The Room - One Hundred Years (1985)

The Room formed in 1979 with an initial line-up of vocalist Dave Jackson, Robyn Odlum on guitar, Becky Stringer on bass, and drummer Clive Thomas. They released a cassette album 'Bitter Reaction' in 1980, and two double A-sided singles, 'Motion'/'Waiting Room' in 1980 and 'In Sickness and Health'/'Bated Breath' in 1981, on their own self-financed independent label Box Records. These releases saw the band compared to Joy Division, The Fall and fellow Liverpool band Echo & the Bunnymen, and they soon gained strong support from the music press and John Peel. In 1981 they made four demo recordings (including an early version of 'Waiting Room') which were later broadcast on Peel's radio show as a session, and in 1982 the group secured a record deal with Red Flame records, releasing the 'Things Have Learnt to Walk That Ought to Crawl' single, quickly followed by their first vinyl album 'Indoor Fireworks'. In 1983 they suffered major line-up changes, with Odlum and Thomas departing to be replaced by ex-Wild Swans drummer Alan Wills, guitarist Paul Cavanagh, and keyboard player Peter Baker. This new line-up issued the mini-album 'Clear!' in late 1983, and the following year saw the release of their final album 'In Evil Hour', which was part-produced by Television's Tom Verlaine. In 1985 they were invited into the studio for their own John Peel session, and they chose to record four new songs, none of which subsequently appeared on an album, as following one final EP of Janice Long radio sessions, the band split later that year. Jackson and Stringer formed a new band, Benny Profane, who released the excellent 'Trapdoor Swing' album in 1989, as well as their own version of 'Here Comes The Floor' as a 7" single. This post collects together all the non-album singles and b-sides, the 1981 demos, the John Peel session, and a 1985 demo for what would have been their fifth album, for a complete overview of the band's career. The Room were a bit more successful than some other groups of the period, and all three of their albums are well worth hearing, especially 'In Evil Hour', which includes all of the songs from the superb 'Jackpot Jack' EP, plus additional new recordings.    

Track listing

01 Motion (single 1980)
02 Waiting Room (b-side of 'Motion')
03 Who Are Your Friends (demo 1981)
04 Fever (demo 1981)
05 Crash (demo 1981)
06 One Hundred Years (single 1982)
07 The Whole World Sings (b-side of 'One Hundred Years')
08 Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl (single 1982)
09 Dream Of Flying (b-side of 'Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl')
10 The Storm (John Peel session 1985)
11 Here Comes The Floor (John Peel session 1985)
12 ...But When Do We Start To Live? (John Peel session 1985)
13 Jeremiah (John Peel session 1985)
14 Untitled (demo 1985)