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Bis were a Scottish rock band. Its three members are called Sci-fi Steve, Disco John, and Manda Rin.
The three musicians formed Bis in 1995, when Manda and John were in high school and Steve had recently graduated. About a year later, they appeared on Top of the Pops performing Kandy Pop from their Secret Vampire Soundtrack EP ahead of its release, widely reported (even to the present day) as the first such appearance by an unsigned act, though technically New Order and The Timelords both have stronger claims on that achievement. Bis had a number of EPs that almost scraped into the UK top 40, including Sweet Shop Avengerz. In the late 1990s "Eurodisco" (on the CD Social Dancing) was a success.
The band's early releases were on Glasgow's legendary lo-fi Chemikal Underground label, run by The Delgados, before transferring to Wiija Records where labelmates included Cornershop. In the USA, their records appeared on the underground label K Records and on the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label. They toured extensively both in the U.K. and abroad - their diverse influences reflected in the kind of acts they appeared with: Pavement, Garbage, Luscious Jackson, Foo Fighters and Gary Numan among them.
The United States first encountered the band during the closing credits of the Powerpuff Girls animated series. They also enjoyed a period of considerable success in Japan - selling nearly 100 000 copies of their debut album in the first week of release.
The band broke up in 2003, after playing a farewell show at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. All remain active in the local music scene. Steve and John play in Dirty Hospital and Manda DJs.
They contributed a song to the game Jet Set Radio Future called "Statement Of Intent".
Discography
- Transmissions on the teen-c tip! (1995, Acuarela)
- Disco nation 45 (1995, Chemikal Underground)
- The Secret Vampire Soundtrack (1996, Chemikal Underground)
- Heavenly/Bis split (1996, K)
- Bis vs. the D.I.Y. Corps (1996, teen-c recordings)
- Atom-Powered Action! (1996)
- This Is Teen-C Power! (1996)
- Sweet Shop Avengerz (1997)
- Lugworm/Bis split (1997)
- New Transister Heroes (1997)
- Everybody Thinks That They're Going to Get Theirs (1997)
- Kid Cut (demo) (1997)
- Intendo (1998)
- Social Dancing (1999)
- Return To Central (2001)
- Music For A Stranger World (EP) (2001)
- Plastique Nouveau (EP) (2001)
External link
Official band website (http://www.bisnation.com)
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