The Bardots were an English indie rock band formed in Norwich in 1989. They begun playing together in university, featuring Simon Dunford on guitar/vocals, Andy Murphy on guitar, Steve Cox on bass, and his twin bother Neil Cox on drums. In 1990 they released their debut single, "Sofaelaine", a flexi-disc on Baz McHat Records. This was followed by, "Sad Anne", the band added Krzysztof Fijalkowski (brother of Pete Fijalkowski of Adorable) on guitar, and were signed to Ché Records.
Their debut full-length, "Eye Baby", received lots of attention from the Indie segments of the press some elements of which dubbed them the "next big thing." In 1994, with Murphy left the band and was replaced by Yves Altana. There follow up album V-Neck appeared in the same year, but their time was up and the band split.
The band reformed and played at the 20th Anniversary of the Wilde Club on Saturday the 18th January 2009, 20 years to the day since they first graced it's stage on the opening night.
Krzysztof Fijalkowski a talented photographer, artist and collector was also responsible for the photography on various releases on Noisebox Records in the late 1990s, he also featured in the band Polak together with Simon Dunford.
The Bardots are responsible for Simon Williams of NME coining the phrase "Janglier in Anglia"...
Links to Peel[]
Peel discovered the group in May 1989 when he played a track from their split 7" flexi with another band called Republic, on his radio programme. Further material from the group were played on his programmes until 1995, including a session they recorded for his show in 1992.
Sessions[]
THE BARDOTS John Peel 5th May 1992
1. Recorded: 1992-05-05. First Broadcast: 06 June 1992. Repeated: 01 August 1992
- Caterina / Obscenity Thing / Gloriole / Don't Let Me Down
Other Shows Played[]
- 1989
- 30 May 1989: Sofaelaine (split 7" flexi with Republic - WILDE CLUB Flexi) Baz McHat
- 1990
- 08 January 1990: Summerhouse (split 12" with Shine! - Sad Anne / Summerhouse / Bite The Apple) Wilde Club
- 03 February 1990 (BFBS): 'Summerhouse (split 12" with Shine!)' (Wilde Club)
- 21 February 1990: Summerhouse (split 12" with Shine! - Sad Anne / Summerhouse / Bite The Apple) Wilde Club
- 1992
- 03 April 1992: Pretty O (12 inch) Cheree Records
- 10 April 1992: 'Pretty O (CD Single)' (Cheree Records)
- 12 April 1992 (BFBS): 'Pretty O (CD Single)' (Cheree Records)
- 02 May 1992: Miss Another (CD Single - Pretty O) Cheree Records
- 1993
- 02 April 1993: We Are Fiasco (EP - We Are Fiasco) Pygmy
- 30 April 1993: We Are Fiasco (single) Pygmy
- 1995
- 10 November 1995: 'Carrion (7”)' (Ché Trading)
- 18 November 1995 (BFBS): 'Carrion (7")' (Che Trading)