Once Upon A Time In Leeds, 1981. The March Violets strummed their first riff and scrawled their first set list.
An impressive post-punk legacy ensued, including BBC sessions for John Peel and other DJs, along with huge indie chart success in the mid-’80s with singles such as ‘Crow Baby’, ‘Snake Dance’, ‘Walk Into The Sun’ and ‘Deep’.
The band were subsequently snapped up by London Records for the 1987 release of ’Turn To The Sky’ – which featured in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful – before splitting up later that same year.
They eventually reunited in 2010 around a nucleus that included founder members Rosie Garland (vocals) and Tom Ashton (guitar), releasing albums in 2013 and 2015 and promoting them with European and US tours.
A double album collection of the BBC sessions entitled ‘Big Soul Kiss’ was made available by Jungle Records for the 2021 edition of Record Store Day, with the same label issuing the singles compilation ‘Play Loud Play Purple’ and five-CD box set ‘The Palace Of Infinite Darkness’ shortly after. These coincided with a well received European tour that included headlining sets at Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT) in Germany and Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival (Whitby Goth Weekend) in the UK.
Mat Thorpe (bass, vocals) joined band founders Rosie Garland (vocals) and Tom Ashton (guitar) as a permanent member of the group in early 2024.
Stay tuned for more updates and review of their epic recent show in London.