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The Weekend Before
Larry Stabbins and Simon Booth first met on a studio session for Simon's band Weekend in 1982, recording View From Her Room, the record that was to become seminal in the rise of the London Jazz dance scene two years later. At Robert Wyatt's suggestion Simon had asked trumpet player Harry Becket to supply a horn section for the session and Harry booked Larry and baritone player Olaf Vas. Subsequently Larry played on all of Weekend's gigs and recordings and started to write with Simon.
Week No. 1
After the demise of Weekend in the spring of 1983, Simon wandered into the Jazz Room of the Camden Palace Electric Ballroom one night to find DJ Paul Murphy playing View From Her Room to packed floor of young and mainly black jazz dancers and became an overnight local celebrity. He conceived the idea of a new band that would be bigger, tougher, politically motivated and jazz dance based. Simon went away and wrote the first Working Week record Venceremos, aimed firmly at the club dancers while at the same time highlighting the political situation in Latin America. Venceremos was dedicated to the Chilean singer/guitarist Victor Jara who had been killed by the CIA backed military junta and was initially conceived as a benefit record for the Chile Solidarity Campaign. All the artists gave their services unpaid including producer Robin Millar who also donated studio time.
Recorded in August of '83 contractual problems prevented release for months and in the meantime Working Week began to play out live and Simon and Larry began writing together seriously. The first gigs were riotous affairs at the legendary Wag Club, just about the coolest club in London at the time. Paul Murphy would DJ, the Electric Ballroom jazz dancers would invade West End cool and the band would play more or less free jazz over furious Latin grooves from the four percussion players. Pieces such as Stella Marina would last most of a set, finalised by the only vocal -Leroy Osbourne singing Venceremos. By the third gig in the early months of 84' there were more people out side than there were rammed together inside, and the police were called to disperse them. Among those inside was the then 75 year-old Gil Evans -collaborator with Miles Davis on classics like Birth of the Cool and arranger of Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess. Simon had met film director Julien Temple and become musical director for his latest project, a film of the 50's novel Absolute Beginners, and Larry had suggested approaching Gil Evans to write the score -Gil was not the sort of 75 year old to miss out on a happening band.
By March the contractual problems were sorted out and Working Week signed to Virgin Records. That month they also played their first major concert at Camden Jazz Festival complete with the Electric Ballroom's IDJ jazz dancers, and in mid May Venceremos was released to rave reviews, reaching number 15 in the pop singles charts. While the 7inch version featuring vocals from Tracy Thorn, Robert Wyatt and Chilean Claudia Figuerra was a bossa nova, it was the furious, double tempo 12inch version which really caused a stir with scorching solos from Larry and Harry Beckett and that driving Latin groove throughout, accompanied by a 15 minute film (effectively a dry run for Absolute Beginners) by Julien Temple featuring IDJ.
Suddenly the press started reporting a new young jazz scene in London.
More gigs followed -Bracknell Jazz Festival and a gig at the Albany Empire where Simon and Larry spotted one of the first signs of genuine change in the young scene-the saxophone player in John Stevens's young workshop group-Courteney Pine. In between Larry and Simon wrote new material, including Rodrigo Bay and Killer Blow with Sade, which, complete with Gil Evans horn arrangement were ultimately their only contribution to Absolute Beginners.
In July the second single `Storm of Light` was released. This featured Julie Tippetts(nee Driscoll) on vocals, a long time friend and colleague of Larry's and wife of Keith Tippett with whom Larry had worked since meeting as teenagers in Bristol. Accompanied by a hot, steamy Julien Temple video, which seemed to cross West Side Story with Querelle it also got brilliant reviews. By August Working Week were attracting enough attention to merit double page spreads in Melody Maker and NME (which had ignored jazz for years), at the same time being lauded by serious style mags like The Face. Record Mirror, at the time a teenage pop magazine, gave the first two singles Record of the Week. In the meantime Larry and Simon wrote more music.
It was now time to think about the album and it seemed a good Idea to find a permanent singer. Corrine Drewery (later to front Swing Out Sister) was recruited for a while and did some gigs including Manchester's Hacienda Club but was soon replaced by the 22-year-old Juliet Roberts.
Juliet's soul and gospel background was the perfect compliment to Simon punk and pop and Larry's avant-garde jazz. Two weeks after they met Juliet fronted the band live on the Old Grey Whistle Test, the BBC's Flagship popular music program and soon after they went into producer Robin Millar's Powerplant Studios to start recording the album Working Nights.
Inner City BluesOne of the first tracks was Larry's Stella Marina, which had been heavily featured in the live set. Under Simon and Robin's hands this became a mega-opus on 48 tracks lasting 15 minutes, featuring Julie Tippetts and rapper Jalal from New York's legendary `Last Poets`. This was probably the first ever piece of `acid jazz` in the truest sense -searing, coruscating, hallucinogenic and resolutely dance club based. On completion Virgin boss Simon Draper, sensing the commercial potential, sent the band straight back into the studio with instructions to produce another single. Pausing only to produce the sound track to Nigel Finch's TV Film Lygmalion the band complied. Inner City Blues, Thought I'd Never See You Again and Who's Fooling Who were the result-with a new six piece horn section featuring Guy Barker and Malcolm Griffiths and new rhythm section of Nic France and Chucho Merchan imported from Ian Carr's Nucleus, only pianist Kim Burton remained from the initial band.
Week No. 2
Inner City BluesThe first single Inner City Blues came with a video directed by a mate of Simon's, Keith Allen, who brought in Comic Strip director Peter Richardson. As a result Simon and Larry were given the job of providing the music for the first Comic Strip film Supergrass. Following the single came the album Working Nights and activity intensified, with an appearance on ITV's The Tube in March. This was the new band complete with six horns -followed by a live Radio One `In Concert` broadcast with guest appearance from trumpet legend Kenny Wheeler, London's Camden Jazz Festival and a sell-out concert at London's Dominion Theatre. By now the album had taken off and Keith Tippett was drafted in to arrange the score for Supergrass and take over the remaining writing.
The next single Sweet Nothing was released and then the serious business of touring began. The horn section was stripped down to three and Bosco took sole percussion duties while the band toured Britain for a couple of weeks mainly playing universities before heading of to Germany. Reviews of the album in Britain had been good but in Germany they'd been phenomenal and the band played a succession of rammed out clubs. The rest of the summer was a blur of touring Europe playing clubs, pop festivals such as Glastonbury, Rennes and Brussels and also participating in the `Touche Par a Mon Pote` anti-racism rally in France to a crowd of (by police estimates) two hundred and fifty thousand people in Paris's Place de la Concorde There were also appearances at major jazz festivals including Nice, Willisau,Angouleme, Peruggia and Cagliari, Catania and Rotterdam, then Vienna's Blue Danube, Montreux, and the GLC festival in Battersea Park in one memorable weekend. Tracks from the live set at Montreux appeared on the third extended single Thought I'd Never See You Again. This was followed by a trip to Japan and then a brief rest before the next batch of touring -back to Germany and bigger concert halls. Like countless jazz-based UK musicians before them, continental Europe appreciated them more than British audiences. In addition, in sections of the British press a backlash had begun in the summer of 85', with an attack from Richard Cook in NME accusing them of not really being jazz, followed by The Wire accusing them of selling out and The Face, accusing them of not being fashionable any more.
Week No. 3
CompanerosCompaneros was written in the winter of 86 and recorded at the Townhouse in the spring with a new producer, Ben Rogan. A Captain Beefheart tune, Too Much Time became the unlikely first single followed by South Africa and the Don't Touch My Friend. By now the band had become truly Internationalist and consequently spent more and more time abroad. They became the darlings of the young intellectual left in Europe and were delighted to talk about politics and philosophy with an endless stream of journalists, instead of Sade's latest hairstyle or whether or not they were really jazz. So apart from an annual appearance at a (usually) sold out Town and Country Club in London with DJ Gilles Peterson, it was back on the road in Europe. Italy was the next country to take to the band in a big way and they memorably contributed to a huge African National Congress Benefit Rally in Reggio Emilia, organised by an old friend of Larry's from London Jazz Composers days, Fillipo Bianchi. They won a Golden Europa Award from German TV for their `Social Involvement`-and more weeks of touring countless clubs, halls and jazz festivals and another trip to Japan.
Week No. 4
By the third album its seemed time for a change. Simon and Larry had been much impressed by the new Miles Davis who had been touring the same circuit of Jazz Festivals, very often on the same bill, and the next album was going to be funkier and more electronic, with more of Juliet's contemporary soul influence, Steve Baker their manager, suggested recording in New York with an American producer and band and with mixed feelings Juliet, Larry and Simon took off for the States. Produced by Carl Beatty and featuring the cream of New York's session players (several of whom were recording with Miles Davis up the road) Surrender marked a significant changed of direction. Juliet shone but gone were the quirky horn arrangements, the Latin influence was distinctly Cuban rather then Brazilian and the drums were often----Programmed!
On The Road Again-Another summer of touring with a new band- only Nic France and Bosco D'Olivera remained from previous line-ups, and there were no extra horns. Italy loved the new music and German TV shows were plentiful enough to mean touring wasn't really necessary there, though they played some stadium gigs supporting Peter Gabriel. But Working Week waited with baited breathe for news of an American release. It wasn't long in coming. Juliet, Simon and Larry were summoned to Virgin head quarters to meet the head of the new Virgin America Label to discuss the record but there was little to discuss. The boss (himself black) had already decided that regardless of the musical content, a group consisting of a black woman and two white men was totally unmarketable in America `the white radio stations wouldn't touch it and neither would the black`, `you'll never get a release in America`. It was quite a blow- so much of a blow that Juliet decided to leave in the winter of 88'.
Week No. 5
After a long lay off Simon and Larry returned to Virgin in October to discuss the next record and were told by Simon Draper that, much as he'd love another album, their singer had left and he expected a return to fairly obscure jazz, so the budget was to be half the contracted one. If that didn't suit they were free to go- so they did -to a production deal with Swanyard Studios.
Fire From the Mountain featured the vocals of Julie Tippet with tracks from Cleveland Watkiss, Etienne Daho and poet Lemn Sissay and brought back the horn section and strong Latin (this time largely Spanish) influence.
Udo Langer, the head of German Virgin heard the tapes first and immediately sent them to Simon Draper in England and suddenly Working Week were back with Virgin -albeit now on Ten Records. However this was never a touring band and only performed one concert in Barcelona in the autumn of 89'.
Week No. 6
Album five required a new permanent singer and Eyvon Waite was recruited from the ranks of the Dingwalls club scene. This time there was a mix of horns, programming and percussion and a move into breakbeat culture. Black and Gold was release in 91 and after a gap of three years Working Week were on the road again and again mainly in Europe. But by now it felt like Friday, the Working Week seemed to have run its course and Simon and Larry parted company.
Until-the summer of 2004 filmmaker Mike Connolly decided to make a three-part documentary on the history of British Jazz, and interviewed Larry and Simon extensively. After which they went to the pub -and on the 12th of February 2005, back together with Juliet Roberts and a completely new young band, they played their first gig together for 17 years.
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