Art Situationists

'Hit the North' was a weekly Radio 5 show broadcast from the BBC Oxford Road building in Manchester, now demolished. The show began life in August 1990 on the back of the most high profile year in Manchester music history. Mark Radcliffe started out as the sole presenter and was joined somewhere along the way by Marc Riley and on occasions, local legend Frank Sidebottom. The show championed local talent and gave bands an opportunity to play live to a national audience. Rig were lucky enough to find themselves deep in the depths of the concrete labyrinth that was the BBC in Manchester on 15th January 1991 to play four tracks to the unsuspecting British public.

Rig press Dead Dead Good promotional photo 1990

The 'Hit the North' session featured four songs. A reworked and stripped down version of  'V-funk', a track called 'Sweat' from the unreleased mini-album and renditions of 'Moody' and their debut release 'Dig'. As the master of introductions this is Mark Radcliffe doing what he does best.

At the start of 1991 the band were still without a record deal, but there was interest in signing the band after the success of the 'Moody' white label which Rig had released on their own Rubber Records in November 1990. There was major label interest from the likes of BMG and WEA but the band were rightly seen as a best fit for an independent. So why not local legends Factory Records?

Rig. Art Situationists in the wise words of Anthony.H.Wilson.

Rig drummer Baz worked as an engineer at Strawberry Studios and can shed some light why Rig never signed for Factory. In his words.

"Ok, so I dropped off the 'Wrote For Luck' Happy Monday's master tapes at Factory office and also left a copy of the Rig 'Thud' demo and early versions of 'Dig' and 'Hum'. Later when Tony Wilson came in to listen to some New Order edits (I think) at Strawberry, I accosted Tony about not signing us.

He said "Jonathan my dear boy, we had a choice between you and another band, we only sign one band a year and we chose them"
This turned out to be Northside.

"So I next saw Tony when he called to listen the recording of the new vocals for the Monday's Lazyitis remix, I accosted him again. This time he said,

"Northside are a working class psychedelic dance band from Moston and you are an Art Situationist band from Cheshire, I think you'd have chosen the same in my shoes"

Can't argue with that really. 

Fortunately there was another North West label that was beginning to make waves and also expressing an interest in a band that was garnering a reputation for being different. They were Dead Dead Good, run by Steve Harrison.

Manchester Evening News. 19th April 1991

Dead Dead Good began life in 1982 as a specialist record mail order business ‘Omega Records’ and evolved into a hugely influential record store chain in the NorthWest of England with a flagship shop in Northwich. Not content with selling records Dead Dead Good established itself as a record label and publishing company. Famously the debut release on Dead Dead Good was The Charlatans first single ‘Indian Rope’ and the label went on to champion a great cross section of bands including Oceanic, That Uncertain feeling, Orange Deluxe and The Chameleons.

Adam and Baz. BBC Oxford Road 15th January 1991

Although only established in 1989 the independent Northwich label had a burgeoning track record and were keen to add Rig to their growing portfolio of North West bands. So in the same week as the BBC Radio 5 session the band found themselves back in Suite 16 recording studio in Rochdale working on demo tracks for Dead Dead Good. 

South Manchester Reporter 9th May 1991

At the January demo sessions in Suite 16, Rig recorded new song 'Big Head' along with updated versions of  'Sweat' and 'V-funk'. Pete Smith (DJ Blue) was on hand to oversee sampling and programming duties whilst Anthea Clarke again contributed shimmering backing vocals. Production and engineering responsibilities were shared by Baz Barrett and Liam Mullen. 

The sessions were deemed a success and in early February 1991 the band signed for Dead Dead Good and celebrated with a fish and chip supper in Northwich, just around the corner from Omega Records.

The demo recordings were deemed worthy of a release so the band returned to Suite 16 to mix and finish off the tracks ready for Rig's debut single on Dead Dead Good.

Pete Smith (AKA DJ Blue), Baz and Liam Mullen. Big Head sessions, Suite 16. January 1991.

At the end of February 1991 the single was mastered and cut at Abby Road Studios in London. That same week the double vinyl album Indie Top 20 Volume 11 was released with Rig contributing a version of 'Moody' to the proceedings. The story of the band's appearances on this and various other compilation albums can be found here.

Big Head - Number one in Manchester. May 1991

In March the band took over the upstairs room at the Unicorn Pub in Altrincham for an afternoon to film the video for their new single. It was very much a home made affair with the band building a cardboard 'toy town' in which to drop Adam's 'Big Head'. 

Adam's 'Big Head'. Recording the video. March 1991.

The 'Big Head' single was released on Dead Dead Good on 22nd April 1991 comprising of the lead track backed by 'Sweat', ' V-funk' and a reworking of  'Moody'. Bass player Carl was the cover star of the single. 

Big Head. Released 22nd April 1991

The record was further indication of the band's developing approach to writing and the increasing sophistication of their sound. The slightly off-kilter, but edgy funk undertones was an nod to early Talking Heads but again the band made sure it was impossible to pigeon hole themselves. And it certainly distanced themselves from any Manchester inspired chart action by virtue of their songs getting closer to the definitive Rig template, which certainly wasn't mainstream. But some people got it, and the single was well received, hitting the heady heights of the top twenty in the independent charts.

 

Mike Noon review from City Life / Simon Williams review from NME. May 1991

And the self-made video, filmed above a pub in Altrincham made it onto MTV on several occasions.

The nation-wide tour to promote the single began at the start of May. The gigs at the Princess Charlotte in Leicester and the Bristol and Huddersfield Polytechnics being particular highlights for the band according to guitarist Darren's tour diary. The set list on this tour now boasted three 'hit' singles and comprised of Sweat/Perfect/Bighead/Dig/Spank/Thud/Loop Six/Moody/Spoilt Bastard/V-Funk, encoring with 'Mango'.

'Big Head' Tour poster. May 1991

Live review from 'Big Head' tour. Melody Maker 18th May 1991.

The start of the 'Big Head' tour also heralded the debut of Danny Ward with the band. These days going under the  moniker of Moodymanc as a successful DJ, Danny was (and still is) an accomplished jazz drummer and percussionist. He was a perfect fit on and off stage and took the band's live sound to another level.

The band welcome percussionist Danny Ward (centre squashed) on board. May 1991

The evolving live sound is captured by this raucous blast through Japan's 'Adolescent Sex', recorded at a Rig gig at Manchester Polytechnic shortly after the 'Big Head' tour. The choice of covering slightly obscure, late 70s glam punk songs again set the band apart from their Manchester contemporaries, but it was a direct line to the band's influences. 

Thirty years on from the band's single releases, Rig guitarist Darren started to dig into the band's archive. This coincided with Dead Dead Good kicking off a project to get their back catalogue online, and the rest as they say is history. Their 'Big Head' single is now available on all the major streaming platforms here.

Manchester Evening News. 18th May 1991

1991 still had a lot more to offer for Rig. There was another Dead Dead Good single to come and some great live dates including a brief dalliance with World of Twist......

The set of the 'Big Head' video. The Unicorn Pub, Altrincham, 9th March 1990