organ

Hello. I am looking for information on 2 bands that have been in the orbit of the Organ in the past. Long ago, in the murky past, before the internet, I wrote to the Organ inquiring about a subscription to the printed mag. Along with that info came a list of cassettes issued by the Organ's label. 2 of those cassettes were by a band called Ring, and were entitled, 'O De Dun Dun' & 'Nervous Recreation'. I am guessing that this is the same band that was listed in a (then) current Prog roster in Keith Halden's Revelatory fanzine circa 1985.
Also, looking through my old info, fanzines, etc I found mention of a self-titled release by Stone Cold on the Organ's label, iirc. I do have the CD that came out in Italy.
If anyone can provide info on these 2 bands it would be welcome. Specifically, how many releases did they have? What were the titles? anything, really. And of course, if anyone has original cassettes in good working order with the j-cards, etc I would be interested in purchasing them. Any help is appreciated, hopefully some here will remember these guys and can comment.

Cheers,

Mark

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/NWOBPR/

ah the days of photocopiers and cassette labels, yes we once had both Stone Cold and Ring on the ORG label back it the days when it was all DIY cassettes.

RING long ago split up, they were a big part of the Cardiacs family in thr 80's, but but but, a poke around the Organ website and you'll find reviews and news stories of MILK AND HONEY BAND and ZAG AND THE COLOURED BEADS, both very much Ring related, indeed Bob, main Milk And Honey man (and once of Levitation, alongside Ring guitarist BIC), told us only last week that the Ring material will finally be coming out on CD sometime soon...

Stone Cold were around in the 80's but they really were always stuck in the early 70's, total Uriah Heep/Deep Purple/Pink Floyd types, they are still around and play locally in Chichester now and again, they did release a number of CD albums, none of which were as good as those original DIY demo quality tape albums we put out. They kind of got more psychedelic and lines up seem to forever change...

Thanks, that helps. I saw the other thread (it's what jogged my memory) but I wanted to inquire about Stone Cold also, so thought best to start another thread.
I didn't realize Ring were part of the Cardiacs camp. Didn't know they had a Levitation connection either. Was their sound closer to Cardiacs or Levitation? Levitation had a strong neo-psych flavor, is that a part of the Ring sound? I'll get the CD reissues, whether or not I find the cassettes first.

As for Stone Cold, yeah, the CD sounds very Uriah Heep like. Do you know if they have a website? Googling brings up the wrestler, movies, etc. Way too much to wade through.

Lastly, I'd like to post a wantlist of DIY cassettes, but don't see a forum for that sort of thing. Is that discouraged? No problem if it is, just asking.

Mark

Ring were very much Cardiacs flavoured, not a clone but very close in terms of sound, and almost as good, one of my all time favourite bands. Bic and Bob White went on to form Levitation. guitarist Bic was in Cardiacs inbetween Ring and Levitation. Ring and Zag And THe Coloured Beads were also closely related, Zag and The Beads are still out playing and well worth seeing

Yes, Stone Cold were very 70's Uriah Heep-like and the tapes we released were by far the best things they ever did, very demo/DIY in terms of quality but there were extra special for a time back there, kind of lost the magic by the time they started releasing CD albums with different line ups. Never seen a Stone Cold website, I can't imagine any of them knowing what a computer is... they are still in 1974.

As for a DIY tape thread, I can see no problem... as long as it isn't trading things that are available officially.

nice group you have there Mark, Organ was pretty much born at those 80's prog gigs down the Wardour Street Marquee....

Didn't Stone Cold lose a drummer to Spinal Tap? Weren't they always playing together and arguing? they were both very much alike, two great bands...

Sorry for the delay in replying, things got busy.

Thanks for the Ring info, it helped alot.
Also, turns out there is a page on the ZatCB site, and it shows a first demo tape from 1984 that I didn't know about.

As for the DIY tape wantlist, I really was referring to a 'wanted to purchase' list, however I do trade CDRs of that stuff, and none of it is commercially available. I'm a keen supporter of indie bands and realize they need every sale they can get in this age of the download. It's a matter of survival. I guess my hope was that some old timers with some of these 80s cassettes who've moved on to other things might not mind parting with them.

SeanOrgan wrote:nice group you have there Mark, Organ was pretty much born at those 80's prog gigs down the Wardour Street Marquee....

Thanks, I've been putting a lot of work into it. Unfortunately, not that many "marquee veteran" fans are as interested in that era as I would have suspected. On the plus side of the ledger, we do have 12 members representing 14 bands from the era, and the group's Photo archives are turning into virtually an online museum of the scene, with cassette & record covers, gig & promo photos, posters, newsletters, etc.

Well pretty much all the early Organ interviews were conducted in soundchecks there - Cardiacs, IQ, Webcore, Psychic TV, Ring, Faith No More and hundreds more, sold thousands of copies of Organ in there. Wardour Street Marquee was our home...

Well, I managed to download mp3s of 2 of Ring's cassettes, and have also gotten the 2 CDs by Zag & The Coloured Beads. Of this lot, I've only found time to listen to ZATCB-'Loaf Of Legs' so far, but what a great disc! Very inventive music, intricate and playful. Terrific stuff, highly recommended to any who haven't heard them.
I see there is a concert announcement for ZATCB on the board. I'd surely go if it wasn't for all the water in between me and the venue.