Shoc Wave Records was the brainchild of Dominican immigrant Gene Walsh, Fitz Watson and Melford Gardener. From the late 1970s through to the 1990s, Shoc Wave provided the only label willing to put out records by the majority of the City's reggae and soul acts ignored by bigger and more mainstream labels and too small to finance their own releases.
Fortunately for Bristol's musical heritage, Gene Walsh kept an open mind when it came to what music his label should release and so over the course of the label he released roots reggae, dub reggae, dancehall, lovers rock, soca, disco, soul and pop, Gene and the team’s vision encompassed it all.
Without Gene Walsh and Shoc Wave many artists would never have got the chance to record in a proper studio and their music would have been lost and forgotten. Many of Bristol Archive Records previous albums would have been all the poorer without being able to draw on Gene's catalogue and so it is only fitting, that Bristol Archive Records celebrate Bristol's pioneering black music label with the release of our latest compilation, “Shoc Wave – A Bristol Story”.
This new compilation attempts to tell the story of the label and reflect the diversity of musical styles it embraced. The 19 tracks range from its first release from 1979 with Gene's own “Independence Fever” right up until the label's last single with Haswell's “Prissy Miss Maybe”. This compilation paints a picture of the musical developments in the City and the wider world as styles evolved or fell out of fashion.
Artists such as Joshua Moses, Sharon Bengamin, Bunny Marrett and Buggs Durrant will be familiar to those who follow Bristol Archive's releases. Many others are new to us with The Rimshots, No Deposit, Nite Watch, Sweet Energy, Felix The Cat, Second City Sounds and Haswell helping to illustrate other aspects of the city's music scene during the 1980s and beyond.
Released on 15th April 2013, “Shoc Wave – A Bristol Story” is available on CD and digital download from all good outlets, the CD comes with a booklet telling the history of Shoc Wave Records illustrated with archive images.
credits
released April 15, 2013
Shoc Wave Records – ‘A BRISTOL STORY’
Singles Discography:
SRP0001 Independence Fever/version Dominica
Written and produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1979 7” single
Musicians:
Gene Walsh - Bass, Guitars, Percussion, Vocals, Joshua Moses – Drums, Piano, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals Teresa Bressington – Backing Vocals
SRP0002 Pretty Girl/Dub Joshua Moses
Arranged by Joshua Moses
Written by Walsh/Moses
Produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1979 12” single
Musicians:
Donovan Jackson - Bass, Keyboards, Larry Wilson – Guitars, Joshua Moses - Drums, Percussion, Vocals
SRP003 Mr.Guy/Dub Sharon Bengamin
Written and produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1980 7” single
Musicians:
Sharon Bengamin – Vocals, Joshua Moses - Drums, Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards, Larry Wilson - Lead Guitar, Nigel Wood – Sax, Gene Walsh – Bass
SRP0004 Times Are Getting Harder/Dub Bunny Marrett
Written by Bunny Marrett
Engineered by David Lord and recorded at Crescent Studios, Bath
Produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1980 12” Single
Musicians:
Bunny Marrett – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Donovan Jackson – Bass, Joshua Moses – Drums and Keyboards, Jack Wilson – Guitar
SRP0005 Not Known
SRP0006 Mountain Lake/Jazz Radio No Deposit
Mountain Lake written by R & M Garbett
Jazz Radio written by No Deposit
Engineered by Glen Tommey at Crescent studios, Bath
Produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1980 7” single
Musicians:
Paul Poundury – Lead Guitar, Mike Crafer – Keyboards, Mark Cooper – Drums, Roger Garbett – Bass Guitar, Simon Davies – Lead Vocals
SRP0007 I Was Wrong/Stuck In A Boat The Rimshots
I Was Wrong written by The Rimshots
Stuck In A Boat written by Greg Emberry/The Rimshots
Engineered by Glen Tommey at Crescent Studios, Bath
Produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1980 7” single
Musicians:
Mike Darby – Lead Vocals, Mike Furzeman – Guitars and vocals, Simon Heathfield – Bass, Rich Bentley – Keyboards and vocals, Nick Waring – Drums and vocals
SRP0008 Not Known
SRP0009 Not Known
SRP0010 Gonna Make Your Body Get Up (Pt 1 and 2) Buggs Durrant
Written by R Gibbons
Produced by Roger Lomas
Released in 1982 7” and 12” single
SRP0011 Baby Come Back Home/You’ve Got Me To Hold Tight Buggs Durrant
Baby Come Back Home written by Errol Williams
You’ve Got Me To Hold Tight written by Richard Gibbons
Baby Come Back Home produced by Gene Walsh
You’ve Got Me To Hold Tight produced by Roger Lomas
Released in 1984 7” single
SRP0012 Never You Change/Change Black Flames
Written by Black Flames
Released in 1981 12” single
SRP0012X Dancin’ Easy (PT 1 and PT 2) Sweet Energy
Written by C Gunning, T Eyers, C Hill, N Grainge
A MusiTek Production
Released in 1989 12” single
SRP0013X All Around The World/Jamming World Felix The Cat
A MusiTek Production
Released in 1990 12” single
SRP0014 Family Affair/Crisis Sweet Energy
Family Affair written by Silvester-Stone
Crisis written by Mikey Taylor Hall
A MusiTek Production
Released in 1990 12” single
SRP0015 Dream City/Sweet Imagination Second City Sounds
Dream City and Sweet Imagination written by J Varcoe
Produced by Galvin and Mawson
Released in 1990 7” single
SRP0016 One Day/AVS Remix Sweet Energy
Written by M McFarlane and Mikey Taylor Hall
A MusiTek Production
Released in 1990 7” single
SRP0017 Unknown
SRP0018 So You Like What You See/The Programme Felix DC/Leslie Thunder
Written by Not Known
Produced by Not Known
Released in 1990 12” Single
SRP0019 Live Jam (JM Mix)/Live Jam (BF Mix) Joshua/Blak Flames
Written by WCK
A GW Production
Released on subsidiary label Soca Power Records in 1991 12” single
SRP020 Prissy Miss Maybe/All That You Need Haswell
Written by N Haswell, S Haswell, S Hurrell
A BPM Production
Released in 1991 12” single
CH1 Get Down (Cause I Love Your Body)/Baby Come Back Home Nite Watch
Get Down Cause I Love Your Body written by R Gibbons
Baby Come Back Home written by E Williams
Produced by Gene Walsh
Released in 1980 on subsidiary label Channel Records 7” single
SP0001 You Are Gone/Disco Jump Buggs Durrant
Written by Durrant, Wilson, Jackson
Produced by Fitzgerald Watson
Released in 1980 on subsidiary label Spiral Records 7” single
All releases published by Unitone Publishing Ltd except:
SRP0012X Air-Edel Associates Ltd/Hemsley Music
SRP0013X B.M.G Euro Disc Ltd/Block & Gilbert Ltd
SRP0014 C.B.S
Albums:
SRPLP0003 Give Me A Try Blak Flamez
Produced by Blak Flamez
Released in 1990
SRPCD0014 One Day Sweet Energy
A MusiTek Production
All tracks published by Unitone Publishing Ltd
Released in 1990
SRPLP0004 Clash Of The Century Various Artists
Released in 1991 on subsidiary label Shoc Wave International Records
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