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Radical Dance Faction

Radical Dance Faction (RDF), originally known as Military Surplus, are a music group with punk, dub and ska styling, originally formed in Hungerford, Berkshire, England by singer Chris Bowsher, the group's only ever-present. They were active between 1987 and 1995 with a constantly changing line-up, with over 30 musicians passing through, releasing three albums.

They first reformed in 2006, going on to perform more live appearances and record two further albums.

History

Radical Dance Faction (RDF) were founded by Chris Bowsher in Hungerford in 1987. Originally known as Military Surplus, the band have experienced many line up changes, with at least thirty different people having been part of the band at one time or another. Bowsher is the only person who has been in every line up of the band.

RDF's music combines punk, dub, and ska, while Bowsher's lyrics, spoken rather than sung, deal mainly with political issues, such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in the song "Chinese Poem". Bowsher also witnessed first hand the Hungerford massacre, describing his experience in the song "Hot on the Wire".

In 1990, they signed to Southern Records, releasing two albums on their own imprint Earthzone and going on to tour Germany and other parts of Europe. One tour was as the support act to Rebel MC and they also supported Ziggy Marley. RDF appeared at the huge Summerjam festival in Germany, in July 1993.

RDF were a regular act on the UK free festival scene prior to the 1994 Criminal Justice Act, and were part of the crusty/anarcho punk movement, until they called it day in the mid-1990s. Their final album (until reformation) Raggamuffin Statement was a mixture of live recordings and remixes with new songs, including "Martin Foran", about the wrongly convicted prisoner.

The band reformed in 2006, playing various festivals around the UK during 2007. They reformed again in 2012 and appeared at the Bearded Theory Festival in Derby. The band commenced a short tour in October 2012 to promote new album - Ammunition. In recent years, they have performed at Glastonbury, Boomtown, Rebellion, Willow Man and Green Gathering festivals.

In 2018 RDF released their latest work, Daydream Dystopia, produced by Youth Sounds.

Current lineup (2023)

  • Chris Bowsher (vocals)
  • Ben (Drums)
  • Angus Duprey (Bass)
  • David 'Frag' Fletcher (Guitar)
  • Karen (Backing Vocals)
  • Danni (Backing Vocals)

Past members

  • Linda Goodman (vocals)
  • Steve Swann (vocals, bass)
  • Fred Johnson (bass)
  • Karen Woodhead (backing vocals)
  • Graham Usher (drums)
  • Sid Wobble (harmonica)
  • Mark McCarthy (bass)
  • Richard Paterson (keyboards)
  • Phil Astronaut (guitar)
  • Mike Cooper (guitar)
  • Sarah Edwards (violin)
  • Tim Hill (saxophone)
  • Kevin Vernon (percussion)
  • Paul McCabe (keyboards)
  • Brian Powell (guitar, bass)
  • Style Scott (drums)
  • Graham Spey (keyboards)
  • Jim Warne (guitar)
  • Danny (drums)
  • Ozzy (bass)
  • Chris Chescoe (drums)
  • Olly Thomas (drums)
  • Lewis Sykes (bass)
  • Jimmy Peters (keyboards)
  • Andy (from Newcastle) (drums)
  • Lynn Forte (drums)
  • Spot Gaffey (drums)
  • Matty Mann (bass)
  • Karen Ricketts (backing vocals)
  • Martin Jenkins (keyboards)
  • Ben King (keyboards)
  • Luke Winton (drums)
  • Josh Bannerman (drums)
  • Shanks (Drums)
  • Murph (Guitar)
  • Dan Foster (Bass)

Discography

Albums

  • Taking Refuge (1989) (mini-album, cassette only)
  • Hot on the Wire (1989) (mini album, cassette only)
  • Borderline Cases (1990) (Earthzone, LP/CD)
  • Wasteland (1991) (Earthzone, LP/CD/MC)
  • Raggamuffin Statement (1995) (Inna State, LP/CD/MC)
  • Ammunition (2012) (LP/CD/DD)
  • Daydream Dystopia (2018) (CD)
  • Welcome to the edge (2023) (LP/CD)

Singles

  • "Landing Party" 12" (1991)
  • "Beast in the Doorway" 12"/CD (1994)

References

References

  1. (1992). "[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music". [[Guinness Publishing]].
  2. "Radical Dance Faction | Biography | AllMusic".
  3. Carter, Helen. (15 October 2015). "Double injustice victim in rights fight".
  4. Whyte, Joe. (31 August 2013). "Radical Dance Faction: Ammunition - album review".
  5. "INFINITIVE SPLITS, by CHRIS BOWSHER and THE FACTION".
  6. "Radical Dance Faction".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

english-rock-music-groups british-reggae-musical-groups british-ska-musical-groups british-dub-musical-groups anarcho-punk-groups musical-groups-established-in-1986 1986-establishments-in-england hungerford
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