Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine
| Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (Carter USM) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (1989) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Indie rock , Britpop , Powerpop |
| founding | 1987 |
| resolution | 1998 |
| Website | http://www.carterusm.co.uk/ |
| Founding members | |
| James "Jim Bob" Morrison | |
| Les "Fruitbat" Carter | |
| former members | |
| Wez (1994-1998) | |
| Salvatore "Salv" Alessi (1996–1998) | |
| Steve B (1996-1998) | |
| Ben Lambert (1996-1998) | |
Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (often shortened to Carter USM ) was a British indie band formed in 1987 by singer James “Jim Bob” Morrison and guitarist Les “Fruitbat” Carter. She became known for her style of power pop, the use of samplings, bass sequences and drum computers as well as electric guitars and eloquent, also satirical, texts. It reached its peak in 1992. In the following years the band took on new members and grew to six members at times. However, it no longer achieved its former popularity. The band broke up in 1998 after seven albums. From 2007 to 2014 she gave concerts in the original formation.
The beginning
Originally played Fruitbat and Jim Bob in an indie band called Jamie Wednesday in her home the London borough of Lambeth , which the two singles Vote For Love and We Three Kings of Orient Are not published. When no other band member showed up for a gig booked by the band, Jim Bob and Fruitbat formed their own band, Carter USM. The name is said to be derived from Fruitbat's hard work, talent and perseverance. They recorded backing tracks with drums, synthesizers and samples and combined Fruitbat's guitar playing with Jim Bob's lyrics. Her debut single "A Sheltered Life" was released in 1988 on the Big Cat label. With their second single ( Sheriff Fatman , 1989) the band was first really noticed. The song is about a slum lord from south London. This was followed by the album 101 Damnations , a critical examination of life south of the Thames . The album topped the UK indie charts .
The band's concerts were known for the fact that the stage was fully equipped with white spotlights, which produced enormous heat and already made the audience sweat. With Stage diving the image of the band coined. Such typical concert scenes can be seen in the video In Bed With Carter , shot at the Brixton Academy.
Rough Trade
In 1991 - after signing a deal with Rough Trade Records - Carter USM released the album 30 Something , which, supported by an extensive tour, reached number eight in the official UK charts. The long-sleeved T-shirts 30 Something , which were sold as merchandise during this period, shaped the image of the British indie generation in the early 1990s. One of the singles from the album, Bloodsport For All , which denounces racism and bullying in the British Army, was released at the start of the Gulf War and consistently banned from the BBC . Encouraged by this, Jim Bob and Fruitbat toured Japan , Yugoslavia and the USA (with EMF ). They also performed at the Reading Festival .
The band made their first ' Top Of The Pops ' appearance with the single After the Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way) , a song about child abuse. This song was the occasion for a later legal dispute with the Rolling Stones publishing house over the use of the text passage Goodbye Ruby Tuesday in the chorus. The band also hit the headlines when Fruitbat tossed TV host Phillip Schofield rugby-style in front of millions of TV viewers at the 1991 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party .
Chrysalis Records
With the decline of the Rough Trade Records label, Carter USM looked for a new record company and began work on their third album under Chrysalis Records . The 1992 album - The Love Album immediately hit number one in the UK charts. Also in 1992 the band headlined the Glastonbury Festival . Since other bands played too long in front of them, their performance was cut short. The band was so upset about this that they insulted Michael Eavis, the founder of the festival. As a result, the band was later banned from Glastonbury Festival for life. The band were unhappy and expressed their anger and cynicism on their next album, Post Historic Monsters .
In 1994, Wez joined the band as a drummer and the newly inspired trio played in America, Japan and Europe, including a major concert in Croatia . This was recorded on May 20, 1994 in Doma Sportova in Zagreb and later published as a video. The recording was also added as a bonus live album to a portion of Carter USM's fifth studio album Worry Bomb , a punk-pop album featuring euphoric songs like Let's Get Tattoos and slow, haunting acoustic songs like My Defeatist Attitude .
Cooking vinyl
In 1996, Carter USM separated from Chrysalis Records and was signed by Cooking Vinyl . With Salv from the band S * M * A * S * H on bass, Wez 'brother Steve on guitar and teenage Ben Lambert keyboard , Carter USM became a six-piece band.
After signing with Cooking Vinyl, Carter USM released the mini-album A World Without Dave and began their longest UK tour to date. The band then toured in Canada and the United States. It later turned out that this tour would be their last. The band decided to split up shortly after their tenth anniversary and their last studio album I Blame The Government , released in January 1998. In June and October of the same year, the albums Live! and BBC Sessions published.
Projects according to Carter USM
Les Carter plays in the band Abdoujaparov and appears as the presenter of the radio station Phoenix FM in Brentwood.
James Morrison's projects include Jim's Super Stereoworld and several solo albums such as: B. Fishing Strike! . He has also written Goodnight, JimBob, a book about his experiences with Carter USM and another previously unpublished novel.
With Anytime Anyplace Anywhere, EMI released a best-of album with tracks by the band from the early days until they switched to Cooking Vinyl. This album annoys the (former) band members because they were not consulted or even made aware of the release. In 2004 Carter released two new CDs: a live album of BBC concerts from the early 1990s and Brixton Mortars , a compilation of tracks from the last two albums. In 2006 a compilation of unreleased tracks and rarities called The Good, The Bad, The Average And Unique was released - this time authorized by the band . Based on the earlier album Starry Eyed And Bollock Naked , on the cover of which a VW Beetle is depicted, this time the Beetle's successor VW New Beetle adorns the cover as a bright green convertible. In the fall of 2007, a compilation of the best tracks from the albums during their time at EMI was released under the title You Fat Bastard . The title reflects the calls of the fans at the concerts, which originate from the time when the light and sound engineer Jon "Fat" Beast announced the band.
Cooperation after the dissolution
In 2001 and 2002, Jim Bob and Fruitbat toured as Who's The Daddy Now? . The two bands, Jim's Super Stereoworld and Abdoujaparov, each played a gig with their own pieces. Then they played Carter USM songs together. By 2006, Who's The Daddy Now? the closest thing to a Carter USM reunion.
On March 4, 2007, almost ten years after the last band appearance, the original two-man lineup of Carter USM played four tracks as part of a concert in memory of former Mega-City-Four frontman Darren Brown, who died in December 2006 died. The band was booked to play acoustically. However, Carter USM surprised the audience by unexpectedly performing their "traditional" electric sound.
In 2007, Carter USM united for two farewell concerts. The first concert, with Sultans of Ping as support act, took place on November 2, 2007 at the Brixton Academy in London. It was sold out after just five days - with little advertising and almost exclusively through word of mouth. As a result, another concert was scheduled at Glasgow Barrowlands on October 20, 2007, which was also recorded and available on DVD Back In Bed With Carter .
This brief reunion of Carter USM came twenty years after the band formed and ten years after they split up. Both concerts took place with the original duo Fruitbat and Jim Bob. In doing so, they kept their promise to play "all of their hits and favorite songs", more or less. According to the band's official statement, however, these short appearances should remain. On their website it says: "We are now ready to go back to our normal day jobs".
Jim Bob toured again in November and December 2007. He released the album It's A Humpty Dumpty Thing and announced appearances for April 2008.
Two more Carter-USM concerts then took place on November 21, 2008 (Birmingham Academy) and on November 22, 2008 in the 5000-seat Brixton Academy in London. Both concerts were sold out, especially the appearance in Brixton in spring 2008. The band gave their last concert on November 22nd, 2014, also at the Brixton Academy.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
|||
| 1991 | 30 Something |
UK8th  (13 weeks)UK |
|
| 101 damnations |
UK29 (6 weeks) UK |
||
| 1992 | 1992 - The Love Album |
UK1 (9 weeks)UK |
|
| 1993 | Post Historic Monsters |
UK5 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| 1994 | Starry Eyed and Bollock Naked (A Collection Of B-Sides) |
UK22 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| 1995 | Worry bomb |
UK9 (3 weeks) UK |
as Carter USM
including Doma Sportova ... Live At Zagreb May 20 1994 |
| Straw Donkey ... The Singles |
UK37 (3 weeks) UK |
as Carter USM
|
|
| 1997 | A World Without Dave |
UK73 (1 week) UK |
as Carter USM
|
| 1998 | I blame the government |
UK92 (1 week) UK |
as Carter USM
|
| Sessions | - |
as Carter USM
|
|
| 1999 | Live! | - |
as Carter USM
|
| 2005 | The Good, the Bad, the Average and Unique (A Collection of Besides) |
- |
as Carter USM
|
| 2007 | You fat bastard | - |
as Carter USM
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1989 | Sheriff Fatman 101 Damnations |
UK23 (7 weeks) UK |
Chart entry in 1991
|
| 1990 | Anytime Anyplace Anywhere 30 Something |
UK83 (1 week) UK |
|
| Rubbish |
UK14 (5 weeks) UK |
Chart entry in 1992
contains a sample by John Peel with the words "What do you think of the program so far?" |
|
| 1991 | Bloodsport For All 30 Something |
UK48 (3 weeks) UK |
released on the day the Gulf War began, the single was banned by the BBC because of its critical text on the British Army
|
| After The Watershed (Early learning the hard way) |
UK11 (5 weeks) UK |
||
| 1992 | The Only Living Boy in new Cross 1992 - The Love Album |
UK7 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| Do Re Me So Far So Good 1992 - The Love Album |
UK22 (3 weeks) UK |
||
| The Impossible Dream 1992 - The Love Album |
UK21 (3 weeks) UK |
a Christmas cover version of The Impossible Dream (The Quest) , which was originally included in the Broadway musical The Man from La Mancha (1965)
|
|
| 1993 | Lean On Me I Won't Fall Over Post Historic Monsters |
UK16 (3 weeks) UK |
|
| Lenny and Terence Post Historic Monsters |
UK40 (2 weeks) UK |
by Lenny and Terence, Lenny Kravitz and Terence Trent D'Arby are meant
|
|
| 1994 | Glam Rock Cops Starry Eyed and Bollock Naked |
UK24 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| Let's Get Tattoos Worry Bomb |
UK30 (3 weeks) UK |
as Carter USM
first single with drummer (without drum computer) |
|
| 1995 | The Young Offender's Mum Worry Bomb |
UK34 (3 weeks) UK |
as Carter USM
|
| Born On The Fifth of November Straw Donkey |
UK35 (2 weeks) UK |
as Carter USM
|
More singles
- 1988: A Sheltered Life (Southern Studios)
literature
- Gavin Stoker: Carter USM in: Peter Buckley (Ed.): The Rough Guide to Rock , London, Putnam, et al. 2003, page 175.
- Colin Larkin (Ed.): The Encyclopedia of Popular Music , Omnibus Press, London 2011, ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8 , pp. 162 ff.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Artist Biography at Allmusic (English)
- ↑ a b Andrew Collins: Farewell, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - forgotten heroes of 90s indie , November 18, 2014, theguardian.com (accessed October 11, 2015)
- ↑ Bobby Townsend: Why I love Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine , September 23, 2007, kingbobbysix.blogspot.com (accessed October 11, 2015)
- ↑ a b Chart sources: UK
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
Web links
- Official Carter USM website - Published by Fruitbat
- Carter USM on allmusic.com
- Tom Eving: YOU SAD BASTARD! - Carter Reconsidered , September 1, 2002, freakytrigger.co.uk (accessed October 11, 2015)
- Bobby Townsend: Why I love Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine , September 23, 2007, kingbobbysix.blogspot.com (accessed October 11, 2015)
- Bobby Townsend: Revisiting: Carter USM's 30 Something , August 10, 2012, somethingyousaid.com (accessed October 12, 2015)
- Andrew Collins: Farewell, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine - forgotten heroes of 90s indie , November 18, 2014, theguardian.com (accessed October 11, 2015) - About the band at the 2014 breakup