The piranhas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Prinahas
  UK 69 09/20/1980 (3 weeks)
Singles
Tom Hark
  UK 6th 
silver
silver
08/02/1980 (12 weeks)
Zambesi (feat.Boring Bob Grover)
  UK 17th 10/16/1982 (9 weeks)

The Piranhas were a British new wave band in the ska and neomod environment of the 2-tone era. Musically, their mix of Ska, Reggae and Mod elements can best be compared with the sound of The Beat . In the phase in which they had hits, their sound was "happy, exuberant, ideal for dancing".

Band history

The piranhas were founded in 1977 and originally came from the Brighton punk scene . They became known for their version of the South African folk standard "Tom Hark" . The Kwela song had been a hit with Elias & His Zig Zag Jive Flutes in the 1950s , which had already been adapted to ska by Millie Small . "Tom Hark" was released in 1980 by Sire Records (in Germany by Hansa International ) and in the late summer of 1980 it was a danceable top ten hit in the British charts. It became an evergreen popular with British football fans. In 2005 it was re-released as "Tom Hark (We Want Falmer!)" In a version of Seagull's Ska to raise money for the new stadium for the Brighton & Hove Albion football club .

The line-up of the band was from 1977 to 1981:

  • Bob Grover - guitar , vocals , later also trumpet
  • Dické: Slexia - drums
  • Johnny Helmer - guitar, vocals
  • Reginald Frederick Hornsbury - bass
  • Zoot Alors - saxophone

In 1981 the band separated. Their guitarist and singer Bob Grover released a new line-up as The Piranhas - with the addition " featuring Boring Bob Grover - the Man with the Golden Trumpet" - mainly songs in the Kwela Ska sound. In 1982 a version of Lou Busch's "Zambesi" (this time on Dakota Records ) brought the new piranhas back into the UK's top 20.

Other singles, such as "Easy Come, Easy Go" - also an adaptation of a South African song on which "Boring Bob Grover hoping to achieve the sound of Herb Alpert " as a trumpeter - failed to achieve this goal.

In 1998 a compilation of the recordings for the record label Attrix was presented, which also contains previously unreleased tracks.

Discography

Albums

  • The Piranhas (Sire - SRK6098)
  • The Attrix Collection , 1998

Singles

  • Tom Hark (Sire - SIR4044)
  • I Don't Want My Body (Sire - SIR4046)
  • Zambezi (Dakota)

swell

  1. ↑ Charts UK
  2. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
  3. ^ Cover of the German single "Tom Hark" , Hansa 102 258-100, 7/1980
  4. ^ Attila the Stockbroker Home Page
  5. ↑ press release promo on the issue of the German single "Easy Come, Easy Go" , Avenue / Teldec 6.13 831 1983

Web links