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'This Heat' were a British post-punk band notable for their world music influences, formed late 1975 in Brixton, London by multi-instrumentalists Charles Bullen (guitar, clarinet, viola, vocals, tapes), Charles Hayward (percussion, keyboards, vocals, tapes) and Gareth Williams (keyboard, guitar, bass, vocals, tapes).
Their first radio airplay came from, unsurprisingly, John Peel, whom they sent a demo tape (recorded in a disused meat factory) to in early 1977.
Their self-titled debut album surfaced in August 1979, just as the mainstream punk scene was fragmenting in the UK (but This Heat, although around at the same time, were never that similar, in sound at least, to the early punks- their sound was, from the off, decidedly post-punk).
Another of This Heat's many quirks was their incorporation of world music into their sound. Whereas contemporaries such as The Pop Group, Public Image Ltd and, even more so, The Clash, all looked to the Carribean for influences, This Heat looked, as well as to Jamaica and to India, to Africa, working with musicians from Ghana and Senegal, advancing their earlier, more krautrock-influenced sound (with help from reggae mixer Martin Frederick) and signing to Rough Trade, to produce a very British take on world music, their second and final effort, Deceit (1981), a dark record driven largely by Hayward's masterful percussion and chanted, more often than not political lyrics. It should be noted that This Heat's influences, although going by the same label nowadays as the music which has influenced the likes of, say, Paul Simon, is a completely different type of world music altogether.
Although, like all of This Heat's releases, it sold poorly, Deceit is now seen as a classic of the post-punk era comparable with Closer or Metal Box (although, like the music of many other post-punk acts, ie: The Pop Group, This Heat's music is not widely available to buy).
This Heat split up in 1982 after failing to fill the gap left by William's departure (he left to study Indian dance, drama and music theory), although they did attempt to replace him with a number of temporaries. Hayward, at least, remains active musically to this day, with just as little commercial recognition as he had with This Heat.
Sources: The Great Alternative and Indie Discography (Martin C Strong)
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