BILLIE RAY MARTIN
ELECTRIBE 101, RAVE’S GREATEST CULT, WERE FORMED WHEN GERMAN SINGER BILLIE RAY MARTIN ASSEMBLED FOUR BANDMATES VIA A SMALL AD. HER SOULFUL VOICE PLUS PULSATING ELECTRO MADE FOR A PERFECT CONTRAST, BUT THEY SPLIT AFTER ALBUM NO.2 WENT UNRELEASED. NOW, IT’S ABOUT TO BE REVISITED…
JOHN EARLS
How does it feel to – finally! – be releasing Electribe 101’s second album Electribal Soul, made in 1991, later this year?
I didn’t realise how big the support is for the group. When Phonogram dropped us, we were virtually blacklisted. We were told, in no uncertain terms, we were rubbish. One A&R said he’d consider signing us, but made us have a studio test. A test?! We’d already passed the damn test and proved we could produce songs. We felt we were no good, and Phonogram have never capitalised on what they have. There have been no reissues, no licences, nothing. We were just gone, so to see the reaction on social media to the album announcement, it’s really made me smile.