York - really famous, but not for its music, apparently

York may be famous but it's pretty small.

so no big bands then?

how many more of these threads are their going to be?
i look forward to China : one billion of em and still no number one, what a bunch of slackers

"ILM - really famous, but not for its threads apparently"?

Katie Jane Garside is from York, I believe.

So that's Daisy Chainsaw and Queen Adreena (sort of).

Yorkshire Television's record label in the 70s was called, simply, York. seeing as my favourite TV theme tune ever was released on this label and made the lower end of the Top 40, and (potentially) my favourite TV soundtrack album ever would probably also have been released on the label (it definitely came out, but I've never seen it and it never charted) I can't hate on it.

but, yes, Shed Seven were shite, *obviously*

york is a fairly small town really, and is to an extent merely a satellite of leeds. it is also thought of as a very middle class place, without the industrial background of most yorkshire cities. however, i do actually think its supposed bourgeois status might actually be a little overstated, and its probably not as rich as people make out.

depthcharge records in york used to be great, but i believe it has now closed down.

Well, even the Norwegian city of Bergen have brought more bands to the world than York it seems: Röyksopp, Kings Of Convenience, Sgt. Petter, Libido, Magnet, Sondre Lerche, Popium, Pogo Pops, Chocolate Overdose etc...

"The Market Town of Oundle: Search and Destroy"
"What Great Bands Have Come From Kings Langley?"
"Where Is Garston's Great Musical Heritage?"

Robin - I'm intrigued to know which TV theme is your favourite, and came out on YTV's label. Pray, do tell!

York is the closest northern place to Oxford or Cambridge... In terms of size, it is at least a larger place than Durham, and probably Cambridge...? At least in terms of the size of its city centre. But indeed... there seems a real paucity of music that's come out of York, at least to my knowledge.

fantastic news today:

Shed Seven to split
http://www.nme.com/news/106541.htm

There certainly is a paucity of music to have come out of York :the singer from the Seahorses was apparently discovered busking outside York Woolworths, though I don't think that disproves anything. There is also a lack of good bands playing in York. The Barbican is the largest venue in York and tends to have artists of the Lisa Stansfield/ Lighthouse Family variety. I once saw Pulp play there and the sound was so dreadful I started to wish I'd brought my Walkman. What's more, Jarvis Cocker said it was the first place he had ever played where drinks weren't allowed in the venue (it's true, they're not - I think it has something to do with the carpet). After the Shakin Stevens gig (no, I wasn't at this one), a great flurry of newly-deafened old ladies wrote to the local Press to complain about the feedback. In contrast, York's other venue (Fibbers) is really too small, and though it gets the occasional good blues or country act, the bands that play there are either of the 'are they still going' variety (China Crisis) or comprised of ex-members of other bands you can't possibly care about, usually Poison, FM, Wrathschild or somesuch. I got very excited because Add N to X were supposed to play there once. They cancelled. As for record shops: well, Depth Charge records I am told were very good years ago but they were absolute crap when I first came across them six years ago and it was no surprise when they fizzled out. There is an independent record shop called Tracks which is so-so (my Mum swears by their Country Music mail order system however)though they don't stock half the stuff which Rough Trade does. So basically, yeah. York: music-free zone. Still Leeds isn't far.

Neither is Hull!!

Rob M - I was thinking of "The Lightning Tree" by The Settlers, the theme from "Follyfoot" (number 36 in October 1971, from memory). The elusive album is the "Flambards" soundtrack by David Fanshawe (1979).

eh?

The Redskins were from York. 80s SWP aligned band who wanted to sing like The Supremes and walk like The Clash, but did neither. Their 'Kick over the statues' did go through my head watching TV images of Eastern European workers smashing up statues of Marx and Lenin.

http://www.geocities.com/neither_washington_nor_moscow/about.html

Once subjected to hilarious piss-take by Dutch anarchist rockers The Ex on 'Business as Usual' with lines about 'an historical compromise between Decca and the Socialist Workers Party, money meets the red flag"