The Primitives (Coventry band) tribute to Steve Dullaghan

News came in from Bassist John Docker that  Primitives bass guitarist Steve Dullaghan has passed

Image8

 away.

The Primitives were a charting Coventry band of the 80's, produce by ex Reluctant Stereotype Paul Samson.

STEVEN ANTHONY DULLAGHAN

bass guitar, guitars (1985-1989)

b. December 18, 1966
After playing in The Primitives, Steve was in Hate (with Pete Tweedie). Dullaghan, with Martyn Bates, later evolved Hate into Hungry i, with Steve playing guitar. They recorded two EP's on the Nursery label. After two years, he rejoined his first ever band, Nocturnal Babies ("fronted by original Primitives singer, Kieron"). He also roadied for Pulp, Catatonia, and McAlmont. Currently he is "going under the moniker Means To An End".

May 30, 2001, Coventry England's Godiva Festival - Steve sits on the panel of judges at the battle of the bands.

  

Here are a couple of their videos -

 

The Primitives "Secrets"

The Primitives - Crash

Some found pieces on the Primitives -

"The Primitives were from Coventry and formed in 1985. They filled the gap post-Smiths and pre-Stone Roses. Their

The Primitives

 first single was ‘Thru The Flowers’ which was released in May of 1986. The obvious focal point was Tracy Tracy who was cute as cute. The others dressed head to toe in black, wore skinny jeans and pointy boots and had Ringo Starr circa 1965 haircuts. nPaul the guitarist was clearly in love with Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground and had a great collection of guitars. The band went through more line-up changes than Spinal Tap. They released six singles with the sixth being a re-recorded version of ‘Thru The Flowers’ before they eventually signed to RCA in 1987. In 1988 the album ‘Lovely’ was released and it is brilliant. The other key to their sound was producer Paul Sampson who went back through all their old demos and found ‘Crash’ a song they had scraped. This was their only big hit."

"British indie pop band the Primitives was formed in Coventry, England in mid-1985 by singer Kieron, guitarist Paul Court, bassist Steve Dullaghan, and drummer Pete Tweedie; after a handful of gigs Kieron was replaced by vocalist Tracy Tracy, a peroxide-blonde bombshell whose presence inspired a more melodic approach, which earned the group inevitable comparisons to Blondie. The Primitives' debut single "Thru the Flowers" appeared on their own Lazy label in 1986 and was quickly followed by radio sessions for Janice Long, Andy Kershaw, and John Peel. Their second effort, "Really Stupid," preceded the band's first European tour, with "Stop Killing Me" appearing in early 1987. Tweedie was dismissed from the group (allegedly for mistreating Tracy's cats) prior to the Primitives' signing to major label RCA, and with new drummer Tig Williams the group recorded their 1988 debut LP, Lovely, scoring a major UK pop hit with the masterful "Crash." After completing an American tour, Dullaghan exited the lineup, with bassist Paul Sampson stepping in for 1989's Pure; the album failed to recreate the success and excitement of its predecessor, however, and when 1991's Ian Broudie-produced Galore met a similar fate, the Primitives disbanded. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide " 

 

More on Hobo - A to Z of Coventry Bands https://sites.google.com/site/bandsfromcoventry/coventry-bands-a-to-z/coventry-bands-p/the-primitives

Comments

[Richard Elms]

Personally I've known Steve for about fifteen years and, whilst at The Colosseum, put him on both as a solo artist and in the bands Means to an End and Big Origami which featured Dave Sanders and Mick Moonbear. I know that Mick and Dave, along with Kieron, were there when he was found and so my heart goes out to them too as they were true friends to the end.

On thing some people may not be too aware about Steve is that he campaigned tirelessly against the dole office to secure the new deal for musicians for the over 25s and his efforts resulted in a change of policy, so in another life, maybe he should have been a lawyer.

Instead he was a musician, and a bloody good one at that, because music was his life and, more importantly to me, his passion to discover and share new music with others never diminished.

All the best mate wherever you are. You'll be missed.

Rich, Gunter, Ferris and Matt.

[Dominic O'Callaghan (DOC)]

 

I've had the honour of knowing some lovely people in my life. As any person who knew steve will tell, he was one of the good ones. Kind, generous, quietly funny, and an awesome guitarist.

He'll be sorely missed by his friends and family. I'm grateful i had the chance to get to know him, though all too briefly

later steve

DOC

 

[Ashley]

I was shocked and saddened greatly by the news of Steve's passing.

[Steve Ashwell]

Yes, I too had the honour to know Dulla over a very long period, & concur with everything said above.

Hell of a bloke, & I'm only sorry that I've been so far out of the loop that I only heard about his shuffling off last week. 

Not seeing Dulla for ages is something I'll always regret, but at least I've enough of the music of MTAE & The Hungry I to bring him back whenver the muse takes me.. 

Steve xx

 

[diane ni dhonnchadha]

I still can't believe that Dulla is gone. The closest I ever had to a brother, we didn't always get along but I loved him like family. Too soon to say goodbye. You are the one I want to talk to about this but I cant 

Diane xxx