First Article Draft

Art of the Anarchists are one of many British rock bands that took the world by storm in the 80s, but they were the creators, some even say they're the godfathers of classic rock. With the matchless screeches of front man Sid Phoenix, the endless solos from lead guitarist Floyd Cole, the rumbling underline from bassist Henley Hollis and the crazy attitude of drummer Nick Santana, they truly had a sound that could match no other. However, we all know the mighty story of their fame, but where did it all begin?

In 1978 four school friends decided to create a band. They called themselves “Life’s a Beach” and took an interesting twist on rock classics. Their debut album “Lucifer’s Bog Roll” was sold to their friends and family for £1 each. It featured spoofs such as “Won’t Get Drooled Again”, an imitation of The Who’s classic “Won’t Get Fooled Again, and “Bolton’s Calling” a take-off of The Clash’s “London Calling”.

Their first gig was at the Armstrong hall, in their home town of Thornbury. They have been noted as saying that this performance acquired them a small cult following.  Throughout the next four years, the band continued to grow this following through the means of many gigs all over the south west of the country. Despite this loyal fan base, the band decided they sought to take things further, yet they would not be able to ensure this with what they had, despite being signed to a minor record company.

In 1983, Floyd Cole, the song writer and Guitarist for the group, put forward the idea of taking things more seriously. He did this by presenting them with a song he had been working on for the past year. “Psycho-Mania” was performed and explained to the band. Hollis has been quoted as saying “As soon as I heard the guitar riff I knew this was gonna be big”. Now the band had a new sound, they just needed more to show off. Cole spent the next two months writing songs for an album and the band spent the rest of the year recording them.

Shortly before the album “New Coat, New Start” was released a week before Christmas, 1983, the band opted for a name change. “Life’s a Beach” would now be known as “Art of the Anarchists” to suit their new style. Their new album was number one going into the New Year. This gave the band many offers from major record companies, enabling them to leave the small “Death Row Records”. With the new funding and advice, the band were able to release a follow up album in the summer of 1984 called “My coat is too small now”. This album was number one in the UK top charts and made it to number 6 in the US, with the track “Pigeon out of Hell” making number one in both countries.

With the knowledge of how to make song that would sell, the financial backing to do that, and a now huge recognition throughout the rock stage, “Art of the Anarchists” were able to seize the world and forever change rock and roll. But that’s another story.

From doing this task, I now have a very helpful guide for my final article. From writing this, I have also gained experience in what an article is like. I know what is hard and what is easy to write, and now from looking at other articles in professional magazines, I will be able to learn how to write like they do.

The comments made by my teacher told me that I need to add a few more lines to the intro, but generally it doesn't need very much at all.