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The March Violets are an English post-punk band formed in the 1980s in the city of Leeds, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echo-laden electric guitar, much in the style of scenemates and fellow Leeds residents The Sisters of Mercy. Seven March Violets singles reached the UK Indie Chart; the ''Natural History'' LP also was an indie hit (#3, 1984). ==History== The original band members met while at Leeds University in 1981. Tom Ashton and Laurence "Loz" Elliot played lead and bass guitar, while vocals were handled by both Simon "Detroit" Denbigh and Rosie Garland. Percussion was provided by a drum machine, a feature that a number of bands in the burgeoning Leeds scene had in common. Fellow student Andrew Eldritch, lead singer of The Sisters of Mercy, released the band's debut 7" on his Merciful Release label in 1982. The "Religious As Hell" EP consisted of four tracks that reflected strong punk and garage rock influences in the guitar work, along with contrasting vocals from the two singers. Denbigh's vocal style varied from conversational to harsh yelling, whereas Garland's voice was high-pitched and almost operatic. The band garnered positive reviews for this first release, which was soon followed in 1983 by a second single for Merciful Release. "Grooving in Green" featured louder drum machine beats, and it received greater positive reaction from the UK national music press. At this point, the band appeared to fall out of favour with Eldritch, and they established their own Rebirth record label to handle future releases. The "Crow Baby" single shortly followed, and repeated the pattern of good reviews and a good showing in the UK independent record chart. On the title track of the next single, "Snake Dance", additional female vocals were provided by Cleo Murray, and for the two final independent releases, "Walk Into the Sun" and "Deep", Garland was no longer a part of the band. The March Violets shifted towards a more pop-oriented sound, and Denbigh left the band in early February 1985〔''The March Of Time''. In: Sounds magazine, 16 February 1985, page 2.〕 (he went on to form The Batfish Boys and D-Rok). An increasingly commercial-sounding March Violets began to receive negative reviews from the music press. The accusations of selling out worsened as the band signed to major label London Records, at which time they added drummer Andy Tolson to the lineup. The subsequent "Turn to the Sky" single was released through London Records, although still bearing the Rebirth imprint. Reviews were disparaging, and despite being featured on the soundtrack to the film ''Some Kind of Wonderful'', the band failed to find a new audience and broke up in 1987. Following the split, Ashton performed with Hard Rain and long-running goth band Clan of Xymox, while Murray briefly fronted The Lovecraft in the early 1990s. Garland went on to become an acclaimed poet and cabaret performer, performing under the name Rosie Lugosi. She then became the victim of a stalker, with the court case featured as a lead article in the ''Manchester Evening News''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The March Violets」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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