The Box - Unpacked (1984)

Although The Box hailed from Sheffield and recorded at Cabaret Voltaire's Western Works studios, their music couldn't be more different to the Cabs esoteric, experimental electronica. The band were formed in 1981 from the ashes of the legendary Sheffield band Clock DVA, with Paul Widger (guitar, vibraphone), Roger Quail (drums) and Charlie Collins (saxophone, flute, piccolo flute) recruiting new member Terry Todd on bass, and after trying several vocalists, including the Cabs Stephen Mallinder, they decided on Peter Hope as their singer. Their first record was a 12" vinyl single which came out in January 1983, and contained five songs, and this was quickly followed by two more new songs on a 7" record. In June they released their debut album, with only one of those seven tracks making an appearance, and as theirs was a great new sound in 1983, all of their records received extensive airplay from John Peel, resulting in the band being invited to record a session for his show. A second album appeared exactly a year after the first, with 'Great Moments In Big Slam' still being my favourite work from the band. In November 1984 they released another four track 12" single, and once again it contained all new songs, with this disc marking a change of record label to Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision, and a change of studio to Western Works. In 1985 they released their final Doublevision album, 'Muscle Out: The Box Live', and then the band were no more. The sound of The Box was unique even back in 1983, and sounds just as out-there today, with very few bands even attempting to sound like them. This post collects all those non-album EP and single tracks, the whole of their 1983 John Peel session, and a few unreleased songs and demo recordings, and in the unlikely event that you own their two brilliant albums, then you will now have everything they ever recorded.  

Track listing 

01 Old Style Drop Down (single 1983)
02 Momentum (b-side of 'Old Style Drop Down')
03 No Time For Talk (from 'The Box' EP 1983)
04 Burn Down That Village (from 'The Box' EP 1983)
05 Unstable (from 'The Box' EP 1983)
06 Hazard (from 'The Box' EP 1983)
07 Limpopo (from 'The Box' EP 1983)
08 Low Commotion (from the 'Muscle In' EP 1984)
09 Curfew (from the 'Muscle In' EP 1984)
10 Crow Bar (from the 'Muscle In' EP 1984)
11 Spade Work (from the 'Muscle In' EP 1984)
12 Bare Facts (previously unreleased)
13 Bottle Drips Dry (previously unreleased)
14 Out (John Peel Session 1983)
15 Strike (John Peel Session 1983)
16 The Hub (John Peel Session 1983)
17 Water Grows Teeth (John Peel Session 1983)
18 Rose High (demo 1984)
19 Surprised (demo 1984)