Riot/Clone

Riot/Clone are a punk band. They were formed by Dave Floyd in August 1979. They went through many line-up changes in the first few years, something which contributed greatly to them being almost unheard of outside their native West London. Their first two cassette albums, Musical Destruction (1980) and Crime Pays (1981) were only ever released in very small quantities, and only when they finally got the money together to release an EP in April 1982 ("There's No Government Like NO GOVERNMENT") did they make the jump to a wider audience. A track from that EP, "Death to Humanity", was also included on the compilation album, Punk & Disorderly - Further Charges. It was with this compilation that Riot/Clone were to first show that they were different to most 'punk bands'. They gave all their royalties from the release to the ALF, and had the record company state exactly that on the cover.

Two more EPs followed. August 1982 saw the release of "Destroy the Myth of MUSICAL DESTRUCTION" and after many unfortunate delays, their third EP, "Blood on Your Hands?", finally came out in January 1984. Unfortunately this line-up had disintegrated months before.

That wasn't to be the end, though. In 1992, Dave and Pete put together a project named Mad Dog. The band didn't last long, but due to feedback from the tape release, the Riot/Clone EPs were reissued along with a book detailing the band's history. This in turn led to the opportunity to record a Riot/Clone album, and the band were reborn.

Still No Government Like NO GOVERNMENT was released in the summer of 1995. It was a mixture of re-recorded old material plus some new songs, showing that age had not tempered the band's anger. The CD contained forty tracks in all, and most astoundingly came bundled with a 142 page booklet. 1996 saw the release of this LP on vinyl, with the original recordings of the EPs added on side four (it's a double album), but without the book.

In 1997 they released To Find a Little Bluebird, an album unrelentless in its ferocity but clothed in a truly bizarre cover. No one looking at the cover art alone would guess the type of music enclosed in the package, which was probably the closest to 'hardcore punk' Riot/Clone have ever achieved. The album was loosely themed around a short story that came printed on the lyric sheet of the blue vinyl release, and as a spoken word track on the CD.

More line-up changes ensued, and necessitated a longish wait for their next release. Their album, Do You Want Fries With That?, was a full on animal rights album with an horrific cover picture of a dead cow's head. Many regard this as Riot/Clone's best album to date.

In their early years, Riot/Clone played most of their shows in London, only venturing outside occasionally. Since reforming they have been more adventurous. While only playing a few UK shows, they have completed numerous tours of Europe and America. They are currently writing a new album, due for release in early 2003.