| abstract | - When Glyn Thomas was given the post of the Rovers relief manager in June 1973 to enable Annie Walker to have a prolonged absence, he made several changes to the running of the establishment, most of which did not go down well with either the staff or the customers. One of these was to get a Pop Group to play in the Select in the hope of bringing in a younger clientele. Albert Tatlock and Ken Barlow saw them arriving and taking their instruments in and were not pleased when the tuning up was carried out at full blast on the amplifiers. Albert made a complaint to Len Fairclough in his capacity as a local councillor and he visited the pub where he heard the group in their full throe,s even from the public, and was further unimpressed when he saw some of the long-haired, somewhat hippyish youths who came to the pub to hear the act. He made it quite clear to Glyn that the music licence for the Rovers might not be renewed and Glyn backed down in insisting that the group should be allowed to play, saying that anything was worth trying once. The group, only briefly seen on screen as they went into the Select, were an actual group from Liverpool named Sticky George.
- Line Up Mark Stewart (lyrics, vocals) Jon Waddington (guitar) Gareth Sager (guitar) Simon Underwood (bass) Bruce Smith (drums, percussion) "The Pop Group were not the easiest band of the early post-punk era to listen to, but those who made the effort were in for an interesting melange of primitive rhythms and avant-garde guitar racket." allmusic.com) The Pop Group are a post-punk band from Bristol, UK. Their debut single, "She Is Beyond Good And Evil" was released on Radar Records in March 1979. Their debut album, Y, was produced by Dennis Bovell and found critical acclaim but low sales figures. Although it did not chart, the album's success was sufficient to convince Rough Trade to sign the band, but not before more line-up changes, with Dan Catsis replacing Underwood on bass. The band's career with Rough Trade commenced with what is possibly their best-known single, "We Are All Prostitutes", which featuring a guest appearance by free improviser Tristan Honsinger on cello. This was followed by the release of their second album, For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? in 1980, which included a contribution from US proto-rappers The Last Poets. Shortly afterwards, The Pop Group released a split single, "Where There's a Will...", with the Slits, a band with whom they now shared a drummer and managers (Christine Robertson and Dick O'Dell), as well as a growing interest in exploring musical genres such as dub and funk rhythms. The band split in 1981 after legal wranglings and internal disagreements. Members of the group went on to join bands including Pigbag, Maximum Joy, Head and Rip Rig & Panic, the latter notable for the involvement of Neneh Cherry. Stewart later collaborated with On-U Sound, issuing records firstly as Mark Stewart and Maffia, then as a solo artist. The band were patently favoured by Peel, as witness the numerous plays he gave to their early releases and his comment on 29 August 1979 when hearing that they were to support Patti Smith on her upcoming tour, "she knows a good band when she hears one." However, Bill Aitken gave a less than flattering description of the circumstances surrounding the recording of their only session ([1]).
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