Sex Gang Children
Encyclopedia
The Sex Gang Children are a positive punk (the precursory term for gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...

) group that formed in the early 1980s in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Although the original group only released one official studio album, they remain one of the more well-known bands out of the early Batcave scene and have reformed for new albums and touring various times since the early 1990s.

History

The original line-up was Andi Sexgang (vocals, guitar), Dave Roberts
Dave Roberts (musician)
Dave Roberts was the bass player of the band Sex Gang Children who were a prominent act in the gothic rock movement of the 1980s, recording under the name ‘Dave Sex Gang’. He left the band in 1983 after their only album Song and Legend, setting up the group Carcrash International with various...

 (bass), Terry McLeay (guitar), and Rob Stroud (drums). They were a very dramatic band, relying on heavy bass, tribal drumming, sudden mood shifts, a woozy cabaret ready sound that influenced the rise of the later dark cabaret
Dark Cabaret
Dark cabaret may be a simple description of the theme and mood of a cabaret performance, but more recently has come to define a particular musical genre which draws on the aesthetics of the decadent, risqué German Weimar-era cabarets, burlesque and vaudeville shows with the stylings of post-1970s...

 scene, and yet another in a long line of goth singers with an odd, highly dramatic voice. Although the group only released one official album, their singles and various other tracks have been packaged into numerous collections, and they remain one of the more well-known bands out of the early Batcave scene. The band's first release was a cassette-only live album, Naked, in 1982, followed by their first vinyl release, the Beasts EP
Extended 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...

 the same year, now signed to the Illuminated label. The band's only studio album from their original period together, Song and Legend, was released in 1983, reaching the top of the UK Indie Chart
UK 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...

 and spawning the single "Sebastiane". Stroud departed to form Aemotu Crii, to be replaced by former Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate
Theatre of Hate were a post-punk band formed in Britain in 1980.Led by singer-songwriter and ex-member of punk band The Pack, Kirk Brandon, the original group also consisted of: guitarist Steve Guthrie, bassist Stan Stammers , saxophonist John Lennard and drummer Luke Rendle from Crisis/The...

 drummer Nigel Preston, who played on the band's next single, "Mauritia Mayer", before himself being replaced by former Death Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

 drummer Ray Mondo. Roberts left in late 1983 to form Carcrash International
Carcrash International
Carcrash International was formed as a kind of super-group consisting of the elite musicians of the Cleopatra label, similar to This Mortal Coil, concentrated around a joint project...

, and the line-up settled to Andi, Mcleay, Cam Campbell (bass) and Kevin Matthews (drums), a change forced by Ray Mondo's deportation to his native Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

.

The band split up in 1984, with Andi Sexgang embarking on a solo career, but renewed interest in the band in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 led to a reformation in 1991, and a new album, Medea, in 1993.

Name

The Sex Gang Children were originally called Panic Button. The name "Sex Gang Children" was taken by Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...

 from a William Burroughs novel as a possible name for the band that became Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines.The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".-History:...

 and was one of the names that Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

 went through before choosing "Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...

". SGC vocalist Andi Sex Gang tried to persuade George to use the name, but when Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...

 drummer Jon Moss
Jon Moss
Jon Moss is an English drummer best known as a member of the 1980s pop group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, The Nips and The Damned.-Early life:...

 passed on the idea, Andi decided that the name should not go to waste.

Albums

  • Song and Legend
    Song and Legend
    Song and Legend is the first full-length album by the gothic rock band Sex Gang Children, released in 1983.-Track listing:All songs written by Sex Gang Children#"The Crack Up" - 3:42#"German Nun" - 3:08#" State of Mind" - 3:30...

    - 1983 (#1)
  • Blind - 1992 reissue
  • Medea - 1993
  • The Wrath of God - 2001
  • Bastard Art - 2002

Singles

  • "Into the Abyss
    Into the Abyss (song)
    "Into the Abyss" is a song by English gothic rock band the Sex Gang Children. It was the band's first single and has materialized in many of their compilation albums. The B-Side, "Dieche", has also become a band classic and was later remixed as a 12" single in 1984....

    " - 1982 (#7)
  • "Song and Legend" - 1983 (#6)
  • "Mauritia Mayer
    Mauritia Mayer
    "Mauritia Mayer" is a single by British band the Sex Gang Children. It was the band's second single, and is one of their most popular songs.It's title is a reference to Mauritia "Moritz" Mayer, , proprietress of the Pension Moritz hotel....

    " - 1983 (#7)
  • "Dieche
    Dieche
    "Dieche" is a single by the Sex Gang Children. According to vocalist Andi Sexgang, "this song is based upon a real life character who was on the run for arson and murder. In fact, he was a dear friend of my personal hairdresser."...

    " - 1984 (#15)
  • "Dieche" - 1985

Live

  • Naked - 1982 (#15)
  • Live - 1983
  • Ecstasy and Vendetta Over New York - 1984 (#20)
  • Nightland - 1986
  • Play with Children - 1992

Compilations

  • Beasts - 1983
  • Re-enter the Abyss (The 1985 Remixes) - 1985 (#22)
  • The Hungry Years - 1991
  • Dieche - 1993
  • Welcome to My World - 1998
  • Pop Up - 1999
  • Shout & Scream - 1999
  • Demonstration - 2000
  • The Dark Archives volume 1 - 2000
  • Empyre and Fall - 2001
  • Fall: The Complete Singles - 2003
  • Execution & Elegance: The Anthology 1982-2002 - 2004

External links

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