1. The Original Primitives, from Northampton, were also known as Mal & the Primitives. They released their debut (Help Me) in November 1964. They released a couple more 45’s before relocating to Italy where they released 3 more albums. 2. The second band known as the Primitives were a parody dance band from New York formed in 1964 (and that released one 7” that year). The band was fronted by Lou Reed and featuring John Cale, both later of The Velvet Underground. Ostrich guitar tuning, the all-D tuning particularly credited to the Velvet Underground, originated from the Primitives single the Ostrich. They disbanded in 1965. 3. The third band to use the Primitives name were a British alternative rock/indie pop band from Coventry formed in 1985. Original singer Keiron McDermott was soon replaced by Tracy Tracy (born Tracy Cattell in Australia), whose blonde good looks and distinctive voice helped the band to achieve great success for a brief period. The rest of the band consisted of PJ Court (born Paul Jonathan Court, on 27 July 1965) (vocals, guitar), Steve Dullaghan (bass) and Pete Tweedie (drums). Their career was also boosted when The Smiths singer Morrissey named them as one of his favourite bands. After a successful first album, which presented them with their UK Top 5 hit single “Crash” (which also peaked at #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart), their career began to fade in the early 1990s. They split in 1992 following the commercial failure of their final album, 1991’s Galore. Their major rivals within the ‘bubble pop’ scene were Transvision Vamp and The Darling Buds, both of whom bore a similar sound. The Primitives emerged from the much-touted independent scene of the mid-Eighties that reared, amongst others, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, The Soup Dragons and The Wedding Present. Many of these, including the Primitives, brought a welcome breath of fresh air and a sense of fun to a scene dominated by the more po-faced goth bands. And many wore their influences on their sleeves; a love of melody and the Sixties (The Monkees, The Velvet Underground and The Byrds), fast Ramones-influenced guitars, and the pop innocence of The Buzzcocks and Orange Juice. This was the backdrop for the Primitives’ formation, and few bands during this period went on to encapsulate all these ingredients so well. 4. The fourth band called The Primitives was an alternative country group formed in 1987. Upon discovering the existence of the British band of the same name, they changed their name to Uncle Tupelo. |
