What can you tell me about ESG?

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Prompted by a recent phone call. Facts and storys here please.

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 11:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

weatherall fave, v. underrated , cool to name drop, sisters, often dug up to support 'cool' london gigs - see Death in Vegas etc. Moody is oft sampled and covered. You are a journalist aren't you?

― P K (Debord), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 11:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

Uh, they were 3 sisters and one guy from the Bronx, I think, in the late '70's. They played stripped-down funk, mainly just drums, bass, vocals, and percussion, with occasional guitar. They opened for the Clash and other punk bands. They recently reunited and released a new EP with a different line-up.

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

main record to search = 'south bronx story' (Soul Jazz records compilation)

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

'my love' on that record is brilliant

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

You are a journalist aren't you?

Yep. Why do you ask?

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

But don't you know, Anna? All journalists must know EVERYTHING about every subject or topic ever. And never ever simply just have good researching skills...

― kate, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ohh a sense a raw nerve, I was just curious, I was sure I had seen your name somewhere - and it must have been here: link removed - {mod}
(!).

― P K (Debord), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

That has absolutley nothing to do with me. I'm in the process of trying to get it taken down.

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sorry to bring it up then, I just thought it were amusing , although it probably isn't funny for you! I was just interested in the legitimacy of piking info off peeps on message boards. I know a few people do it and if board peeps don't mind it's obviously OK, and I suppose most of the people on here must be journotastic anyway due to the fact that they are here during the day with so little to do.

― P K (Debord), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

I know that there's an ESG song that sounds almost exactly the same as a Killing Joke song, but I don't know which songs.

I heard someone play the ESG song in a club once, went and asked them what the album was and promptly forgot the name of it. I hummed the KJ song to myself but couldn't remember which song it was, by the time I got home to check I'd forgotten the tune.

Perhaps Alex knows?

― mei (mei), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

'UFO' has been sampled a bizillion times, too--the opening siren-ish part.

― buttch (Oops), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

That's okay PK, it wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't look like the photo woman's less glam younger sister.

It wasn't actually a research question. I'm going to the show on Saturday and wanted to know something more. (Okay, there's a possibility I might be writing something, but the question was asked in an 'I am interested' rather than a 'do my work for me' way.)

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

I personaly think it is more sinister that DiV have had to do 3 identical tours to try and flog their LP, much worse than 'research' (isn't that what Pete Townsend does?). Unfortunately I have caught two dates on this current glut and they have left me bored and cold. But hopefully your show will be better. I would go to see ESG and Weatherall personally anyway!

― P K (Debord), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

Who do you write for?

ESG-alittle late on that one.

You give music a bad name

― TUTU, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

A South Bronx Story is excellent; I was playing it last night. "Moody" and "Dance" are standout tracks, but the whole thing is cool.

― Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Hey Anna - there was an ESG track on the last CD I did for Toby! It was 'Erase You' IIRC - "Erase You/Like My Drawing" - classic.

Just to update Nick A's post above they were the 4 Scroggins sistahs (Deb, Marie, Val and Renee). Also a guy (Tito?) who dropped out v early on. The current line-up has Renee (vocals) and Val (awesome drums)and two of Renee's daughters Chistelle and Nicole (geetar and bass respectively I think).

South Bronx Story collects up most of the 80's work and includes several trax from 1991's ESG album, like Get Funky, Hold Me Right, Erase You etc. I *think* that by the time of this album at least one of the daughters was in the band, but I could be wrong.

Last year's 'Step Off ' is more a mini-album than an EP, with 7 tracks. It's quite a surprise - I was meaning to write about this before - I *expected* something like a progression from the 1991 stuff - more hip-hoppy, more attitude, funkier and in yer face... Instead 'Step Off' is quite slow, deliberate and spacious. There's one track 'It's Not Me' which is vocals and bass only and is sensational - the sort of thing Madonna should do.

I love ESG.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

They're definitely worth seeing live. I've listened to Step Off a few times and haven't been wowed by it. Well the last track, "My Street", is really good. Live the new songs were much better--it has dumb lyrics, but I liked "Six Pack" a lot.

― die9o (dhadis), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

I only have the first EP (there were some low-key vinyl reissues in 1998), I wonder how much great stuff I am missing? I like the first one a lot.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

Here's a great interview with them from Venus. It's a few years old, but they talk about their beginnings and whatnot.
http://venuszine.com/stories/interviews/000151.html

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

I recently found a reissue of the first LP. one of my really favorites are The Beat it´s alson on Dance to the beat of moody 12" but not on SOuth bronx Story. It´s such a good track, why leave it out?

― Jens (brighter), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 23:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

if you take too much of it you will get high blood pressure.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Thursday, 1 May 2003 01:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

Their name derives from (three of their) birthstones: Emerald, Silver, and Gold. I asked them myself!

― Uncle (Methuselah), Thursday, 1 May 2003 02:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

they released some of the records on the Emerald SAPPHIRE and Gold Lable so i think that´s the right stones.

― Jens (brighter), Thursday, 1 May 2003 06:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

gold is a stone?

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 1 May 2003 07:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

There's one track 'It's Not Me' which is vocals and bass only and is sensational

dr c otm once again!

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 1 May 2003 09:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sapphire, right. Senility...

― Uncle, Thursday, 1 May 2003 12:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

hheee my fault

― Jens (brighter), Thursday, 1 May 2003 14:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

i LOVED south bronx story when it came out (and it made me turn to other contemporaries as liquid liquid). i finally got to see them live last december, and they made my favourite show last year. some people who saw them with me totally hated them, so i guess it must be that either you love them or you can't stand them.
i found them super sexy (in their special way :-) ), and still fascinatingly original in their simplicity.

― joan vich (joan vich), Thursday, 1 May 2003 14:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm suddenly reminded of an unintentionally hilarious review Justine Frischmann did of the band a couple of years back -- she praised them (quite rightly) and then went on to say that that it would always be female musicians who do the most original work out there, apparently forgetting to realize she wasn't the best example of that statement herself.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 1 May 2003 15:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

It was originally "Emerald Sapphire [Some Other Gem - Ruby?]," corresponding to their birthstones, but they changed the last one to gold because they hoped to get a gold record once they blew all up. (So says, I think, the liner notes to "South Bronx Story.")

― Sam J. (samjeff), Thursday, 1 May 2003 16:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

fourteen years pass...

Their tracks are used in the GLOW doc, which I thought was cool. ESG rule

― Unchanging Window (Ross), Friday, 23 June 2017 03:29 (seven years ago) link

I was watching Vampire's Kiss the other night and there's a bar w/band scene and I was all "that sounds like... that looks like a Scroggins... IT IS!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k5gpHxJoAw

― andrew m., Friday, 23 June 2017 15:57 (seven years ago) link

A David Miles played with them at this time (though he's not listed on Discogs profile as being a band member, just in album credits). His other entry on IMDB includes being in Arena as a "Wild Boy." lol

― andrew m., Friday, 23 June 2017 16:01 (seven years ago) link

really like this Sink Ya Teeth song, they call out ESG as a primary influence:

http://youtu.be/UeHsmQGzs40

― by the light of the burning Citroën, Friday, 23 June 2017 16:16 (seven years ago) link

phenomenal live act!

― Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Friday, 23 June 2017 17:13 (seven years ago) link

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