Capitalist Music: History

Without doubt Capitalist Music were one of the greatest bands ever to have come out of Norwich (a city that has produced more than its fair share of very fine acts). Capitalist Music gave awesome live shows, their music was genuinely original, the band never pandered to fads and fashions and they had no pose save sheer arrogance. If music is all about passion, Capitalist Music's product was music at its very best.

Capitalist Music was the brain-child of Steve Bloch and Dave Mackie. Dave's own band, the originators of "snap rock" Mercury and the Oranges, had run out of steam and Steve wanted an outlet for his artistic leanings. Songs came easily - Dave's unique guitar style and craftsman-like approach to song writing providing a perfect vehicle for Steve's tongue-in-cheek, left-field and intelligent lyrics.

Drummer Jon Franks was recruited. Bass playing duties were originally performed by Mercury and the Oranges' old player, but he was uncomfortable with the style of the new band and so Matt Sargent was called in to do the job. Sax player Phil Smith, a total loose cannon, wandered in to a rehearsal and just started playing along. He kept turning up and became a crucial part of the band's sound.

Capitalist Music's first gig took place only a week after the band first formed. They played a full set which only included a couple of covers - no mean feat. The band proved a good crowd puller, encouraging regular bookings as a support act, although public opinion about the band tended to polarise into distinct "pro" and "anti" camps. In general, they tended to be popular with audiences and unpopular with other bands. This didn't bother them a jot.

The original line-up's finest hour was probably the set played in support of the Soft Boys at UEA's Fifers Lane. Even the decidedly anti-CM UEA journalist Frank Key noted that "they completely upstaged the Soft Boys". Regular gigs, support and headline, continued until the UEA Summer Festival, where the band provided perfectly acceptable if unspectacular support to The Pirates.

Plans for a tour with the Soft Boys, whose management situation was something of a mess, came to nothing and the autumn saw a major upheaval in the band's line up with Phil Smith, Matt Sargent and Jon Franks all leaving. They were replaced by Mark Thornbury on Bass, Duncan Beaumont from High Heels and the Right Hand Lovers on Drums and Mick Karn on Keyboards.

The new line-up carried on where the old one had left off, building their fan base and covering a wider geographical area with gigs in London and Cambridge. Capitalist Music also appeared on an Anglia TV Arts Show, playing "Jill and the Cruise Missiles".

1981 saw the release of the "Norwich a Fine City" LP featuring a number of UEA-based bands, most notably Capitalist Music, The Higsons and Screen 3. The album and the label Romans in Britain (named after the controversial play) on which it was released were the brainchild of Steve Bloch and Mark Thornbury.

The album was surprisingly well received and in particular gave a real kick-start to the recording careers of The Higsons and Screen 3, both of which bands were to release singles on the Romans in Britain label before being signed by major companies. Capitalist Music's contribution to the album were the two tracks "Do you really love that girl?" and "Jane's gone to France" and the contribution of some band members to the Mohair Twins, who had two tracks on the album much to some people's annoyance.

By the end of 1981 all of Capitalist Music's remaining members had decamped to London, Mick having left the band as he was rarely in the country. Matt Sargent rejoined the band, this time playing guitar. Steve and Mark found their time increasingly occupied with their briefly successful Romans in Britain project and consequently the release (and even the recording) of the band's proposed single "Spider Patrol" was continually delayed.

With Steve and Mark usually absent, rehearsals degenerated into fairly pointless if enjoyable jams between Dave, Duncan and Matt. As the snow settled over London in one of the worst winters in recent memory, the band finally fizzled out.