Rip Rig + Panic

Rip Rig + Panic were formed in 1980 by drummer Bruce Smith, guitarist and saxophonist Gareth Sager and pianist Mark Springer following the dissolution of Smith and Sager's previous band, The Pop Group, with which Springer had performed live.{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Buckley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |date=2003 |page=876 |isbn=9781843531050 |access-date=30 January 2016}} The group chose to explore free jazz and reggae and to eschew The Pop Group's political lyrics.{{cite book |first=Simon |last=Reynolds |author-link=Simon Reynolds |url=https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyno |url-access=registration |title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 |publisher=Penguin Books |date=17 February 2006 |isbn=9780143036722 |access-date=30 January 2016}} After vocalist Neneh Cherry and bassist Sean Oliver joined, the group released the single "Go! Go! Go! This Is It"/"The Ultimate in Fun (Is Going to the Disco with My Baby)" on 13 August 1981, prompting Gavin Martin of NME to write "Rip Rig and Panic tread a fine line between undisciplined wasted and ingenious commercial aplomb."{{cite book |first=George |last=Gimarc |author-link=George Gimarc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WM6Cb1z-PwC |title=Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |date=2005 |page=504 |isbn=9780879308483 |access-date=30 January 2016}}

The band's debut album, God, was released on 3 September 1981 by Virgin Records. It fused free jazz and free improvisation with post-punk, funk and reggae music. The group received high marks from NME for virtuoso playing and esoteric sense of humour, a reviewer calling it "an act of faith in tumult." The single "Bob Hope Takes Risks" followed on 27 November.{{cite book |first=George |last=Gimarc |author-link=George Gimarc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WM6Cb1z-PwC |title=Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |date=2005 |page=728 |isbn=9780879308483 |access-date=30 January 2016}} For their second album, I Am Cold, the band adopted a more commercial approach while further embracing jazz and world music influences. The album was recorded with the help of vocalist Andi Oliver and jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. The band made a guest appearance in an episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones performing their 1982 single "You're My Kind of Climate".{{cite web|title=Rip Rig and Panic|url=http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com/bands82/Rip_Rig_and_Panic.html|publisher=Bristol Archive Records|access-date=11 October 2015}} 1983's Attitude was the band's final album, supported by the singles "Beat the Beast" and "Do the Tightrope".{{cite magazine |first1=Scott |last1=Isler |first2=David |last2=Sheridan |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=rip_rig_and_panic |title=Rip Rig + Panic |magazine=Trouser Press |year=2007 |access-date=30 January 2016}}

Most members of Rip Rig and Panic (without Springer) became Float Up CP in 1984 and released a single, "Joy's Address", and the album Kill Me in the Morning, but amicably dissolved shortly thereafter;{{cite journal|last1=Cameray|first1=Bob|title=Easr Across the Water|journal=Spin|date=1986|volume=2|issue=1|page=60|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdLsQBjl0-IC&q=Rip+Rig+%2B+Panic+Kill+Me+in+the+Morning&pg=PA60}} Neneh Cherry and Bruce Smith then formed the even shorter-lived God Mother & Country in 1985. Cherry commented on the group's end in an interview with Spin: "Everyone needed to go and do their own thing. I don’t remember us splitting up, but there was an overspill into another overspill."{{cite magazine |first=Richard |last=Gehr |url=http://www.spin.com/2014/02/neneh-cherry-interview-blank-project/ |title=Neneh Cherry Talks Her Weird Punk-Pop-Jazz Trajectory, and the New Blank Project |magazine=Spin |date=24 February 2014 |access-date=30 January 2016}}

The band's members continued their involvement in music. Mark Springer began to record as a solo artist, debuting with Piano in 1984, followed by many other solo and collaborative projects (including an album, Swans and Turtles, with Sarah Sarhandi){{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Mark-Springer-3-And-Sarah-Sarhandi-Swans-And-Turtles/master/832374|title=Mark Springer (3) And Sarah Sarhandi - Swans And Turtles|website=Discogs.com|access-date=20 June 2021}} and developing his own record label, Exit. Sean Oliver became a session musician for Terence Trent D'Arby, co-writing his 1987 hit "Wishing Well". He died in 1990 of sickle cell anaemia aged 27.{{cite web |title=Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent d'Arby |url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7001 |publisher=Song Facts |access-date=28 August 2018}}{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=9781858284576 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse/page/n1162 1969] |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse|url-access=registration |quote=Sean Oliver died in 1990 of sickle cell anaemia. }} In 2010, Sager and Smith reformed The Pop Group and began touring and recording again. Andi Oliver is currently a chef, television and radio personality in the UK.{{cite web | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/25/andi-oliver-black-middle-aged-woman-judging-great-british-menu/ | title=Andi Oliver: 'I'm a black, middle-aged woman judging The Great British Menu - hooray!' | publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited | date=25 April 2017 | access-date=30 June 2018}}

{{Main|Rip Rig + Panic discography}}

• 1981: God
• 1982: I Am Cold
• 1983: Attitude
• 1985: Kill Me in the Morning (as Float Up CP)

{{Portal|1980s}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.discogs.com/artist/27501-Rip-Rig-Panic Rip Rig + Panic] at Discogs
• {{MusicBrainz artist|id=fcd17591-b5b1-4ac6-888b-8b96e9c0b44c}}

{{Rip Rig + Panic}}

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Category:English post-punk music groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1980

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1983

Category:Rock music groups from Bristol

Category:Virgin Records artists