Apartment (Bristol band)

Apartment were an English post-punk band formed in Bristol, England in late 1978. Its members were Alan Griffiths (vocals/guitar), Emil Joachim (drums) and Richard White (bass).[1]

Apartment
Apartment-Bristol 1979
Background information
OriginBristol, UK
GenresPost-punk
Years active1978–1980
LabelsHeartbeat
Cherry Red
Bristol Archive
Associated actsThe Escape, Tears For Fears, Interview
WebsiteApartment info at Bristol Archive Records
Past membersAlan Griffiths
Emil
Richard White
Steve Street

History

The band appeared on the Heartbeat Records 1979 seminal Avon Calling Bristol compilation album with the track "The Alternative".[2] In early 1980, the band released a double A-sided single, "The Car" / "Winter"[3] also on Heartbeat. They were later joined by Steve Street from Europeans on bass.

After the breakup of Apartment

The band split up in summer 1980, and Alan Griffiths (with Emil) would later go on to form The Escape, whilst Steve Street continued his production work and briefly joined Bath band Interview. The Escape signed to Phonogram Records and in late 1983 toured as a support act for Tears for Fears. Alan Griffiths later went on to tour with Tears for Fears as a guitarist on their 1985 Big Chair world tour. Following Curt Smith's departure from Tears for Fears in 1990, Griffiths became Roland Orzabal's new musical partner and co-wrote, co-produced, and performed on the albums Elemental (1993) and Raoul and the Kings of Spain (1995), as well as Orzabal's 2001 solo album Tomcats Screaming Outside. He also co-wrote "Heavenly (Good Feeling)" for the Seal album Seal IV, released in 2003.

Later releases

In 2009, Bristol Archive Records released a downloadable album by Apartment called House of Secrets.[4]

In September 2010, two Apartment tracks, "Broken Glass" and "The Retrospect" were included on the CD release of Avon Calling 2 released by Bristol Archive.[5]

In February 2014, two Apartment tracks, "The Car" and "Winter" were included on the CD release of The Best of Heartbeat Records, released by Bristol Archive.

Two years later, the House of Secrets album was released on CD by Bristol Archive Records including a 16-page booklet, with liner notes written by former music journalist and music publishing A&R executive Dave Massey.

Alan Griffiths died on 23 March 2017 after a short illness with cancer.[6]

A posthumous live album, Live in Bristol 1980, compiled by Dave Massey from recordings held in his archive was released online in September 2019 via Bristolarchiverecords.com.

Discography

Albums
  • House of Secrets (2009, Bristol Archive Records - download / 2016, Bristol Archive Records, CD + booklet)

Singles
  • "The Car"/"Winter" (1980, Heartbeat Records, 7")

Compilation appearances
  • "The Alternative" - Avon Calling (Bristol compilation album) (1979, Heartbeat Records / re-released 2016, Bristol Archive Records)
  • "The Car" - Western Stars – The Bands That Built Bristol (2001, Bristol Archive Records)
  • "The Alternative", "Poison", "The Car", "Winter" - Avon Calling (reissue + unreleased tracks and Heartbeat singles collection) (2005, Cherry Red)
  • "The Car" - I'll Give You My Heart I'll Give You My Heart – The Cherry Red Records Singles Collection 1978–1983 (boxset) (2008, Cherry Red)
  • "Broken Glass", "The Retrospect" - Avon Calling 2 (2010, Bristol Archive Records)
  • "The Car", "Winter" - The Best of Heartbeat Records (2014, Bristol Archive Records)

See also

References
  1. http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands/The_Escape_Apartment.html Alan Griffiths writes about Apartment at Bristol Archive Records
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Apartment at Heartbeat Productions
  3. Ogg, Alex. (2006). No More Heroes – A Complete History of British Punk, Great Britain: Cherry Red Books, p.57-59
  4. "The Escape The Apartment White Hotel". bristolarchiverecords.com.
  5. "Avon Calling 2". bristolarchiverecords.com.
  6. Massey, Dave (20 April 2017). "Alan Griffiths obituary" – via www.theguardian.com.
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