Genres - Industrial, experimental, funk
Years active - 1979–present
Labels - Fetish / Illuminated / Ronin / Virgin / EMI Records / LTM
Members - Fritz Catlin, Tom Heslop, Peter "Sketch" Martin, Sam Mills, Alex Turnbull, Johnny Turnbull
Past members - Patrick Griffiths, Matthew Maxwell, Richard Heslop-Visuals
Notable instruments - Metal percussion,Tape loops, Gamelan, Kedang Drum
23 Skidoo are a British band playing a fusion of industrial, post-punk, alternative dance, rock, and world music. The group was named after an early 20th-century American slang phrase that later made appearances in the works of Aleister Crowley, William S. Burroughs, Robert Anton Wilson, and filmmaker Julian Biggs.
Formed in 1979 by Fritz Catlin, Johnny Turnbull and Sam Mills, and later augmented by Alex Turnbull and Tom Heslop, 23 Skidoo had interests in martial arts, Burundi and Kodo drumming, Fela Kuti, The Last Poets, William S. Burroughs, as well as the emerging confluence of industrial, post-punk and funk, heard in artists such as A Certain Ratio, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, The Pop Group and This Heat.
Their first 7", "Ethics" was released in 1980, followed by "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea" & "Last Words" 12" single which was co-produced by Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson from Cabaret Voltaire at their studio, The Western Works in Sheffield. A Peel Session was recorded on 16 September 1981. Their début album, Seven Songs, was released in 1982 and is said to evoke the claustrophobic humidity of an African forest. The album went straight to number 1 in the Independent charts.Seven Songs, which was recorded and mixed in three days, was co-produced by Tony,Terry and David aka Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson of Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV and engineer Ken Thomas. A hastily executed EP Tearing Up The Plans was produced in the absence of the Turnbull brothers, who were travelling in Indonesia. The personality clashes that arose from this experiment resulted in guitarist Sam Mills and vocalist Tom Heslop leaving the band soon after. The band performed for the first time as a three piece, joined onstage by David Tibet of Current 93, at the first WOMAD festival. This live performance would go on to become the first side of the band's most challenging release The Culling Is Coming which also features Skidoo's exploration into gamelan on side two. The album resulted in the band being criticised for being 'too abstract'.
1984 saw the arrival of bassist Peter "Sketch" Martin following the break-up of Linx. Skidoo recruited Aswad's horn section for the "Coup" 12", which featured samples from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and which was interpolated from their track "Fuck You G.I." from the album Urban Gamelan (1984). Urban Gamelan features Sketch on Side 1 and, on Side 2, the original three piece line-up experimenting with metal percussion using patterns inspired by gamelan. After having been evicted from their rehearsal space at Genesis P-Orridge's "Death Factory" the band shifted their focus towards hip hop and turned their attention to production and building a studio, Precinct 23. In 1987 they released a compilation album Just Like Everybody featuring work from this period.
In 1987 the Turnbull brothers formed the Ronin label and released Jailbreak by Paradox, widely regarded as one of the first breakbeat records, as well as tracks by British photographer and maverick Normski and MC FORCE. In its later incarnation, Ronin released material by Deckwrecka, Roots Manuva, Skitz, Mud Family and Rodney P amongst others. They signed to Virgin Records in 1991 and were able to build a new studio with their advance. In 2000 they released a self-titled LP, which featured contributions from Pharoah Sanders and Roots Manuva. This was followed by a compilation of singles, The Gospel Comes To New Guinea in 2002, and for the first time on CD, reissues of Seven Songs and Urban Gamelan. In 2008 the expanded catalogue CD reissues were issued by LTM who also issued a double-vinyl edition of Seven Songs in 2012. This issue featured the 1981 John Peel session and 12" versions of "Last Words" and "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea". In November 2013, the band played the final holiday camp edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands, England.
In 2012 Alex Turnbull co-directed Beyond Time, a documentary film about his artist father William Turnbull. The film was narrated by Jude Law and scored by 23 Skidoo via a combination of new and old material. The soundtrack album (packaged with a DVD of the film) was released by Les Disques Du Crépuscule in 2014.
Albums
Seven Songs (LP, MiniAlbum) Fetish Records SP25-5091 // FM 2008 1982
Seven Songs (LP, Album, RE) Illuminated Records JAMS 47 1984
Seven Songs (CD, Album, RE) Ronin Records RDCD 4 2001
Seven Songs (CD, Album, RE, RM) LTM LTMCD 2528 2008
Seven Songs (2xLP, Album, RE) LTM LPMLP 2528 2012
Seven Songs (CD, Album, RE, RM, RP) LTM LTMCD 2528 Unknown The Culling Is Coming (LP, Album) Base Record TWI 123 1983
The Culling Is Coming (LP, Album) Operation Twilight OPT23 1983
The Culling Is Coming (LP, Album) Les Disques Du Crépuscule TWI 123 1983
The Culling Is Coming (CD, Album, RE) / (LP, Album, RE) L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords LAY 23 1988
The Culling Is Coming (CD, Album, RE, RM) Boutique BOUCD 6604 2003 Urban Gamelan (LP) Illuminated Records SP25-5139 // JAM 40 1984
Urban Gamelan (LP, Album) Dro 4D-125 1985
Urban Gamelan (CD, Album, RE) Ronin Records RDCD 5 2001
Urban Gamelan (CD, Album, RE, RM) LTM LTMCD 2530 2008 23 Skidoo (2xLP, Album) / (CD, Album) Virgin CDV 2912 2000
Beyond Time (LP + DVD-V) / (CD, Album + DVD) Les Disques Du Crépuscule TWI 1223 2015
Singles & EPs
Ethics (7") Pineapple Products pulp23 1981
Last Words (7", Promo) Fetish Records FE 10 1981
The Gospel Comes To New Guinea / Last Words (12") Fetish Records FE 11 1981
Tearing Up The Plans (12") Pineapple Products, Fetish Records FP 20 1982
Coup (12") Illuminated Records ILL 2812 1983
Language (12", Single) Illuminated Records SP12-5175 // ILL 3812 1984
Language / Coup (12") Dro 2D-090 1984 23 Skidoo Vs. Assassins With Soul - 23 Skidoo Vs. The Assassins With Soul (12") Illuminated Records 12 LEV72 1986
400 Blows & 23 Skidoo - 400 Blows / 23 Skidoo Assemblage (12") Saderal SLS 12002 1986
David Grant / 23 Skidoo - Sulphuric Beats '88 (12", Promo) Fresher Records FREST R001 1988
Dawning (CD, Single) / (12") Virgin VST 1771 2000
The Gospel Comes To New Guinea / Coup (12", TP, W/Lbl) Ronin Records RDP 16 2000
The Gospel Comes To New Guinea / Coup (12") Ronin Records RDP 16 2001 Untitled (12", TP, W/Lbl) Ronin Records RDP 3 Unknown
Compilations
Just Like Everybody (LP, Comp) Bleeding Chin Records BC1 1987
Just Like Everybody (2xCD, Comp) LTM LTMDU2532 2008 Just Like Everybody Part Two (CD, Comp) Ronin Records RDCD 08 2002
The Gospel Comes To New Guinea (CD, Comp) Ronin Records RDCD6 2002
Videos
Seven Songs (VHS, Album) Fetish Records FV2 1982
Seven Songs / Tranquiliser I & II (VHS, RE) Doublevision DV 06 1984
http://23skidoo.co/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_Skidoo_%28band%29 http://www.discogs.com/artist/21148-23-Skidoo http://www.last.fm/music/23+Skidoo/ 
