diagram brothers
band biography

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Active between 1979 and 1982, Manchester art-noise post-punk combo The Diagram Brothers cut three singles and one album, much of this vinyl released on New Hormones, the label founded by Buzzcocks. Feted by John Peel, the band recorded three BBC radio sessions in as many years, and drew comparisons with Gang of Four, XTC, Wire and Fire Engines for their angular, dissonant dance music, as well as Devo and The Residents for their sometimes idiosyncratic stance.

The four faux-sibling Brothers described their music as 'Discordo', as bassist Andy Diagram explains: "The music was made to a strict formula, or set of rules. All the guitar chords were based on discordant notes, all the beats were very simple rock or disco, and all the words were very straightforward and down to earth." Added to which, from a contemporary press release-cum-manifesto: "The Diagram Brothers realise that there is something unique in the ordinary, everyday object and event, mixing their observations with comment, wit and irony. The lyrics are ultra-normal. We make sure we don't use long words."

The high-concept quartet formed in Manchester in late October 1979, initially comprising Lawrence Diagram (guitar), Fraser Diagram (vocals and guitar), Simon Diagram (drums) and Jason Diagram (bass). Of the four, only the rhythm section were in fact brothers, although all were science students. A six song demo tape was recorded in December and circulated in January 1980, with the happy result that the band secured a slot at a John Peel Roadshow at Manchester University on 2 February.

Although the PA system failed on the night, Peel was sufficiently impressed to offer the band a radio session, recorded at Maida Vale in March. The four tracks - Bricks, Bikers, We Are All Animals and There Is No Shower - were produced by Tony Wilson (not the Factory founder), and proved so popular that the session was repeated no fewer than five times.

The buzz around the first Peel Session saw the band booked to support UB40 at the Russell Club in April (not a Factory night), and play in London at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in June. This particular ICA Rock Week was sponsored by Capital Radio and showcased provincial bands from the north and west of England, including Wah! Heat, Ludus, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, Durutti Column, Clock DVA and Music For Pleasure. The Diagram Brothers appeared on 19 June, supporting the Glaxo Babies, and won over Adrian Thrills of the NME: "They are the pop group that the likes The Members and Piranhas never quite became. Titles like Bricks and There Is No Shower recall the celebrated sound of the suburbs, but the Brothers take things a stage further by welding their earthy, everyday lyrics to a move inventive musical approach… Any cynicism is tempered by their approachable good humour."

In September 1980 the band also appeared at the Beach Club, the seminal Manchester venue run by Richard Boon and Eric Random of New Hormones. Reviewing the show for Sounds, Mick Wall found much to like: "Their music is like a spindly long-legged insect out of control, gyrating funk propelled by intense, angular rhythm. Far from being bleak and bullshitty, they cheered this miserable man up. I smell alternative chart action for the Brothers when their single is released soon."

Despite the Peel Session, and a measure of local notoriety, The Diagram Brothers failed to secure a record deal for their first single, and their 7" vinyl debut eventually appeared on Mike Hinc's Construct imprint. Released in October 1980, the EP featured three cuts, with lead track We Are All Animals backed with There Is No Shower and I Would Like to Live In Prison. Animals seemed to confirm Darwin's theory of evolution, while the flipside ('the worrying stuff side') drew inspiration from a legless boy's letter to the local council for funds and planning permission to build a shower, neglected in the bureaucratic Big Sleep.

Simon Diagram recalls: "Prison marked the invention of 'Alternato', a musical technique invented by the Brothers in which two guitarists alternatively and in quick succession play one chord each at opposite ends of the fretboard, forming a Discordo sequence that would be impossible for one guitarist to play alone." Fraser added: "Subsequently, we all worked together to create (dis)chords that we had never heard before. Simon would often take our fingers and place them on the frets until he heard a new sound. Lawrence was also totally inspired and original."

'Crazy' and 'demented' featured among the other adjectives employed by NME to describe the record. By the time the EP appeared, bassist Jason had left the band, returning to his Bristol hometown and a gig in The Skodas. Thanks to an advert at the Manchester Musicians' Collective, he was replaced by Andy Diagram, a native of London who also played trumpet in eclectic popsters Dislocation Dance.

The first (and last) Diagram Brothers feature article to appear in any of the weekly UK music papers came in November 1980, courtesy of NME journalist Mick Duffy. Praising the quartet as 'a great new pop band' and 'Manchester's most potent contenders', the piece also explored the impressive tally of B.Sc's, M.Sc's and Ph.D's shared between the four Brothers, and how these unhip credentials might affect their post-punk credibility:

"I suppose it's inverse intellectual snobbery to worry about it," explains Lawrence, "but students do get such a bad press. There's an obvious temptation to try to avoid it. Me and Fraser always refer to ourselves as research scientists, but even then people don't expect scientists to be in a decent band either. That's why some of our songs aim to destroy the stereotyped impressions people make about certain groups in society… We're certainly very methodical in our songwriting. And we approach our music in a very logistical way."

Duffy also revealed something of The Diagram Brother's unorthodox working methods: "This conceptual, logistical approach to rock certainly dictates the way the band is organised. For example, when a studio session is imminent they get together beforehand and draw up a 'working chart', which clearly defines the role of each member and states in what order they will perform their functions. Likewise, they also made meticulous preparations for this interview. A pen-written pad of notes is intermittently referred to in order to help them articulate certain band policies and viewpoints."

Bona fide Diagram Brothers indeed. Between November 1980 and January 1981 the band took part in a sporadic New Hormones live package, dubbed I Like Shopping, along with Ludus, Dislocation Dance, Eric Random and The Mudhutters. The tour visited Bury, Leeds, York and various venues in Manchester and London. The band also recorded their second Peel session in January 1981, cutting Postal Bargains, Those Men in White Coats, My Bad Chest Feels Much Better Now and I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being a Right Git, with Dale Griffin in the producer's chair.

In April 1981 the Brothers made their debut on the revitalised New Hormones label, with a 7" coupling Bricks and Postal Bargains (ORG 9). Both songs were already firm favourites thanks to the Peel sessions, boasting funky guitars and upfront drumming, and earned a clutch of good reviews: "An uneasy funk, in which two guitars appear to throttle each other" (Smash Hits); "Not easy to dance to. I tried and twisted my ankle, because the music kind of stops and starts" (The Leveller); "Not quite as danceable as Heaven 17 but it could easily be played at any of the new dance clubs" (Philadelphia Triangle)

Between April and September the group recorded a clutch of songs for the first album, all taped at Cargo, the Rochdale studio then owned by John Brierley. In September the Diagrams also played their biggest show to date at the third Futurama festival, held at Stafford New Bingley Hall on September 5th and 6th, haring the Sunday bill with Simple Minds, Bow Wow Wow, Doll by Doll, Modern Eon, UK Decay, The Virgin Prunes, Ludus, Blue Orchids and others.

Released on 20 November 1981, the album Some Marvels of Modern Science (ORG 17) arrived housed in an attractive postmodern sleeve by Richard Boon, together with four 'dead interesting' 12" card inserts. No tracks from previous singles were included, but the cards were designed to be cut/folded/assembled into a handy Diagram Brothers Portfolio, comprising twenty postcards featuring images, lyrics and information about the group.

In Allez Oop fanzine, Fraser Diagram explained that some of the lyrics came from everyday places, including Words From Major: "That was taken from a newspaper article about the rioting here [Moss Side, July 1981]. We had been thinking about some music that Lawrence had come up with, and were trying to find some subject matter to fit it. We had a copy of the Manchester Evening News in front of us. Simon picked it up and said, 'What we need is something spontaneous like… Word From Major Sends Mob Packing.' It dawned on us that this was perfect. So we edited out the dross and kept things such as 'every man who's worth his salt would do what I did' and 'my stay in the army taught me never to be frightened.'"

The album attracted several positive reviews, with Paul Tickell writing in NME: "The Diagram Brothers play an extraordinary, quirky, jerky brand of speedo funk, as if some Pavlovian behaviourist has got hold of The Gang of Four and started to do tricky experiments on them... Science before sentience, the didactic before the ecstatic seems to be the unusual anti-rock n' roll idea... SMOMS is an album of observations which are never dull, and of music which - in spite of being clinical - is never cold. I quite warm to this kind of off-beat fun and to the proof that the English eccentric spirit needn't necessarily take twee grown-up public schoolboy forms."

However others were less enthusiastic, including Record Mirror ("more irritating than irresistible"), Birmingham FT ("one of the few good things at this year's Futurama, but this disappoints") and ZigZag ("inventive, but quite sparse"). Worse still, Steve Sutherland in Melody Maker saw fit to bury the album as "the most moronically unimaginative ever made. And anyway, I've got all the XTC albums I need."

The Brothers appeared unperturbed. According to drummer Simon: "Slaggings of the album are a great encouragement. If I saw a band that received such adverse coverage, I'd go and buy their record." To which guitarist Lawrence added: "Those comparisons are ridiculous. Just because we use discords we immediately get tarred with the same brush as XTC. Stravinsky was probably the first person to use discords, and dissonant music has not even begun to be properly explored. Discords hold great power, emotionally and physically, and we use them in a completely different manner."

On 3 December 1981 the band played another London date at the Boulevard Theatre in Soho, and on 31 December saw in the New Year with an intimate date at Eden's Wine Bar in Manchester, shared with Durutti Column and wryly billed as 'Uncle Vincent's Hogmanay Special'. Already radio favourites via Peel, on 9 February 1982 the group appeared on national television, performing Isn't It Interesting How Neutron Bombs Work and I Didn't Get Where I Am Today By Being A Right Git on the BBC2 arts programme Riverside.

But times were changing. Back in Manchester the Diagram Brothers recorded a new single at Pluto, and on 10 May performed a radically different show as part of the New Hormones Maydaze presentation at the Band on the Wall. This was billed as 'a quirky panorama of the world and it's contents - a discordo documentary of the ordinary, as succinct as Gilbert & Sullivan, with a more contemporary beat.' Owing to Simon's unavoidable absence, the remaining trio played with a drum machine and performed in suits and bow ties, with nothing more than vocals and microphones. New material such as the song Discordo hinted at the brave new musical territory the Brothers intended to explore, a singular (and hardly commercial) fusion of trademark dischords with Gilbert & Sullivan and The Four Tops.

The new EP appeared in June on 10" format (ORG 21), with title track Discordo joined by Fondue Soiree, My Dinner and Cherry Blossom. The list of 'instruments' played included meat trays, a waste paper bin, a milk bottle, a tobacco tin and Morphy Richards TUID/3 (the toaster featured on the cover of Some Marvels of Modern Science). It was hardly New Pop, nor as catchy-quirky as Bricks a year earlier, with the result that praise (and sales) were somewhat qualified: "If Devo came from Manchester they'd probably sound like this oddball quartet who, of course, aren't brothers at all. This 10-incher finds them singing lines like "How important is my dinner?" over sharp and jerky rhythms. Sounds silly? It is. Good though" (Record Mirror)

The third and final Peel Session was recorded at Maida Vale in June 1982. and featured five new tracks: Hey Dad!, Tracey, You've Got To Pick a Pocket Or Two, The Expert and a skewed cover of You'll Never Walk Alone. The new directions explored here boded well for a second album, but by now New Hormones had run short of money, and so this final visit to the BBC proved to be the last Diagrams recordings. That said, a swansong 7" EP slipped out on Berlin label Outatune Records featuring the a-sides Bricks and Discordo, as well as a German language version of …Right Git.

Although a series of live shows was planned with the new material, just one full concert was performed, at Keighley Funhouse on 14 June. Apart from their goal of appearing on Top of the Pops (in truth, never a likely proposition), by late 1982 the band had achieved everything they had set out to do as amateur musicians: enjoy themselves, write odd music, cut some records, tour with interesting bands, and appear on radio and television. With Lawrence and Fraser coming to the end of their time at college, and with jobs pending, the Diagram Brothers decided to disband amicably at the end of the year. However Andy continued working as a professional musician, preserving the Diagram surname in Dislocation Dance, and has since played with Pale Fountains, James, The Honkies and Spaceheads, as well as forming one half of the Two Pale Boys projects with David Thomas and Frank Black.

The Diagrams'collected studio recordings appear on the CD Some Marvels of Modern Science + Singles (LTMCD 2480), and all three Peel sessions on The Peel Sessions (LTMCD 2558).

James Nice
November 2006

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