The Bomb Party were an English rock band from Leicester. They have been described as "The Godfathers of Grebo".
The band formed in the early 1980s, initially as Farmlife by Andy "Jesus" Mosquera (guitar), Peter Swaine (vocals), Steve Gerrard (guitar), Laurence Wood (sax), James Hunt(bass) and Mark Thompson (drums), who met on a fine art course at Leicester Polytechnic. They underwent lineup changes and then released one single under this name in 1982, "Susie's Party" (later covered by Yeah Yeah Noh); A second single on Dan Treacy's Whaam! label was withdrawn. In 1984 Farmlife split up, and Andy "Jesus" Mosquera (vocals), Steve Gerrard (guitar), Mark Thompson (drums) formed The Bomb Party, with Sarah Corina (bass). They took their name from a Graham Greene novel, debuting in 1985 with the Ray Gun EP on the Abstract label, the new sound described as "a Molotov cocktail of hardcore grebo gothability lying somewhere between The Cramps and Bauhaus". The bandmembers themselves rejected the "grebo (music)" tag, Mosquera stating "We're not grebos and we're not bikers or any of that shit. We're experimental. We are experimentalists but we don't have to say we're political and we credit our audience with enough intelligence to suss it out for themselves". The debut album Drugs appeared in 1986. Signing to the Workers Playtime label, they released a second album, 1987's Liberace Rising, now featuring Leszek Rataj on guitar and keyboards, preceded by a compilation of their early Abstract singles, The Last Supper. A year later they signed to Normal records, releasing their most commercial record, a cover of The Archies' "Sugar Sugar" (featuring Voice Of The Beehive on backing vocals) followed in 1989 by the album, Fish. A final album, Nativity #3 appeared on Artlos in 1990, the band split up immediately after it was recorded. The band played their final gig at The Powerhaus in London on 17 December 1989.
Thompson subsequently joined members of Gaye Bykers on Acid and The Janitors in the band G.R.O.W.T.H., who released the album For Lack Of Horses They Staddle Dogs. Mosquera reverted to a career in fine art. Corina joined The Mekons and, later, Striplight (with Alex Mitchell of Curve). She has also recorded with Bill Carter of Screaming Blue Messiahs.
(chart placings shown are from the UK Independent Chart)
Side One<br> 01 Kill Your Wife<br> 02 Don't Die Keith<br> 03 Johnny Took Her Breath Away<br> 04 Jesus Was A Pinko<br> 05 Gas<br> 06 Johnny Nero<br> <br> Side Two<br> 01 Susie's Party<br> 02 Our Love Is Pushing Up Daisies<br> 03 Zombie Head<br> 04 Slide<br> 05 Refuge
Spanking Side<br> 01 Devil's Child<br> 02 My Degeneration<br> 03 Make Way For My Motorbike Baby<br> 04 Desperation<br> 05 I Wanna Be Abused<br> 06 Pretty Face<br> <br> Rubber Side<br> 01 Crawl<br> 02 Don't<br> 03 Come On And Get Closer<br> 04 Evil Eye<br> 05 El Savor Del Amor <br> 06 Metropolis
Side One<br> 01 Praise The Lord<br> 02 LSD<br> 03 Some Bodies<br> 04 Venus In Dirt<br> 05 The Last Waltz<br> 06 Do The Right Thing<br> Side Two<br> 01 Theme From God Bless America<br> 02 Mephistopheles (A Million Worth Of Pillion)<br> 03 Shakespeare<br> 04 Why Don't We Talk<br> 05 Love At Any Price<br> 06 The Only Rule (There Is No Rule)<br> 07 Car Crash (On The Highway Of Love)
Side One<br> 01 The Beginning And The End<br> 02 Ship Of Fools<br> 03 Hey Joe<br> 04 31st Of September<br> 05 Lucy Gas<br> 06 Unavoidably Detained<br> 07 Dreaming<br> <br> Side Two<br> 01 Gimme Summat To Love<br> 02 Use It<br> 03 In This Land<br> 04 Touched<br> 05 Tonight<br> 06 The Beginning And The End
Track listing
Side One
01 Harry the Babysitter
02 Ray Gun
03 Knocking
04 Get Lost My Love
05 Fever
06 Life's A Bitch (English)
07 Hell Sucks
Side Two
01 New Messiah
02 Wasted
03 Get So Down
04 Yeah Yeah Yeah
05 Great White Hope
06 Man Hole
07 Life's A Bitch (Spanish)