The Transmitters were a post-punk band active intermittently between 1978 and 1989 (they reformed for a reunion gig in 2007 to promote a compilation album). They released two LPs and three singles, and were notable for containing members of future groups: Sam Dodson and Dave Muddyman (Loop Guru), and Tim Whelan and Hammi Lee (Transglobal Underground). In the early part of their career, they were signed to Step Forward, making them label mates with the Fall. They recorded two Peel sessions two years apart, the second of which has yet to see a commercial release.
In a 1989 interview, Sam Dodson gave an overview of the band's musical philosophy:
"We were one of those groups that never fitted into any category. In '79 there were bands like The Pop Group and The Good Missionaries, and we felt a certain kinship to the way they worked. We were more organised than them, but we came up with a much less organised sound. Even now, we've been compared to Stump, to Talking Heads, and I think 'I don't like Stump, I don't like Talking Heads. Why am I doing this?' and I listen to what we're doing and I think 'I love it'. It's because it sounds different." [1]
The song Ferryboat Bill, a Velvet Underground cover, appeared on the Justice Is Our Conviction benefit album, and Dodson admitted, "John Peel played it; he probably hated everything else on it."
Links to Peel[]
Gaining the attention and approval of DJ John Peel, the band recorded a Peel Session in 1979, following which Dexter O'Brian left the band. (Under his real name of Christopher McHallem, he would retrain as an actor and spend three years in the BBC soap opera "EastEnders", playing the character "Rod Norman" between 1987 and 1990, before branching out into screenwriting.)
Soon after the split a new Ealing-based band emerged, called Transmitters Presumed Dead. As the name implied this was a merger between members of Transmitters (Dodson, Wells and Chase) and members of the similarly defunct band Missing Presumed Dead (Mikel Lee and Dave Baby). Tim Whelan (one of the two singers of Furniture) was recruited to sing lead vocals.
Transmitters Presumed Dead soon transformed into the second Transmitters line-up of Sam Dodson (guitar), Sid Wells (bass), Dave Baby (saxophone) and Julian Treasure (drums, ex Fish Turned Human) with Mikel Lee leaving and Rob Chapman (lead vocals, ex Glaxo Babies) replacing Tim Whelan. This band recorded a second Peel Session in 1981, as well as releasing the second Transmitters album – And We Call That Leisure Time – on Bristols' Heartbeat Records later in the year.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
- None
Sessions[]
- Two sessions. #1 available on I Fear No-One (Elsewhen).
1. Recorded: 1979-10-30. First broadcast: 21 November 1979. Repeated: 06 February 1980.
- Dirty Harry / I Fear No-One But My Friends / Bird In The House / Blankety Blank
2. Recorded: 1981-07-22. First broadcast: 29 July 1981. Repeated: 24 August 1981, 21 October 1981.
- Joan Of Arc / Love Factory / Voodoo Woman In Death Plunge, The Rent Girls Are Coming / Dance Craze
Other Shows Played[]
Transmitters - The Beat Goes On (Sonny & Cher Cover)
- 30 October 1978: 'Uninvited Guest (7"-Nowhere Train)' (Ebony)
- 21 November 1978: 'Nowhere Train (7")' (Ebony)
- 03 September 1979: Ugly Man (12" EP - Still Hunting For The Ugly Man) Step Forward
- 04 September 1979: 'The One That Won The War / Free Trade (12")' (Step Forward)
- 15 September 1979 (BFBS): Ugly Man (12" - Still Hunting For The Ugly Man) Step-Forward
- 10 October 1979: 'Ugly Man (12")' (Step Forward)
- 04 February 1981: Lovers Not Corpses (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- 08 February 1981 (BFBS): Lovers Not Corpses (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- 19 February 1981 (BFBS): The Beat Goes On (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- 22 February 1981 (BFBS): Paul Is Dead (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- 23 February 1981: Paul Is Dead (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- 01 April 1981: The Beat Goes On (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- John Peel - Bow Wow Wow - 81: 'The Beat Goes On (album - And We Call That Leisure Time) Heartbeat HB4
- 05 June 1989: 'Ferryboat Bill (12"-The Mechanic)' (Craving Company)