Bis

Bis are a Scottish indie pop band composed of Steven Clark (Sci-fi Steven), John Clark (John Disco), and Amanda MacKinnon (Manda Rin). The band's name, rhyming with 'this', derives from "Black Iron Skyline", a lyric from the song Twilight of a Champion by The The. Formed in 1994, the band broke up in 2003, but reformed briefly in 2007 for a series of concerts. The three musicians formed Bis in 1994, when Rin and Disco were in secondary school and Steven had recently finished there. About a year later, they appeared on Top Of The Pops performing "Kandy Pop" from their Secret Vampire Soundtrack EP ahead of its release: much being made at the time about them being the first 'unsigned' band to do so (in reality dozens of bands had appeared on the show with singles released on labels they had no formal contract with other than as a distributor or, like Bis, on a single by single basis). The band's early releases were on Glasgow's Chemikal Underground label, run by The Delgados, before transferring to Wiiija, where labelmates included Cornershop. (Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel

 * (please add)

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1995 Festive Fifty: School Disco #47
 * 1996 Festive Fifty: Kandy Pop #14
 * 1997 Festive Fifty: Sweet Shop Avengerz #22
 * 1998 Festive Fifty: Eurodisco #7

Sessions
Three sessions. Official releases:
 * 'Super James' from #1 on Various Artists: Songs About Plucking 2x7”, 1996 (Fierce Panda NING 18).



1. Recorded 1995-09-17. First broadcast 14 October 1995. Repeated 03 February 1996. 2. Recorded 1996-06-04. First broadcast 16 June 1996. 3. Recorded: 1998-06-28. First broadcast 04 August 1998.
 * Teen-C Power / Super James / Kandy Pop / Icky-Poo Air Raid
 * Sweet Shop Avengers / Antiseptic Poetry / We Love John Peel / Keroleen / Rebel Soul
 * Making People Normal / Action & Drama / The Hit Girl / It's All New

Live

 * 12 April 1996: live set from Leeds Metropolitan University, Sound City Leeds
 * 1) This Is Fake DIY
 * 2) Kandy Pop
 * 3) Burn The Suit
 * 4) Secret Vampires
 * 5) Icky Poo Air Raid
 * 6) School Disco
 * 7) Kill Yr Boyfriend


 * 14 March 2000: live at Chemikal Underground 5th birthday party
 * 1) Kandy Pop
 * 2) Eurodisco

Other Shows Played
(The list below was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive. Please add more information if known.)


 * 1995
 * 04 August 1995: Plastic People (7 inch - Disco Nation 45) Chemikal Underground
 * 11 August 1995: Kill Your Boyfriend (7 inch-Transmissions On The Teen-C Tip!) Acuarela Discos
 * 17 November 1995: School Disco (7"-Disco Nation 45) Chemikal Underground
 * 29 December 1995: School Disco (7 inch-Disco Nation 45) Chemikal Underground FF#47


 * 1996
 * 25 February 1996 (BFBS): Kandy Pop (7"-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
 * 01 March 1996: Teen-C Power (7"-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
 * 02 March 1996 (BFBS): Secret Vampires (12"-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground (JP: 'I used to be a member of a secret society when I was at school, when I was about eight or nine or something like that. We all had codenames: mine was White Jaguar, this was more to do with cars than anything else. I thought I'd just pass that on to you, 'cos I know you're interested in that sort of thing.')
 * 09 March 1996 (BFBS): Teen-C Power! (10"-This Is Teen-C Power!) Grand Royal (JP: 'I was supposed to go and see them during the week, but one of those strange things: I went to an Indian restaurant beforehand, and I'd been in there earlier on with a couple of mates about a month beforehand, and they'd served us so quickly, it was like there was nobody else in the restaurant....we thought, we'll go in there because they do serve you quickly if nothing else, and of course it was exactly the opposite. About the time the band was going on in Cambridge, we were just getting the food put down in front of us in Bury St. Edmunds, so we didn't get to see Bis, and a jolly interesting story it therefore becomes.')
 * 19 March 1996: Kandy Pop (CD: The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground
 * 27 April 1996 (BFBS): Super James (Peel Session) (2x Compilation 7"-Songs About Plucking) Fierce Panda
 * April 1996 (BBC World Service): Super James (Peel Session) (2x Compilation 7"-Songs About Plucking) Fierce Panda
 * 04 May 1996: This Is Fake DIY (7 inch – Bis vs The DIY Corps) Teen-C Recordings
 * 05 May 1996: This Is Fake DIY (CD Single – Bis Vs The DIY Corps) Wiiija
 * 11 May 1996: Burn The Suite (7 inch – Bis Vs The DIY Corps) Teen-C Recordings
 * 15 June 1996: Keroleen (7 inch - split with Heavenly) K
 * 13 October 1996 (BBC World Service):
 * 28 September 1996: Starbright Boy (7 inch – Atom Powered Action!) Wiija
 * 28 December 1996: Kandy Pop (Maxi CD-The Secret Vampire Soundtrack) Chemikal Underground FF#14


 * 1997
 * 26 January 1997: Sweet Shop Avengerz (7 inch) Wiiija
 * 26 January 1997: I’ll Get You Back (7 inch - Sweet Shop Avengerz) Wiiija
 * 01 February 1997: Sweet Shop Avengerz (7 inch) Wiiija
 * 09 February 1997 (BBC World Service): Sweetshop Avengerz (7") Wiiija
 * 19 February 1997: Sweet Shop Avengerz (Hi-Fi MIx) (7 inch) Wiiija
 * 26 February 1997: Sweet Shop Avengers [Hi-Fi Mix] (7 inch) Wiiija
 * 20 March 1997: X-defect (LP – The New Transistor Heroes) Wiiija
 * 20 March 1997: Dinosaur Germs (LP –The New Transistor Heroes) Wiiija
 * 20 March 1997: (and Santic Allstars): Shooter Dub (Various Artists CD –2 Heavyweight – Another Blood And Fire Sampler) Blood & Fire
 * 25 March 1997: Pop Song (7 inch – Lugworm Vs Bis) Guided Missile
 * 26 March 1997: Photo Shop (LP – The New Transistor Heroes) Wiiija
 * 02 April 1997: Poster Parent (LP – The New Transistor Heroes) Wiiija
 * 16 April 1997: Everybody Thinks They’re Gonna Get Theirs (7 inch) Wiiija
 * 11 September 1997: Team Theme
 * 01 October 1997: We Love John Peel (session) (30 years of JP on Radio One)
 * 23 December 1997: Sweet Shop Avengerz (7 inch) Wiiija FF#22


 * 1998
 * 26 August 1998: Stray Cat Blues (CD - 21st Birthday Release) Beggars Banquet
 * 21 September 1998: Eurodisco (CD single) Wiiija
 * 29 October 1998: I'm A Slut (LP - Fanzine Convention '98)
 * 03 November 1998: I'm A Slut (Compilation CD-Fanzine Convention 98) Doc Martens
 * 08 November 1998 (BFBS): I'm A Slut (Compilation CD-Fanzine Convention 98) Doc Martens
 * 13 December 1998 (BFBS): Eurodisco (Klute 'Polka' Remix) (12"-Eurodisco (Dance Mixes)) Wiiija
 * 29 December 1998: Eurodisco (CD single) Wiiija FF#7


 * 1999
 * 12 January 1999: Action And Drama (Single) Wiiija
 * 19 January 1999: Am I Loud Enough (LP - Social Dancing) Wiiija
 * 20 January 1999: Hit Girl (CD-Social Dancing) Wiiija
 * 21 January 1999: Making People Normal (CD-Social Dancing) Wiiija
 * 26 January 1999: I'm A Slut (LP-Social Dancing) Wiiija
 * 27 January 1999: Shopaholic (LP-Social Dancing) Wiiija
 * 30 June 1999: Kiss & Tell (Single: Detour) Wiija
 * 15 July 1999: Why Don't We Go Home (CDS-Detour) Wiiija
 * 31 August 1999: We Love John Peel (session) (60th birthday special)


 * 2000
 * 11 May 2000: Dead Wrestlers (EP - Music For A Stranger World) Wiiija
 * 01 June 2000 (Radio Eins): Dead Wrestlers (EP - Music For A Stranger World) Wiiija
 * 05 November 2000 (BFBS): Eurodisco (CDS) Wiiija


 * Post-Peel
 * 28 October 2004: We Love John Peel (Peel Session)
 * John Peel's Scottish Sessions: We Love John Peel (Peel Session)