STORTBEAT - A MUSICAL COLLECTIVE

In 1978 a group of individuals from local bands inspired by the DIY ethic of punk started their own record label. They were Richard Holgarth and Billy Meadows from The Gangsters, Kevin Jones and Shane Roe from The Sods with Colin Babb who did the accounts.

STORTBEAT began life in 1978 with a £1000 overdraft from a bank. The first release was "Record Company"/"Harlow Town" by The Gangsters. It got good reviews and was played by John Peel on his Radio 1 show. The main venues in the area were The Triad in Stortford and The Square in Harlow. In a couple of months the initial pressing had sold out which enabled more releases to be made. The Harlow Playhouse bar on Saturdays became Stortbeats central meeting point.

Gordon Wilkins and Pete Lawrence later compiled a collection of Stortbeat recordings for HandSignal records.

Stortbeat group photo taken outside Harlow Town Hall


Stortbeat. A Musical Collective. Anniversary CD cover	Stortbeats first release	The Gangsters

STORTBEAT DISCOGRAPHY.

1979.

The Gangsters : 45 Record company/Harlow Town No sleeve

The Gangsters : Beat 2 LP , The Gangsters p/s

The Gangsters : 45 Beat 3 , Best Friend/Dub Version p/s

The Rabbits : 45 Kitchen Parties/Tonight p/s

The Sods : Beat 5 , 45 No Pictures/Plaything p/s

Deadringer : Beat 6 , 45 Breakout/Latin Hoochie coo p/s

The Spelling Missteaks : Beat 7 , 45 Popstar/Mirrors/Rubber Duck/Urge p/s

The Licks : Beat 8 , 45 1970s have been made in Hong Kong/System Rejects/Hitler’s Still a nazi p/s

NO WONDER DISCOGRAPHY .

Newtown Neurotics : Now 1, 45 Hypocrite/You Said No 1979 p/s

The Arabs : Now 2 , 45 , Sean and Henry?/Sod It 1979 p/s

Spermicide : Now 3 , 45 , Femme Prothese/Belgique 1980 p/s

Newtown Neurotics : Now 4 , 45 ,When The Oil Runs Out/Oh No! 1980 p/s

Newtown Neurotics : Now 6 , 45 Suzi is a heart breaker/Fools Now T6 12 inch with additional track When I Need You 1984 p/s

Cassettes:

Phasing out capitalism Now Cass 1 – 1981

Pissed as a Newt – Newtown Neurotics – Now Cass 2 – 1982

Early Warning – No Warning - Now Cass 3 - 1982

AIRPLAY DISCOGRAPHY.

Pressure Stops : 45, Crash wanderer/Shirts p/s 1980

Pressure Stops : 45, Bedsitter/Control/Day in the life p/s 1981

Pre-Set : 45, Better/So Superstitious No sleeve 1981

Various Artists Cassette : play 4 Music For Shopping Precincts. Includes tracks by : Roger Milton/The Firm/Easy Action/Urban Decay 1981.

Various Artists Cassette : Play 5 , Muscle Man Cover 1982. Includes tracks by : Innervision/Easy action/ Batrachophrnoboocosmachia/The Rabbits .

Stortbeat Records

No Wonder Records

Airplay Records

Trendy Records

Mirror Co. and others in Collaboration with Handsignal Recordings.

A compilation double cd was released in 2004 and featured all the recordings made for Stortbeat plus some extra live tracks that were found.

If you search hard enough you can still find copies for sale through places like e bay.

They are as rare as dodo droppings and only 1000 were ever made.

SPECIAL THANKS TO GORDON WILKINS FOR SUPPLYING INFO AND PICTURES


Easy Action	Easy Action live

Epileptics live	Epileptics live

Gangsters Bill and Martin	Gangster Richard Holgarth

Neurotic Steve Drewett	Neurotics Colin and Tiggy at Triad

Pete The Meat And The Boys	Richard Holgarth (back) and Pete Brown

Pressure Stops	Pressure Stops

The Rabbits	Dave Brown & Ben Evans. Spelling Missteaks

The Sods	Urban Decay with Colin Dredd (back)

STORTBEAT SCRAPBOOK


The Epileptics	The Epileptics	The Licks	Easy Action	Stortbeat gig

The Epileptics cover	The Firm	Pete and Bill from The Gangsters	Bill Gangster	Steve teaches Pete to smoke

The Groove	Mirror Co cover	Steve Drewett live at The Triad	The Neurotics at The Railway	The Rabbits cover

The Rabbits cover	The Rage	The Spelling Missteaks cover	The Sods	The Rabbits Declan Barron