BMX Bandits

A leading light of the short-lived C-86/anorak movement of the mid-'80s, the BMX Bandits stood at the epicenter of the Scottish pop music scene for over a decade; however, despite helping launch the careers of talents ranging from <a href="spotify:artist:2Sp19cOHSqAUlE64hekARW">Teenage Fanclub</a> and Eugenius to <a href="spotify:artist:5BEYGWk6aPdNXxBx9pwU8S">the Soup Dragons</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3oJKDT5tMZ47zicaYapx7t">Superstar</a>, they never grew beyond the confines of a fervent cult following, though they never gave up making sweet, idiosyncratic pop music.

The band was essentially the vehicle of singer/guitarist Duglas T. Stewart, a Bellshill native and onetime member of the Pretty Flowers; he formed the band in 1985, sarcastically selecting the name "BMX Bandits" out of his belief that they would fall apart after only one gig. Instead, the group became a popular local attraction, and soon signed to Stephen Pastel's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%2253rd+and+3rd%22">53rd and 3rd</a> label. Recorded with a lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a>, bassist Sean Dickson, guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3W4mPcyUFtp4ZYuLxzD8yN">Jim McCulloch</a>, drummer Willie McArdle, and backing vocalist Billy Wood, the BMX Bandits' charming 1986 debut single, "E102," launched them to the forefront of the C-86 uprising, despite being denied a spot on the NME magazine compilation cassette of naïve jangle pop that gave the movement its name. By the follow-up, "What a Wonderful World," both McArdle and Dickson had exited, and were replaced by ex-Boy Hairdressers bassist Joe McAlinden and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:3zKhpkAXi6ZEjgy4yB5HqH">Francis MacDonald</a>; Dickson soon founded his own band, <a href="spotify:artist:5BEYGWk6aPdNXxBx9pwU8S">the Soup Dragons</a>, the first of many BMX Bandits spinoffs to eclipse the original group's success.

After a series of subsequent singles and roster changes (including the exit of McCulloch, who joined Dickson in <a href="spotify:artist:5BEYGWk6aPdNXxBx9pwU8S">the Soup Dragons</a>), the BMX Bandits -- <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3zKhpkAXi6ZEjgy4yB5HqH">MacDonald</a>, McAlinden, fellow Boy Hairdressers alum <a href="spotify:artist:6nC2QUWQf9EldmFq3iQwoL">Norman Blake</a>, and guitarist Gordon Keen -- released their long-awaited debut LP, the tongue-in-cheek C86 Plus, in 1990. A whimsical concert album, Totally Groovy Live Experience!, appeared later in the year, but another hiatus followed as <a href="spotify:artist:2nwp4tMqtzXGNHAFn1GUhf">Blake</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3zKhpkAXi6ZEjgy4yB5HqH">MacDonald</a> formed <a href="spotify:artist:2Sp19cOHSqAUlE64hekARW">Teenage Fanclub</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:2nwp4tMqtzXGNHAFn1GUhf">Blake</a> returned to the Bandits fold, however, for 1991's Star Wars, also recorded with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:4wWQkHhmUNlXvhbHRUSqZW">Vaselines</a> frontman <a href="spotify:artist:3nh34IHvtRRsoKz3zTcyeH">Eugene Kelly</a>; after the 1992 EP Gordon Keen & His BMX Bandits, Keen and <a href="spotify:artist:4LjYBgwWwlYIFlpqxVJZ2a">Kelly</a> broke off to form Captain America, later rechristened Eugenius, and McAlinden founded <a href="spotify:artist:3oJKDT5tMZ47zicaYapx7t">Superstar</a>.

Later in 1992, the BMX Bandits signed to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Creation%22">Creation</a> label, where they issued their finest effort to date, the single "Serious Drugs." Released in 1993, Life Goes On was the first Bandits LP recorded with the steady lineup of <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3zKhpkAXi6ZEjgy4yB5HqH">MacDonald</a> (after a brief tenure in <a href="spotify:artist:2Sp19cOHSqAUlE64hekARW">Teenage Fanclub</a>), his bassist brother <a href="spotify:artist:5UIhdRGbFQIM8jqdMCs6WD">Finlay</a>, and guitarist John Hogarty; ex-<a href="spotify:artist:5BEYGWk6aPdNXxBx9pwU8S">Soup Dragon</a> Sushil Dade was later added to the roster for 1995's Gettin' Dirty, a move into more lush sonic territory drawing clear inspiration from <a href="spotify:artist:3oDbviiivRWhXwIE8hxkVV">the Beach Boys</a>. After the group released the more straightforward rock Theme Park in 1996, <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a> split off to make a solo record, Frankenstein.

After a long period of musical inactivity, the Bandits resurfaced in 2006 with a revamped lineup that included vocalist Rachel Mackenzie. The group released My Chain in 2006 for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rev-Ola%22">Rev-Ola</a>, then followed it quickly with Bee Stings in 2007. <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a> and the group soldiered on and signed with a new label (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elefant%22">Elefant</a>), then released a compendium of "hits" and lost songs (The Rise and Fall of the BMX Bandits) in 2009, before returning in 2012 with a new studio album (BMX Bandits in Space) made with the help of long-lost Bandit <a href="spotify:artist:3W4mPcyUFtp4ZYuLxzD8yN">Jim McCulloch</a>. Mackenzie left soon after the album and was replaced by vocalist/keyboardist Chloe Philip. After another long break during which <a href="spotify:artist:4XVxeuUkJRiCYJYdqRpwab">Stewart</a> moved to Glasgow from his Belshill hometown and struggled with depression, the tenth BMX Bandits album, BMX Bandits Forever, was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Elefant%22">Elefant</a>. It featured an appearance by <a href="spotify:artist:30uiS1n3uIGXJEYFR1GVDy">Brian Jonestown Massacre</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:6FBGg3WVGPtpIbfmnkYBNS">Anton Newcombe</a> and production on a few songs by Dr Cosmo's Tape Lab. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi