Artists
Biography
Autumn 1984 - singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner and drummer Jan Kalicki emerged from deepest Wiltshire to form the Bolshoi. Having hitch-hiked to the darkest wastelands of Woolwich to seek their fame and fortune, the boys recurited bassist Nick Chown and within 3 months had guested live with The Cult, Lords Of The New Church, Wall Of Voodoo, The Redskins, March Violets, culminating with a headline show at Londons famous Marquee club in January 1985, selling it out on word-of-mouth alone.
Their first single, 'Sob Story', was released that spring, followed by a mini-album 'Giants' which included the irresitibly anthemic 'Happy Boy'. The Beat magazine, November '85 said of 'Giants': "Strong on broody melodies, driven along by forceful rhythms and crashing splinters of trebly guitar, all showing enough fire and ambition to crash throuh the dark undergowth of the post-punk jungle…admirable stuff". The remixed single of 'Happy Boy' was variously described as "an accessible introduction to their subtle charms" (Record Mirror), "impressive and charismatic" (City Limits) and "fabber than before…entirely confident" (ZigZag). (All the early singles and 'B' sides were collected on the expanded CD re-issue called 'Bigger Giants'.)
"I don't think we sound like anyone else" concedes the charismatic Trevor. "That's not a conscious thing - we simply do what we do. We're like a 'real' band…we're real people who actually enjoy what we're doing, work well together and are affected by what's going on musically outside. I'm not saying we're different, but people have diverse impressions of us. I don't know what we sound like, and I don't think anybody else knows what we sound like either!"
Growing to a four piece with the addition of Paul Clark on keyboards, the band continued to build on their live following and finally released a full lenght album 'Friends', in September 1986 which included singles 'AWay' ("an understated mini-epic which easily overruns the chronically abbreviated runway of charts '80's style"-Sounds) and 'Books On The Bonfire'. Sounds again applauded "the musical artistry of this album…this flowing stream of vinyl perfection…if you've seen this group you're already hopelessly addicted."
Their first single, 'Sob Story', was released that spring, followed by a mini-album 'Giants' which included the irresitibly anthemic 'Happy Boy'. The Beat magazine, November '85 said of 'Giants': "Strong on broody melodies, driven along by forceful rhythms and crashing splinters of trebly guitar, all showing enough fire and ambition to crash throuh the dark undergowth of the post-punk jungle…admirable stuff". The remixed single of 'Happy Boy' was variously described as "an accessible introduction to their subtle charms" (Record Mirror), "impressive and charismatic" (City Limits) and "fabber than before…entirely confident" (ZigZag). (All the early singles and 'B' sides were collected on the expanded CD re-issue called 'Bigger Giants'.)
"I don't think we sound like anyone else" concedes the charismatic Trevor. "That's not a conscious thing - we simply do what we do. We're like a 'real' band…we're real people who actually enjoy what we're doing, work well together and are affected by what's going on musically outside. I'm not saying we're different, but people have diverse impressions of us. I don't know what we sound like, and I don't think anybody else knows what we sound like either!"
Growing to a four piece with the addition of Paul Clark on keyboards, the band continued to build on their live following and finally released a full lenght album 'Friends', in September 1986 which included singles 'AWay' ("an understated mini-epic which easily overruns the chronically abbreviated runway of charts '80's style"-Sounds) and 'Books On The Bonfire'. Sounds again applauded "the musical artistry of this album…this flowing stream of vinyl perfection…if you've seen this group you're already hopelessly addicted."