Chron Gen
Encyclopedia
Chron Gen were a British
punk
band
formed in January 1978 in Letchworth
, Hertfordshire
.
Puppets of War in 1981 on their own Gargoyle label; It spent almost ten months in the UK Independent Chart, peaking at number 4. With the success of the EP, Chron Gen were invited to join The Exploited
, Discharge
, Anti-Pasti
, and The Anti-Nowhere League
on the now infamous Apocalypse tour in the UK
in the summer of 1981. They released a single on the Step Forward label before moving to Secret Records, who issued the band's debut album, Chronic Generation, in March 1982. It reached number 53 on the UK Albums Chart
, and was the last release to feature Thurlow, who was replaced by Mark 'Floyd' Alison. The band toured with The Exploited on their 'So What' tour and toured the United States in support of the album. After a further single, Dimmock left to join Chelsea
(and later Bandits at 4 O'Clock), and was replaced by Roy Horner. The band's final release was the 1984 mini-album Nowhere to Run, which was recorded before Horner joined and featured session musician Nigel Ross-Scott on bass. It didn't match their earlier success and the band split up in October 1984. The band have played occasional reunion shows since.
Floyd later joined The Occasional Tables. He died on 31 October 1999.
Pete Dimmock died on the 12th August 2011.
Glynn Barber obtained his nickname 'Baxter' following his own surname being misspelt. He tours local pubs and clubs regularly as a solo
artist
using that name. He is also part of a glam rock
tribute band
, Rebel Rebel.
, except where indicated.
Live albums:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
formed in January 1978 in Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.
History
Chron Gen initially comprised former members of The Condemned and Optional Xtras. Band members included Glynn (Baxter) Barber (vocals/guitarist), Jon 'JJ' Johnson (drummer), Adam Warwicker (bass guitar), and Jon Thurlow (rhythm guitar), with Pete Dimmock replacing Warwicker after the band recorded their first demo. The band released their debut EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Puppets of War in 1981 on their own Gargoyle label; It spent almost ten months in the UK Independent Chart, peaking at number 4. With the success of the EP, Chron Gen were invited to join The Exploited
The Exploited
The Exploited are a Scottish punk band from the second wave of UK punk, formed in 1979. Originally a street punk band, they transformed into a faster hardcore punk band with a heavy political influence. From about 1987 on they changed into a crossover thrash band...
, Discharge
Discharge (band)
Discharge is a British hardcore punk band formed in 1977 by Terry "Tezz" Roberts and Roy "Rainy" Wainwright. They are often considered among one of the very first bands to play hardcore punk, and to mix punk with metal...
, Anti-Pasti
Anti-Pasti
Anti-Pasti was a British punk band, founded by vocalist Martin Roper and guitarist Dugi Bell in 1978, featuring Kev Nixon on drums and Will Hoon on bass guitar. Later they were joined by a second guitarist, Olly Hoon. Their first album, The Last Call, spent seven weeks in the UK Albums Chart,...
, and The Anti-Nowhere League
The Anti-Nowhere League
Anti-Nowhere League is an English punk band, formed in 1980 by lead singer Animal , guitarist Magoo , Tony "Bones" Shaw on drums and Chris "Baggy" Elvy on bass.-Early days:...
on the now infamous Apocalypse tour in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the summer of 1981. They released a single on the Step Forward label before moving to Secret Records, who issued the band's debut album, Chronic Generation, in March 1982. It reached number 53 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, and was the last release to feature Thurlow, who was replaced by Mark 'Floyd' Alison. The band toured with The Exploited on their 'So What' tour and toured the United States in support of the album. After a further single, Dimmock left to join Chelsea
Chelsea (band)
Chelsea are an English punk rock band, formed in London in 1976.Three of the four original band members went on to help found Generation X. More than two decades after its release, "Right to Work", Chelsea's debut single, was included in Mojo magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all...
(and later Bandits at 4 O'Clock), and was replaced by Roy Horner. The band's final release was the 1984 mini-album Nowhere to Run, which was recorded before Horner joined and featured session musician Nigel Ross-Scott on bass. It didn't match their earlier success and the band split up in October 1984. The band have played occasional reunion shows since.
Floyd later joined The Occasional Tables. He died on 31 October 1999.
Pete Dimmock died on the 12th August 2011.
Glynn Barber obtained his nickname 'Baxter' following his own surname being misspelt. He tours local pubs and clubs regularly as a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
artist
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
using that name. He is also part of a glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
tribute band
Tribute band
A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act - sometimes one which has disbanded, ceased touring or is deceased. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style...
, Rebel Rebel.
Discography
Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie ChartUK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
, except where indicated.
Singles EPs
- Puppets of War EP (1981), Gargoyle - (#4)
- "Reality" (1981), Step Forward - (#2)
- "Jet Boy, Jet GirlJet Boy, Jet Girl"Jet Boy, Jet Girl" is a risqué song by Elton Motello about a 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl...
" (1982), Secret - (#4) - "Outlaw" (1982), Secret
Albums
- Chronic Generation (1982), Secret - (#2), (UK Albums ChartUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#53), initial copies came with a free Live 7-inch EP - Nowhere to Run (1984), Picasso - (#25)
Live albums:
- Apocalypse Live Tour June '81 (Live at Leicester) (1982), Chaos Tapes - (#15)
- Live at the Waldorf in San Francisco (1985), Picasso
Compilations
- The Best of Chron Gen (1994), Captain Oi!
- Puppets of War: The Collection (2004), Rhythm Vicar - (2 CDCompact DiscThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
set with some previously unreleased material)