Biography
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Years Active
1977 – present (47 years)
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Founded In
Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
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Members
- Angela Flowers
- Ian Butterworth
- Jenny Cassidy
- Larry Cassidy
- Lee Shallcross
Section 25 were formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom in November 1977. Initially they were a duo, consisting of brothers Larry Cassidy (bass, vocals) and Vincent Cassidy (drums). In June 1978 they made their live debut, and in November were joined by guitarist Paul Wiggin.
Their debut 7", Girls Don't Count, was released in 1980 on Factory Records, produced by Rob Gretton and Ian Curtis of Joy Division. All Section 25 releases would be released through Factory Records. Their debut LP, Always Now, was released in 1981 and produced by Martin Hannett.
The three-piece group played many gigs in Britain and Northern Europe between 1979 and 1981, both as a headline act and with other Factory Records artists, such as Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Crispy Ambulance and New Order. The group also released a self-produced second album, The Key of Dreams. However the original line-up split in 1982 when Paul Wiggin declined to fly to the United States for their first North American tour.
Joined by percussionist Lee Shallcross, Section 25 gradually evolved a more electronic-dance direction, a process which culminated in the album From the Hip and single Looking From A Hilltop, both released in 1984 and produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order. This new version of the band also featured Angela Flowers (vocals, keyboards) and Jenny Ross (vocals, keyboards). This line-up completed a second tour of North America in 1985.
In 1986 the group again splintered, leaving husband-and-wife team Larry Cassidy and Jenny Ross to complete a fourth album, Love and Hate, finally released by Factory in 1988. Section 25 then fell silent for more than a decade, although their entire catalogue was reissued on CD on LTM as well as an archive DVD.
In 2001 Larry Cassidy rejoined with Vincent Cassidy and Ross to write new material. Jenny Ross unfortunately died in 2004. Now with Ian Butterworth (ex of fellow Factory act Tunnelvison) on guitar and Roger Wikeley on bass and keyboards the band performed their first live show in nearly two decades at their hometown Poulton-Le-Fylde in May 2006 followed by dates in Blackpool, Paris, Brussels and Leicester. Larry and Vin Cassidy also feature in the 2006 Factory documentary film Shadowplayers.
Interest in the band began to increase with the release of a new studio album entitled Part-Primitiv in 2007. Their back catalogue has since risen in stature with much of it being featured in their live appearances. They played at Plan K in 2007 as part of the Factory Night (Once Again) event, being joined onstage by Peter Hook of New Order for a cover of Temptation. Further dates were announced in 2008 across 4 venues across Europe including Brussels - Peter Hook joined them on each date for several songs before retiring to the DJ booth for a couple of hours for the after-shows.
The band released a new album in 2009 called Nature + Degree. The record featured the introduction of Larry and Jenny's daughter Bethany Cassidy as the band's new singer.
Larry Cassidy died on Feb 27, 2010. The band's new album "Retrofit", a collection of re-recordings of previous Section 25 songs that was completed before Larry's death, was released on September 14. The band has continued following Larry's death with Vin Cassidy as the band's only remaining original member. Section 25 currently consists of Bethany Cassidy (vocals, keyboards), Joanna Cassidy (vocals, keyboards), Vincent Cassidy (drums) and Stephen Stringer (guitar).
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