The Bolshoi are an English London-based music group prominent mostly in the mid to late 1980s. They are best known for the hits "Sunday Morning" and "A way" or "Away" (the name is interchangeable and has been noted as both on different albums/singles).
The band formed in 1984 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England.[1][2] The original lineup consisted of singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner, drummer Jan Kalicki, and bassist Graham Cox. Tanner and Kalicki had previously played together in the short-lived punk band Moskow, where Trevor performed as Trevor Flynn (his mother's maiden name). Early gigs supported the likes of the Cult, the March Violets and the Lords of the New Church. After eight gigs bass player Graham Cox was replaced by Nick Chown. In 1985, the band released their debut single, "Sob Story", followed by the mini-album, Giants, and their hit song "Happy Boy".[3] Word of mouth was such that the Bolshoi were able to sell out many of their early headlining performances.
The band moved to London in 1985, and their line-up expanded to include Paul Clark on keyboards (born 12 June 1962, Leeds, Yorkshire).[3] In 1986, they released their first full-length album, Friends,[3] and expanded their touring schedule to the U.S., South America and Poland. It was followed in 1987 by the album Lindy's Party, on which the sound was more pop-oriented.[3] TC Wall, reviewing the album in Underground magazine, described Lindy's Party as "completely confident, commercial, professional, and dangerously catchy" and "a fine album that'll be caressed for generations."[4]
Stylistically, the Bolshoi were difficult to categorize. The band has been described as a proto-goth band, similar in their live act to fellow Beggars Banquet signees, Bauhaus. Tanner was recognized for his dark, pensive lyrics that belied a social responsibility and awareness.
After the release of Lindy's Party, the band recorded a fourth album. However, problems with their record label management impeded its release, and they disbanded in 1988.[3][5] The previously unreleased fourth album, titled Country Life, had been lost for years, but was later released by Beggars Banquet with extensive help from Tanner's current record label-head and creative director, David Paul Wyatt Perko.
In December 2018, the Bolshoi's official Facebook page announced that frontman Trevor Tanner and keyboardist Paul Clark were developing a new project, tentatively titled "The Bolshoi Brothers".
In November 2022, following launch of their website, The Bolshoi Brothers released "Steam Funk", a track from their debut album scheduled for release in 2023.
