COVENTRY Music Museum Curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
Skeet
2-Tone Records (Swinging Cats) and legendary DJ Chris Long aka The Rhythm Doctor is making a personal appearance to launch his own record label ‘AU’ Almost Unknown at Just Dropped in Records in Fargo Village on September 16 at 2pm.
Almost Unknown will be releasing a series of vinyl only music that has either been previously unreleased or has disappeared over time.
Taking up the story, Chris said: “I had been contemplating a new record label for some years.
“A label that brings to the fore obscure music of any genre that I love.
“Music which did not receive the deserved exposure or indeed like AU01, no exposure at all as it was never released.”
AU01 is the catalogue number of ‘Park Road’ a 12”, six-track EP by Skeet, AU stands for Almost Unknown.
Skeet was a band from the Coventry underground music scene that I championed in the early 1980s.
They consisted of Kay Booth (vocals), Nigel Meffen (bass) and Gary Meffen (guitar and Roland CR8000 Compu Rhythm programming).
In 1981, Skeet recorded a demo tape in my front room at 38 Park Road, Coventry, on a mixer owned by Jerry Dammers.
There was some record label interest at the time, but the band broke up due to the pressures of work and life before a wider audience could hear their music.
Skeet disappeared but their track ‘Brief Call’, from the Park Road demo tape was given a new lease of life in April 2018 when it appeared on the compilation, ‘Alternative Sounds Volume 1’, a limited-edition CD that raised funds for the Coventry Music Museum.
It was also available on the Alternative Sounds Bandcamp site as a download and it was from this platform that it was rediscovered again.
“In 2023, Mikey Young an influential Australian based musician, producer and engineer was interviewed by Bandcamp for one of its regular blogs, and he was asked to list the top 10 songs he was listening to.
“Out of the millions of tracks available, he chose Skeets ‘Brief Call’, calling it ‘…..one of those songs that shows how you can make something great with so few elements’.
“It’s a simple bassline, a really simple drum machine beat, a tiny guitar line and a beautiful voice. Why are there no other songs?.
“I was made aware of this new interest in the band I had championed in the 1980s and discovered that bass player Nigel Meffen had a large collection of Skeet recordings on cassettes that included the demo from Park Road.
“Plans were immediately drawn up for this demo to be the basis of the first release on Almost Unknown Records.
“Now, after the cassette was digitally transferred by Martin Bowes at The Cage Studio in Coventry and remastered by myself and Tanel Roovik at Ajar Studios in Tallinn, Skeet’s recordings from 1981, are finally being released after 42 years.”
The Session
Well one of the most anticipated gigs in the city is almost upon us, The Session celebrating a mind blowing 21 years.
Taking the main stage at HMV Empire Coventry on September 16, it promises to be a Stella night that includes support from Danny Ansell, The Fallows and the Four Kings.
For me, this band represents all that is good about local music, professional, hardworking, well-rehearsed and the ability to rip it up on any stage they ever play – happy 21st.
