Eton Crop

Eton Crop were an indie band formed in 1979 in Nieuwkoop, Netherlands, and released a total of 12 singles and four albums over the next 15 years. Frequent visitors to the UK, they toured with many of the "pre-C86" groups like The Membranes and The Three Johns, the latter with whom they shared a not too dissimilar musical approach. While many groups from that era downed tools towards the end of the decade, Eton Crop battled on into the mid-nineties, their last full length album, Get Real!, appearing (on cd) in 1992, eventually bowing out in 1994 with the 4 track ep Everybody. The band later changed their name to the E.C. Groove Society and started producing techno music until 2003. Recently the band reformed under Eton Crop and performed in Stockton, County Durham, UK at the Peel Regenerated Festival in 2014.

Links To Peel
The band recorded five sessions for Peel in the space of five years and on his Radio Bremen show from 1991 on Peel 002 (Radio Bremen), he stated that this was his favourite Dutch band:


 * "And this is just about my favourite Dutch band and they have been for quite some time. I mean to be honest with you, couple of them are mates of mine anyway, which probably colour my judgement."

Erwin Blom vocalist of Eton Crop paid tribute to Peel after his death on an interview with music website Louder Than War, when he mentioned how Peel influenced him:


 * "John Peel taught me openness. Talking about punk these days seems limited to talking about 4 to the floor guitars. And there’s nothing wrong with that of course. Love it. But thinking back to the days of punk, thanks to Peelie I’m reminded of the weird funk of The Pop Group, the uplifting ska of The Specials, the dark electro of Cabaret Voltaire and the fucked up poetry of John Cooper Clarke. The musical diversity and freedom of punk and what came after, combined with the search for the new and the fresh, influenced me big time. John Peel combined the old with the new. He also introduced me to the music of the fifties as well as to new hip hop and house. He extended my world of music with sounds from all over – from England to Germany, from America to Africa."

On the same article Blom stated how the sessions with the band helped him:


 * "We ended up doing 5 John Peel Sessions. Not only was that an honour, it was also quite lucrative. Thanks to the Musicians Union, we were getting paid, and paid very well, judged by our standards. Every time we were broadcast extra money came in for every musician that had taken part. So we got local friends to do backing vocals to get paid extra and to be able to tour the UK – to tour with The Fall (25 pounds for a support act, not bad! ;-), to play with The Nightingales, The Three Johns and The Membranes. And to travel everywhere from Birmingham to Leeds to Norwich, the home base of our friends at Grunt Grunt A Go Go that released our album It’s My Dog, Maestro!"

Sessions
The third session is available on The Peel Sessions (1988, Strange Fruit, Vinyl) 1. Recorded: 1983-11-09. Broadcast: 15 November 1983. Repeated: 30 November 1983, 22 December 1983 2. Recorded: 1984-11-13. Broadcast: 20 November 1984. Repeated: 12 December 1984, 09 January 1985 3. Recorded: 1985-10-01. Broadcast: 14 October 1985. Repeated: 30 October 1985 4. Recorded: 1986-10-19. Broadcast: 19 November 1986. Repeated: 10 December 1986, 23 February 1988 5. Recorded: 1988-05-29. Broadcast: 08 June 1988. Repeated: Session Mixtape Mar-Sept 1988
 * Gay Boys On The Battlefield / Boring Isms / Explain / He Didn't Say Anything
 * Snobhill / Boy Meets Tractor / Get Something For Doing Nothing / Quality In The Grooves
 * Cocacolanization / It's My Dog Maestro / You Won't Get Me Out In The Rain / Harry Nelson Pillsbury
 * A Bundle For A Dead Dog / Jolly Adventures With Janus Mcmanus / Banana Battle / Paraffin Brain
 * A Jolly Cheerful Crowd / Pavel Morozov The Bastard! / Beating The Sicilian / Trivialities

Other Shows Played
1984 1986
 * The Peel Tapes Vol.2: Gay Boys On The Battlefield
 * 10 October 1984 (VPRO): Boringisms (v/a LP - Enemies Of The State) 1 in 12

1987 1988 1989
 * 13 February 1986 (BFBS) / Peel 029 (BFBS): 'Loads Of Beer (LP-It's My Dog, Maestro)' (Grunt Grunt A Go Go)
 * 05 March 1986: Boy Meets Tractor (LP - It's My Dog, Maestro) Grunt Grunt A Go Go
 * 09 October 1986 (BFBS) (Peel 043 (BFBS)) 'Yes Please Bob (7")' (Ediesta)
 * 14 October 1986: Yes Please Bob (single pre-release)
 * 24 November 1986: Yes Please, Bob (LP - Yes Please, Bob) Megadisc
 * 02 December 1986: Yes Please, Bob (LP - Yes, Please Bob) Megadisc
 * 09 December 1986: A Billy Bobo Funeral (LP - Yes Please, Bob) Ediesta
 * 17 December 1986: When The Bottle Gets Uncorked (LP - Yes Please, Bob) Ediesta
 * 27 December 1986 (BFBS) (Peel 048 (BFBS)):When The Bottle Gets Uncorked (LP-Yes Please Bob)' (Ediesta)
 * 09 June 1987: 'Paraffin Brain (12 inch-A Bundle Of Bucks (For A Dead Dog Is A Bargain))' (Ediesta)
 * 09 December 1987: Human Beans (LP - And The Underwater Music Goes On) Ediesta
 * Peel Feb Mar 1988: A Bundle For A Dead Dog (session)

1991 1992 1993 1999
 * HO John Peel 13 1989: The Modified Martingale (7" - Don't You Want Me?) Megadisc MD 5267
 * 23 September 1989 (BFBS) (Peel 118 (BFBS)): 'Don't You Want Me? (7")' (Megadisc)
 * 07 April 1991: Noisy Town (CD Maxi) Torso Dance
 * 27 April 1991: Noisy Town Torso Dance
 * 12 October 1991: 'Hey Hey (12")' (Torso Dance)
 * 09 November 1991: 'Hey Hey (12")' (Torso Dance)
 * Peel 002 (Radio Bremen): Hey Hey (12") Torso Dance
 * 18 April 1992: On The Move (album - Get Real!) Torso Dance TORSO CD196
 * 14 June 1992 (BFBS): Tiny Little Rebel Yell (Torso Records) (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * Best Of 1992 Vol 4: A Tiny Little Rebel Yell (Torso Records) (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * 27 November 1993 (BFBS): I Wonder (12" - In The City (Part II)) Prime (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * 10 February 1999: 'Noisy Bugger (12")' (Urban Sounds)


 * 14 February 1999 (BFBS): 'Noisy Bugger (12")' (Urban Sounds) (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * 03 November 1999: 'Forever (CD-Adrenaline Shots)' (My First Sonny Weismuller Recordings) (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)


 * 10 November 1999: 'To Moscow By Covered Wagon (LP-And The Underwater Music Goes On)' (Ediesta)
 * 10 November 1999: 'One-O-One (CD-Adrenaline Shots)' (My First Sonny Weissmuller Recordings) (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)

2000 2002 2004
 * 18 November 1999 (Radio Eins): 'To Moscow By Covered Wagon (LP-And The Underwater Music Goes On)' (Ediesta)
 * 18 November 1999 (Radio Eins): Forever (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * 16 December 1999 (Radio Eins): Moshpit (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * 11 January 2000: 'Moshpit (CD-Adrenalin Shots)' (My First Sonny Weissmuller Recordings) (under the name of E.C. Groove Society)
 * 15 January 2002: On his way to see the Bays, Peel had bumped into their old friend Erwin from Eton Crop coming back from their gig. There is a chat with him about the group, whose performance Peel missed.
 * 04 March 2004: (JP mentioning Erwin and Leonieke of Eton Crop have come for a visit and their children sleeping in a room above the studio.)