Mark Stewart - ON/OFF - Pop Group to Maffia

[marvisveronesi]

nice video thanks for sharing very interesting .. god bless

[MrCoachwhips]

This film is showing at The Cube in Bristol on Feb 18th 2011!

[blueskydreaming09]

can anyone tell me anything about the colour footage in this video to "thief of fire"? it looks so wild, would love to see the whole thing.

[emsctemsct]

How tall is he? Looks like at least 6'5"

[pykkervots]

...you can draw a direct line from The Nightingales, Mark e Smith, Mr Lydon and Mr Cave, Ted Milton, Gareth Sager and Mark Stewart and all the rest of the 80's agitpropers and every line will converge at the door of Don Van Vliet....and 'Trout Mask Replica'...

[CrowleyHead]

@pykkervots Actually, Mark hates Beefheart!

[parabrahma]

God, The Pop Group were so f...king awesome, totally unique then and now

[6060842bf2]

What a goof. I like him.

[rbockberlin]

gute musik, gute bilder, guter schnitt - love it, hope to see and hear more of it soon. boKens aka reinhard bock

[maxinebrownsmic]

Ah Markie...you little poppit. Miss ya loads! Life's just not the same without you...

Rxxx

[glitchesandglitter]

are u saying hes' dead??

[maxinebrownsmic]

Ah markie, you little poppit... miss ya loads Rxxx

[davidfurgess1961]

i really dig stewart, would love to see this film

[highburyhills]

Love it. There are very few Mark Stewarts around, musicians that can sum everything up just with a guitar sound, or screech or whatever. The Pop Group were such an interesting band, so stylish, so raw. Can't wait for the doc.

[clivetemple]

I find their music hugely accessible now, which I perhaps didn't so much as a teenager at the time. That's surely a sign of how much they influenced what to follow. Thanks for posting. The first place I lived in Bristol was in the same street as Gary Clails dad's pub.

[sisterdiggins]

This stuff was so weird and mind warping at the time.

Mark Stewart was a serious pioneer and yes, a huge influence.

Nothing had ever sounded like this before.

For me , it still stands out and maybe I am a jaded old timer , but it sounds better than anything that came after .

Can't wait to see this !

[sonzabird]

thanks! i'm glad things are still moving forward on it. :)

[sonzabird]

anyone know what's become of this documentary? i had pre-ordered it from amazon, but when i was looking at all the good old MS &maffia releases, i noticed that ON/OFF was discontinued by the manufacturer.

anyone have any news?

[MarsHottentot]

@sonzabird

And to top it off - POP GROUP GOT BACK TOGETHER. New album, too!

[oosdadaddy]

This geezer influenced everyone in Bristol from Massive attack to nelly hooper. from a Londoner. ps Mark i still owe you a tenner £10.00 From back in da 80's

[datafilemusic]

While the ears of the planet waste their time with Depeche Mode and the like, comes here the finest and inventive spirits of the past three decades. I'm so happy that this documentary was made! It's an important work of art in its own right and as important as the recent documentary about the very »Scott Walker«. Simply brilliant!.

[ladyhumana]

very cool premiere in london!!!

[sisterdiggins]

It's a shame because I don't think too many kids are privy to all this.

They were real upsetters .

Ultra creative .

[saxroma1]

The real upsetters true true!!

Straight to the head of Maggot Scratcher

[CrowleyHead]

@sisterdiggins Depends. You have emo kids getting into Fugazi, goths worshiping Birthday Party, dubstep/grime fans who listen to The Bug. All these roads lead back to Mark.

[sardino1]

I was so into them but nobody else I knew were so I would dance around my room and wear my 'We are al Prostitutes' badge around Crouch End (still got the badge amazingly enough). Sold the records to get drugs though.

[nobukowski]

That's really cool. I hope I can get a copy of this without paying megabucks (you know, import prices)

[VoodooFunkNYC]

Looks great!

I was ignorant enough to pass on the Pop Group back in the day. Well, gives me something new to explore today.

[Edozu]

This is.. so weird.

[woodentops]

ah great

[fleetwoodlad]

Long live the Pop group..Have a great memory of seeing them at Empire Ballroom in Leicester Sq..penny pipe playing fans danced..while the stage was crowded with sax playing maniacs being carried on shoulders..maddest opening i've ever seen..

Hope there will be some unearthed footage of TPG as there is little i can find!

[moggy23]

Excellent stuff, and a long overdue retrospective. I was (still am) a huge fan, probably saw them more than any other band in the all too brief period that they were around.

My only gripe about this is, who the hell was that 14 year-old bespectacled kid who describes himself as a 'Writer and Post Punk Scientist'??? Give me strength, I hope he's not on going to be given too much screen time in the film...

[KingFireAntProds]

hiya - you should check out his book - he just looks like a wee lad, google Simon Reynolds, he's got some great coverage of the "post-punk" or whatever you wanna call it bands...

cheers

[messthetics]

Simon Reynolds' book was the bible when I was getting into bands that followed punk. I found that at first some of the bands didn't make sense, but after finding inroads, i now more or less listen to them all and have an understanding of what they were about..apart from the US hardcore stuff that is.

[LockedPig]

woah! i want it!!!

Pop Group was the best jazz-punk band

[zumo07]

check out Xero Slingsby if you like jazz punk!

[spotswoodthenewt]

Wow. This looks great! I don't have any idea when this will pop up in the States, but thanks for the heads up. At least I know it even exists now. Very very cool indeed. Thanks you SeekingJustine for the heads up!

~ Tim

[orangabug]

what's that song that's playing when he is in the parking structure... pretty bad ass!

[milesey01]

@orangabug It's "Don't Sell Your Dreams",demo 1978,produced by Hugh Cornwall,find it on "Idealists In Distress"....any other Pop Group questions,i'm your maaaaan!

[mikebott]

thank you for this. since it may take a while to reach the us.

[dulezaric]

well, i can't wait either. i hope there some stuff about the steppers

[xwsftassell]

One of the best gigs I've ever seen was The Pop Group performing "Jerusalem" in Trafalgar Square. Wow!!!

Nice version of "Can't Help thinking about me", Mark.

[nubient]

yes i was there too, arthur scargill was onstage with them!

[dem66]

Now more than ever.

"There's a whole new class of weapons..."

[alanratboyrichards]

mark - you lanky streak of piss- i hope i made the cut down the the bell.....?

ratmister.

luv

[taigkyo]

CANNOT. FVCKING. WAIT. Tøni Schifer, the world owes you one.

[audiotrauma]

about fookin time!

[chrislefassdichkurz]

Can't wait either! It was about time, though...

[heshter]

Bloody hell ! Can't wait !!!

[ltpgn]

cant wait for that bad boy!

[thierer69]

best man in music biz! ++++++++++++++

[OtisGreen]

fantastic. thanks from the american side of the atlantic.

[itsonu]

Thanx a lot for this sneeky preview... Can't wait to see the whole documentary...

[thirdbardo67]

i can't wait to see it. mark's stuff with the pop group and maffia is truly mind-blowing!

[imaginarylife68]

yowza

[imaginarylife68]

nice one t ;-)

[janeenurse]

far out....that's what she said last night...

[jdfmurphy]

still kissing the future!