Blue Orchids are an English post-punk band formed in Manchester in 1979, when Martin Bramah left the Fall, after playing on the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials.
Christened by Salford-based punk poet John Cooper Clarke the band recorded for Rough Trade and acted as backing band for the Velvet Underground's Nico before a 25-year period of intermittent activity and fluctuating line-ups.
Having left the Fall, Bramah teamed up with another two former Fall members, keyboardist Una Baines, and guitarist Rick Goldstraw, as well as bassist Steve Toyne and drummer Ian Rogers (AKA Joe Kin).[1][2] John Cooper Clarke suggested the name 'The Blessed Orchids' but according to Bramah, Goldstraw mis-remembered it as 'The Blue Orchids' and the name stuck.[3]
The band signed to Rough Trade Records and in November 1980 released its debut single, a double A-side, "The Flood"/"Disney Boys".[1][2][4] After this release Steve Toyne left the band and Rick Goldstraw took over the bass . In February 1981 the group released its second single "Work".
"Work" was much liked by BBC DJ John Peel who played it regularly[4] and the group was invited to record a Peel session for his show. The band's music came to the attention of Echo & the Bunnymen, who subsequently invited Blue Orchids to be the support act for its 1981 UK tour.[3] Alastair "Baz" Murphy was recruited to play keyboards on the tour as Baines was ill.
The group toured with Nico, serving as both backing group and support act. Goldstraw decided to leave Blue Orchids to continue touring with Nico, so a new bassist, Mark Hellyer, replaced him. During the time the band were working with Nico, Steve Garvey (formerly with Buzzcocks, The Teardrops and Bok Bok, then with Motivation), also played bass with them, shortly before he migrated to the United States.[5][6]
The group's next record was the Agents of Change EP in 1982.[4][7] After parting company with Rough Trade at the end of the year, the group split up, and Baines formed The Fates.[1]
Bramah and Baines briefly reconvened the Blue Orchids in 1985 with the single "Sleepy Town", after which the group split up again. Bramah then formed a new group with ex-Fall drummer Karl Burns called Thirst. The group only released one record, the Riding the Times EP, in 1987.[1]
In 1989, Bramah briefly returned to The Fall and appeared on the Extricate album. He was sacked from the group during its tour of Australia the following year.
In 1991, Bramah returned with a new incarnation of Blue Orchids which featured ex-Smiths guitarist Craig Gannon on guitar, Martin Hennin on bass and Dick Harrison on drums.[1][2] Their first release was a single called "Diamond Age", followed in 1991 by a compilation album called A View from the City. In 1992 they released the Secret City EP and a second album was recorded in 1993, but would remain unreleased for ten years. Bramah decided to split the group again in 1995.
In 2002, a compilation album called A Darker Bloom was released on the Cherry Red label.[2][8] This release had sleeve notes written by Bramah's former colleague in The Fall, BBC DJ Marc Riley who said of them: ″Think Tom Verlaine guesting with The Doors ... one of the most engaging and intriguing bands of the 80s″ [9]
2003 saw the group reissue three albums on the LTM label. The shelved album from 1993 was finally released with the title The Sleeper.[10] Released almost simultaneously was a compilation album called From Severe to Serene, which featured the group's two Peel Sessions, live tracks and the contents of Thirst's Riding the Times EP.[11] At the end of the year the group's debut album The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) was reissued on CD.
In 2004, LTM also released a brand new Blue Orchids album called Mystic Bud.[12] It contained a cover version of Sugar, SugarbyThe Archies alongside nine Bramah originals.[12] Founder member Rick Goldstraw returned for the Slum-Cavern-Jest! EP in 2005. This release featured a cover version of the Fred Neil song "Green Rocky Road".
In January 2008, Martin Bramah released his debut solo album The Battle of Twisted Heel.
December 2008 saw the formation of Bramah's new group Factory Star, featuring Tim Lyons and Brian Benson (from The Sandells). They were replaced in April 2009 by fellow ex-Fall members Steve Hanley on bass, Paul Hanley on drums and John Paul Moran (aka Hop Man Jr) of Gnod and Rapid Pig on keyboards. The line-up of Factory Star as of June 2010 was Martin Bramah, Hop Man Jr, Chris Dutton (bass) and Tom Tom Lewis (drums). In January 2012, ex-The Passage drummer Joe Mckechnie replaced Lewis.
In September 2012 the Blue Orchids reformed once again, playing gigs in Liverpool, Manchester and London. The line-up consisted of the Factory Star members Martin Bramah, John Paul Moran, Chris Dutton and Joe McKechnie, with the addition of Ann Matthews (Fflaps/Ectogram) on guitar/vocals. In January 2013 Chris Connolly, formerly of V2 and Ed Banger and long-serving The Glitter Band member, joined on drums. In 2015 Vince Hunt of A Witness and Inca Babies replaced Chris Dutton on bass and the band returned to regular live appearances. In 2017 Chis Connolly was replaced by Howard Jones, formally of Last Harbour, Kin, Calvin Party.
In 2016 Blue Orchids released a new album The Once and Future Thing,[13] a retrospective compilation of the Rough Trade years called Awefull,[4] with artwork from celebrated artists Aleksandar Mladenović and Aleksandra Keković Mladenović, plus Bramah's own long-lost solo album The Battle of Twisted Heel on the label Tiny Global Productions,[14] re-shaped the line-up and recorded new songs including a track for the Stewart Lee-compiled tribute to Birmingham cult band The Nightingales. The band continue to tour and record through 2016.
Blue Orchids have been critically acclaimed by some notable music writers. The NME's Barney Hoskyns said of them "There is an economy of love and yearning in every chord, vocal or instrumental that breaks from the aching heart of the Blue Orchids' sound" while the writer Paul Morley, reviewing their second single "Work" said "They rave but they are not mad."[15]
The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) (LP, Rough Trade, 1982) (no. 5) - CD reissued, LTM, 2003, appending all Rough Trade non-lp tracks, plus an unrelated live track by Nico.)
The Sleeper (CD, LTM, 2003 – contains a "missing" 90s album and tracks from contemporaneous singles.)
Mystic Bud (CD, 2004 – largely a Martin Bramah solo effort, though credited to Blue Orchids.)
The Battle of Twisted Heel (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2016 – credited to Martin Bramah, legitimate reissue of a privately-pressed recording.)
The Once And Future Thing (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2016.)
Righteous Harmony Fist (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2018.)
The Magical Record of Blue Orchids (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2019.)
Speed The Day (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2021.)
Angus Tempus Memoir (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2022.)
Magpie Heights (LP / CD, Tiny Global Productions, 2023.)
"Riding The Times EP" (byThirst) (12" EP, Rough Trade, 1987)
"Diamond Age" / "Moth" (12" 45, As/Is, 1991)
"Secret City EP" (CD EP, Authentic Records, 1992)
"Slum-Cavern-Jest! EP" (CD EP, Blind Eye, 2005 – privately pressed EP, now mostly available as part of "The Battle of Twisted Heel" and credited to Martin Bramah.)
"Skull Jam EP" (Limited Edition 10" EP, Tiny Global Productions, 2017)
"Overreactor / Music Of A Werewolf" (Download single, Tiny Global Productions, 2024)
