Twelve 88 Cartel were formed at Portsmouth College of Art and Design in 1984 and played their first gig at Portsmouth Polytechnic a year later. The line up was myself, known then as IG: Synths, Programming, Bass - Chiaro (Tim Martin) Guitars - Floyd (Ed Jobling) Vocals and Cornet.
Apart from some compilations, all the releases were on the legendary Bite Back! label also home to Cranes and many others.
The band performed live many times alongside Cranes and also had support slots with The Redskins, Slab amongst others.
Tolerate, a track from "Tension Crush EP" received plays on Mark Radcliffe's Radio One show and on the John Peel show where he revealed he"always though Twelve 88 Cartel was a somewhat cumbersome name for a band" the video for Bell Song from the same EP also had plays on Paul King's 100 Minutes show on MTV.
In 2015 I was contacted by the label Domestica who are based in Barcelona. They specialise in high quality vinyl re-issues of 80s and 90s electronic music.
The track Flags On A Hill from the "We Encourage Resistance" album was included in their Domestic Landscape Volume 2 compilation which received airplay from Silent Servant on his NTS radio show. Considering it was re-mastered from a cassette copy of the original master, they did a great job - the artwork is especially good. We're still hoping the whole album will be released at some point.
7" (Bite Back!) 1987 BB011
12" (Bite Back!) 1991 BB012
VHS recording of gig supporting Cranes at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. Not sure of exact date but circa 1989. .
The final Twelve 88 Cartel gig and the only performance with live drums courtesy of Richard Jenkins.
Video from the Evidence album. The track was an updated version of our very first release on the Against The Tide compilation.
The metal percussion from this track was always a live highlight.
The oil drums were nabbed from a bit of waste ground before a gig in Poole
Great production from Jim Shaw of Cranes on this EP.
The amazing verse bass part in this track was written by Barry Williams who I was in a band with before I moved to Portsmouth and from where the name Twelve 88 came from.
From the Domestica Records Domestic Landscape Vol 2 album.
This is a re-recorded version of a track from our debut album -the track was originally called Shortwave Warfare. This version was on the Maxim mini-album.
Copyright © 2021 Simon Heartfield Music - All Rights Reserved. ADDITIONAL ARTWORK IMAGES COURTESY OF GREBO GRAY.
HOMEPAGE VIDEO "ALLNESS POINT" FROM THE ALBUM "BLACK ISLE SONGS"
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