In July 1985 Pete Tweedie, Steve Dullaghan, Keiron and Paul Court joined together with an
age average of eighteen and called themselves The Primitives.
After a series of brief gigs, Keiron (Vocals) left, the remainder placed an ad in their
library and Tracey arrived on the doorstep. By February 1986 they had started recording.
In 1987, Pete Tweedie left the band, wether it was because of Tracey's cats, one may never know..
In 1988, Steve Dullaghan decided enough was enough of playing bass and it was time to play guitar..
In 1989, Pete Tweedie returned to the band to appear in the promo video for Sick of it..
In 1989, Andy Hobson joined the band as the new bassist for the tour..
Formed Coventry, England, 1985; disbanded 1991.
The Primitives were perhaps the most frenetic band of the 80s, making a name for themselves
with their live sets in which they might run through six songs in ten minutes. They were fronted, by
the time they got into their stride, by startling peroxide-blonde singer Tracy Tracy, with
high-energy support from Paul Court (guitar/vocals), Steve Dullahan (bass) and Pete Tweedie
(drums).
The band's first single, "Thru the Flowers" (1986), was a concoction of feedback-fed bubblegum
pop, and brought rewards in the shape of four different Radio 1 sessions. The follow-up, "Really
Stupid", released later in the year, was a student dancefloor stomper and saw The Primitives firmly
established in the indie charts. Its buzzsaw guitar epitomized the band's live performance, and was
brought to the fore on the next single, "Stop Killing Me", a UK indie #1 which established the band
in the vanguard of an explosion of guitar groups.
Everyone seemed to want to jump on the bandwagon, and even Morrissey was photographed
wearing a "Stop Killing Me" T-shirt. The major record companies now came calling and The
Primitives signed to RCA in 1987, stopping only to re-record "Thru the Flowers" as a goodbye
gesture to their indie label, Lazy. Their RCA debut, "Crash", was released in February 1988 and
soared to #5 in the UK after a memorable appearance on Top of the Pops. By now Tracy's face
was shining out from a plethora of magazine covers and it was no surprise when The Primitives'
debut album, Lovely, stormed into the UK Top 10 on the week of its release in April 1988.
With new drummer Tig Williams, the band set off on their first major tour. Although a sell-out,
the gigs exposed their limitations, as songs which had glowed in the studio were left flat and
faltering in the live arena. Still, they got better as they went along, and set off to try and break into
the US market. They did so with some success with Lovely selling in excess of 150,000 copies
and "Crash" remaining in the college chart for six months.
The band then returned to England and set to work on a second album, eventually re-emerging
from the studio in July 1989 with Tracy having become a brunette and the band trimmed down to a
three-piece, Steve Dullahan having left. The first fruit of their labours was the single "Sick of it", a
fine song reminiscent of "Really Stupid", though it failed to catch the imagination of the
record-buying public and faltered at #24.
RCA alarm bells started to ring when the next single, "Secrets", failed even to reach the UK Top
40 and the fall from grace was confirmed when the album Pure was released to generally
lacklustre reviews in October 1989, peaked at #33 in the UK and spent just two weeks on the
chart. A compilation album of all the early singles, released by Lazy a month before Pure,
highlighted the band's lack of progression.
The Primitives returned to release "You Are the Way" in August 1991, but they were seen as a
spent force, and split up not long afterwards.
Lovely (1988; RCA). An album that freeze-frames a precise moment in rock history.
Girl-fronted English guitar bands were all the rage and after the success of "Crash" -
naturally track one, side one - Lovely was held up as the album from which all others should take
their lead. A collection of classic pop melodies alongside psychedelic-tinged offerings.
Andy Lowe
