Various
Bristol And Bath Pop Explosion- The 80s (trans Pink)
There has always been a broad picture of the scope of music that has come out of the Bristol and Bath areas. It may surprise observers that some of that heady creativity included the more commercial end of straight up pop music.Did it lead anywhere, or have any merit? Were they, the acts, any good? Did they get any exposure and recognition? This questioning prompted the long-time music industry creative and journalist, Dave Massey and Bristol Archive Records owner, Mike Darby, to go through their extensive archive of local music - from this archive trawl Massey and Darby uncovered pop gold. All kinds of strategies were used by acts and their managers to promote themselves. Tracks were circulated on cassette tapes in order to solicit interest from an industry drowning in pop. Some went further and actually got as far as putting out independent releases. Gigs were done in 'unusual' venues. Videos were made in whatever surroundings would work. These acts have stories of 'got so close' and 'what might have been'. Utilising the industry contacts Massey had built up through his writing he even ended up managing a couple of them for differing periods of time.