Here at Freaky Trigger we have realised that January has been a bit slow with output. A new year can put new strains upon our writers and what with Tom’s Guardian column and me embarking on a year without cinema, pickings have been slim. What was needed was something that would galvanise all the writers, a shared passion, a subject with suitable artistic depth that that everyone young or old could contribute to. When framed in those terms there was really only one possible subject that in 2010 needed the kind of re-evaluation and celebration that only FT could provide.
BIS.
Manda Rin, Sci-Fi Steve and John Disco’s manifesto for a Teen-C Revolution may now be generally forgotten in the merry-go-round of the British charts, but after BIS WEEK you will have no more illusions of the vital importance of this small Scottish band at the turn of the millennium. Ground breaking, historic and influential in fields that may surprise you, BIS WEEK will demonstrate the tendrils of Fake DIY which have infiltrated nearly every facet of the arts. From film, to books, to reality TV, to even the British food revolution of the 00’s, Bis can be seen to be the secret architects of so much that makes current life so interesting. (Hell, I believe one of us may even suggest that Bis basically invented the internet). But we will not shy away from the negative side of this secret influence of Bis, that some of the innovations pioneered by this lo-fi band now require serious underpinning else the foundations of modern culture collapse.
Freaky Trigger will, for one week, be your one stop BIS STOP. Culminating on Friday night at Poptimism with first performance of the premier Bis tribute act A-NU-BIS (previously known as Bis To) performing what we believe would have been the Bis response to the current age “Monster Cup”.
If you are a regular FT reader you are in for a treat, but be nice to the hordes of newbies who are bound to flock here with all this BIS material. Let us look at the Teen-C Revolution from fourteen years hence and how the world has changed. Or as Bis put it so well themselves: “Sugar Sugar Kandy Pop, Push It Down and Pull It Up.”
I loved Bis then and I still defend them to this day, though I admit I don’t really listen to them any more. Just one of those things where you have to put up with a little surface rubbishness to access a plethora of joyful creativity, unfortunately most people didn’t have the patience.
I do have to say that as far as 90s Glasgow goes, The Yummy Fur were much better, much less successful and much more important.
Looking forward to the next week!
Bis were a fantastic live band, but never quite captured the magic on record – the Radio 1 sessions were probably the closest they got to that.
IT IS STILL BIS WEEK
BIS WEEK CANNOT BE STOPPED
Manda is the only person to do the Buzzcocks line up TWICE
I came across Eurodisco the other week when I was scanning nineties charts – it’s one of the most powerful singles ever – like a funky typewriter gun going off at your feet. Should have been #1.
Otherwise, I’ve no recollection of Bis apart from hazy TOTP memories, what’s good to get?
Patrick Mexico – e-mail me ( j dot m dot errington at talk21 dot com ) and I’ll send you something.