (“Final Day”).

“Where There’s a Will There’s a Way”

On March 14, 1980, The Pop Group released “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way” as Side AA of a Rough Trade split single with “In The Beginning There Was Rhythm” (Side A) by The Slits.

AA. “Where There’s a Will There’s a Way” (5:11)

The Pop Group recorded “Where There’s a Will” amid sessions for their upcoming album at Foel Studio in Llanfair Caereinion, Powys, Wales, with owner/soundman Dave Anderson, an erstwhile bassist (Amon Duul II, Hawkwind) whose studio hosted late-period Van der Graaf (Quiet Zone) and related projects (Long Hello, Peter Hammill).

For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?

The Pop Group released their second album, For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?, on March 21, 1980, on Rough Trade.

The album features nine group-credited originals by Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, drummer Bruce Smith, multi-instrumentalist Gareth Sager, and new bassist Dan Catsis.

1. “Forces of Oppression” (2:33)
2. “Feed the Hungry” (4:15)
3. “One Out of Many” (1:52) lampoons the original U.S. motto “Out of many, one,” translated from the Latin phrase E pluribus unum, included on U.S. currency.
4. “Blind Faith” (4:03)
5. “How Much Longer” (4:57)

6. “Justice” (3:06)
7. “There Are No Spectators” (4:13)
8. “Communicate” (4:40)
9. “Rob a Bank” (2:18)

Sessions occurred at Foel Studios, where Dave Anderson engineered and mixed Mass Murder? amid 1979/80 titles by Au Pairs, The Fall, The Gist, and the Mo-Dettes.

The cover features a 1917 image of two kissing gypsy children by Hungarian photographer André Kertész. The album included four two-sided eight-fold posters, each with assorted text (lyrics, clippings, slogans) and reprints of stark b&w news photos.

FHMLDWTMM reached No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart.

We Are Time

In June 1980, The Pop Group released We Are Time, a collection of demos, live numbers, and one cut (“Kiss the Book”) from their 1978 Peel session. The three demos (“Trap,” “Colour Blind,” “Sense of Purpose”) come from the 1978 acetate.

Album discography:

Y (1979)
For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? (1980)
We Are Time (1980)

Singles discography:

“She Is Beyond Good and Evil” / “3’38” (1979)
“We Are All Prostitutes” / “Amnesty International Report” (1979)
“Where There’s a Will There’s a Way” / “In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” (1980 • The Pop Group / The Slits)

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