It’s no secret to Essex students that the campus has a rich musical history. Even though I thought I knew the whole story with a list of maybe seven ground-breaking bands provided by the University of Essex Wikipedia page, when I began digging below the surface, I was stunned by just how lucky we’ve been over the years. Despite the fact that we’re now a pretty dreary place for anyone who isn’t able to dance to house music (provided by DJs whose names are often just regular words spelt with a ‘z’ instead of an ‘s’, turning up to press play on their Macbook), you probably have walked the same paths as Bob Marley, Morrissey and Phil Collins every day you spent on campus without even realising it.
The earliest major act my research revealed were Pink Floyd. The now defunct band, who released the most pre-ordered album of all time only last year (“The Endless River”, which topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide) played here four times over the years, including the last time in February 1971, just months after releasing their first UK #1 album, “Atom Heart Mother”. A pretty controversial ticket scam occurred on campus for their show; possibly due to the maximum of two per person because of high demand, fake tickets began circulating for their show which was part of the Valentine’s weekend. You could certainly be my valentine with a pair of Pink Floyd tickets. Make sure you bought them from the Uni itself, though.
Credit: University of Essex/Flickr
Amongst the other commercially successful bands to have played here, we have AC/DC. A particularly special case, their show in October 1978 was recorded by BBC for a TV show named “Rock Goes To College”, and our University newspaper (at the time, named The Wyvern) reported on the BBC’s recommendation for the students attending to plug their ears with cotton wool to prevent hearing damage. It was also reported that, in true Essex fashion, students did not refrain from swearing at the cameras. It’s quite possible that Essex has not been rocked quite as hard since Australia’s finest, and the BBC show can still be found on YouTube today.
We’ve also played host to R.E.M, The Who and Genesis, who’ve sold an estimated 315 million records between them. But what of the less commercial, yet just as influential acts?
Credit: Emirates 247 | Florence and the Machine played at Essex back in 2009
Siouxsie and the Banshees played here hot on the heels of their top-10 debut single ‘Hong Kong Garden’, are quoted in The Wyvern as “one of the few bands to survive the ‘punk boom’”. Along with CAN, King Crimson and Iggy Pop, it wouldn’t be a lie to say that the 1970s saw Essex as a hotbed of musical influence. All of a sudden, this year’s new Punk Society seems much more at home.
Another interesting, beloved figure in popular music to perform here is the late Kirsty MacColl, who passed away in a tragic speedboat accident in 2000. You may not know her name, but you sure as hell know her voice; she is the lead female vocal on the modern favourite Christmas tune “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues. Despite only having one top 20 album with 1991’s “Electric Landlady”, MacColl has a cult following, who come together at her birthday in Soho Square from all over the world to pay tribute at her commemorative bench.
Blur, whose frontman Damon Albarn was educated at local Colchester College and is also responsible for critically acclaimed “virtual band” Gorillaz, have performed her twice during the early 1990s. Although they weren’t quite there yet at the time, the band went on to release six UK #1 albums (the latest of which topped the chart earlier this month, “The Magic Whip”), and notably beat Oasis during the 1995 “Battle of Britpop”, where their single ‘Country House’ famously outsold ‘Roll With It’ to reach the #1 slot.
Credit: Emirates 247 | Florence & the Machine played a “packed out” show back in 2009
More recently, Jamelia has graced our midst while her highest-charting hit single “Thank You” was still in the charts. Florence + The Machine also provided a well-received show (according to The Rabbit team of 2009) as part of a new club night named Essex L!ve hosted in Sub Zero. Contrary to what was reported by the current Ents manager during the November 2014 Ents forum, the band had won the Critic’s Choice Brit Award that shot them to fame just a week and a half prior to the show, which was then described as a “total success”. It really is a wonder that Essex L!ve isn’t around today – I’d absolutely haunt it. Surely, with a band who were selling out shows across the country already, as one of seven acts to perform that night at a measly £10 a ticket, money could not have been lost! In all honesty, that one night has a line-up much more impressive than Summer Ball has.
I’m not alone when it comes to envy of University of Essex’s live music glory days. The Students’ Union have frankly wasted an untapped goldmine of live music fans. Might it help the situation a little if I mentioned that UEA have left us in the dust? They may have the Derby Day crown, but that doesn’t mean we should let them win at everything. Come on Essex, sort it out.
_
The Wombats 6/6/09
The King Blues 5/5/09
Florence + The Machine 28/2/09
Babyshambles 24/1/06
The Long Blondes 15/10/05
Maximo Park 28/4/05
Jamelia 5/6/04
Pulp 6/10/94
Blur 15/10/93
Radiohead 14/11/92
Kirsty MacColl 20/06/92
Alison Moyet 16/11/91
Lush 25/10/91
Blur 27/4/91
Lush 2/6/89
Robert Plant 30/1/88
R.E.M 24/11/84
The Smiths 18/2/84
Pretenders 23/2/80
Def Leppard 6/2/80
Iggy Pop 5/5/79
Pretenders 10/3/79
The Kinks 29/1/79
Siouxsie and the Banshees 11/11/78
AC/DC 28/10/78
Elvis Costello 3/11/77
Thin Lizzy 6/3/76
The Wailers 8/5/73
The Kinks 3/3/73
King Crimson 24/11/72
Genesis 17/11/72
CAN 11/5/72
Genesis 8/5/72
Slade 19/2/72
Genesis 23/10/71
T.Rex 14/2/71
Pink Floyd 12/2/71
Genesis 28/2/70
The Who 10/2/68
Pink Floyd 28/1/67
Pink Floyd 11+12/3/66
Alumni Archive
Where did our music go? | The Rabbit Newspaper
It’s no secret to Essex students that the campus has a rich musical history. Even though I thought I knew the whole story with a list of maybe seven ground-breaking bands provided by the University of Essex Wikipedia page, when I began digging below the surface, I was stunned by just how lucky we’ve been over the years. Despite the fact that we’re now a pretty dreary place for anyone who isn’t able to dance to house music (provided by DJs whose names are often just regular words spelt with a ‘z’ instead of an ‘s’, turning up to press play on their Macbook), you probably have walked the same paths as Bob Marley, Morrissey and Phil Collins every day you spent on campus without even realising it.
The earliest major act my research revealed were Pink Floyd. The now defunct band, who released the most pre-ordered album of all time only last year (“The Endless River”, which topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide) played here four times over the years, including the last time in February 1971, just months after releasing their first UK #1 album, “Atom Heart Mother”. A pretty controversial ticket scam occurred on campus for their show; possibly due to the maximum of two per person because of high demand, fake tickets began circulating for their show which was part of the Valentine’s weekend. You could certainly be my valentine with a pair of Pink Floyd tickets. Make sure you bought them from the Uni itself, though.
Credit: University of Essex/Flickr
Amongst the other commercially successful bands to have played here, we have AC/DC. A particularly special case, their show in October 1978 was recorded by BBC for a TV show named “Rock Goes To College”, and our University newspaper (at the time, named The Wyvern) reported on the BBC’s recommendation for the students attending to plug their ears with cotton wool to prevent hearing damage. It was also reported that, in true Essex fashion, students did not refrain from swearing at the cameras. It’s quite possible that Essex has not been rocked quite as hard since Australia’s finest, and the BBC show can still be found on YouTube today.
We’ve also played host to R.E.M, The Who and Genesis, who’ve sold an estimated 315 million records between them. But what of the less commercial, yet just as influential acts?
Credit: Emirates 247 | Florence and the Machine played at Essex back in 2009
Siouxsie and the Banshees played here hot on the heels of their top-10 debut single ‘Hong Kong Garden’, are quoted in The Wyvern as “one of the few bands to survive the ‘punk boom’”. Along with CAN, King Crimson and Iggy Pop, it wouldn’t be a lie to say that the 1970s saw Essex as a hotbed of musical influence. All of a sudden, this year’s new Punk Society seems much more at home.
Another interesting, beloved figure in popular music to perform here is the late Kirsty MacColl, who passed away in a tragic speedboat accident in 2000. You may not know her name, but you sure as hell know her voice; she is the lead female vocal on the modern favourite Christmas tune “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues. Despite only having one top 20 album with 1991’s “Electric Landlady”, MacColl has a cult following, who come together at her birthday in Soho Square from all over the world to pay tribute at her commemorative bench.
Blur, whose frontman Damon Albarn was educated at local Colchester College and is also responsible for critically acclaimed “virtual band” Gorillaz, have performed her twice during the early 1990s. Although they weren’t quite there yet at the time, the band went on to release six UK #1 albums (the latest of which topped the chart earlier this month, “The Magic Whip”), and notably beat Oasis during the 1995 “Battle of Britpop”, where their single ‘Country House’ famously outsold ‘Roll With It’ to reach the #1 slot.
Credit: Emirates 247 | Florence & the Machine played a “packed out” show back in 2009
More recently, Jamelia has graced our midst while her highest-charting hit single “Thank You” was still in the charts. Florence + The Machine also provided a well-received show (according to The Rabbit team of 2009) as part of a new club night named Essex L!ve hosted in Sub Zero. Contrary to what was reported by the current Ents manager during the November 2014 Ents forum, the band had won the Critic’s Choice Brit Award that shot them to fame just a week and a half prior to the show, which was then described as a “total success”. It really is a wonder that Essex L!ve isn’t around today – I’d absolutely haunt it. Surely, with a band who were selling out shows across the country already, as one of seven acts to perform that night at a measly £10 a ticket, money could not have been lost! In all honesty, that one night has a line-up much more impressive than Summer Ball has.
I’m not alone when it comes to envy of University of Essex’s live music glory days. The Students’ Union have frankly wasted an untapped goldmine of live music fans. Might it help the situation a little if I mentioned that UEA have left us in the dust? They may have the Derby Day crown, but that doesn’t mean we should let them win at everything. Come on Essex, sort it out.
_
The Wombats 6/6/09
The King Blues 5/5/09
Florence + The Machine 28/2/09
Babyshambles 24/1/06
The Long Blondes 15/10/05
Maximo Park 28/4/05
Jamelia 5/6/04
Pulp 6/10/94
Blur 15/10/93
Radiohead 14/11/92
Kirsty MacColl 20/06/92
Alison Moyet 16/11/91
Lush 25/10/91
Blur 27/4/91
Lush 2/6/89
Robert Plant 30/1/88
R.E.M 24/11/84
The Smiths 18/2/84
Pretenders 23/2/80
Def Leppard 6/2/80
Iggy Pop 5/5/79
Pretenders 10/3/79
The Kinks 29/1/79
Siouxsie and the Banshees 11/11/78
AC/DC 28/10/78
Elvis Costello 3/11/77
Thin Lizzy 6/3/76
The Wailers 8/5/73
The Kinks 3/3/73
King Crimson 24/11/72
Genesis 17/11/72
CAN 11/5/72
Genesis 8/5/72
Slade 19/2/72
Genesis 23/10/71
T.Rex 14/2/71
Pink Floyd 12/2/71
Genesis 28/2/70
The Who 10/2/68
Pink Floyd 28/1/67
Pink Floyd 11+12/3/66
Alumni Archive