Formed in 1985, these melodic guitar rockers from Coventry were fronted by photogenic peroxide-blonde Australian-born vocalist Tracy Cattell and driven by guitarist-songwriter Paul Court.
Early singles Thru The Flowers, Really Stupid and Stop Killing Me were awash with exuberance and great crunchy guitars, and given a fragile, pure quality by Tracy’s vocal.
With a major label (RCA) behind them, The Primitives launched their 35-minute debut album Lovely in 1988, trailing it with the chugging single Crash.
The later albums Pure and Galore were more polished but perhaps lost the edge and spark they had, although Earth Thing and You Are The Way were still enjoyable tracks to turn up loud.
Drummer Pete Tweedie was allegedly kicked out of the band in 1987 for being cruel to Tracy’s cats and was replaced by Tig Williams.
The band then set off on their first major international tour. Although a sellout, the gigs exposed their limitations, as songs which had glowed in the studio were left flat and faltering in the live arena.
Returning to England, the band set to work on a second album, eventually re-emerging from the studio in July 1989 with Tracy having become a brunette and the band trimmed down to a three-piece following the departure of Steve Dullaghan.
The first fruit of their labours was the single Sick Of It, a fine track which unfortunately failed to catch the imagination of the record-buying public and faltered at #24.
The next single, Secrets, failed to even reach the Top 40, and their fall from grace was confirmed when the album Pure was released to generally lacklustre reviews in October 1989, peaking at #33 and spending just two weeks in the chart.
The band released You Are The Way in Agust 1991 but were seen as a spent force and split up shortly afterwards.
Steve Dullaghan died in Coventry on 4 February 2009.
In recent years, The Primitives have re-formed, with new bassist Raph Moore.
Tracy Tracy (Cattell)
Vocals Paul Court
Guitar, vocals Steve Dullaghan
Bass
Pete Tweedie
Drums Tig Williams Drums
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