B IS FOR BENTLEY RHYTHM ACE (PT 1)

Some Big Beat for you, from the days when it wasn’t considered embarrassing but fun. Bentley Rhythm Ace (BRA) is a duo formed in Birmingham, England in the late 1990s consisting of Mike Stokes and Richard March.

The band was formed in Birmingham, in 1995 by Rich and Mike, former members of the group Pop Will Eat Itself (with guest appearances by James Atkin, a member of EMF). “Both more or less penniless, they drank in the same pub and were forced to buy their records at the cheapest place possible – car boot sales”. Their live drummer was Fuzz Townshend, with whom March previously played in Pop Will Eat Itself.

BRA signed on the Brighton based record label Skint and released their eponymous debut album, Bentley Rhythm Ace in 1997, that spawned the single “Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out” (1996). Following the release of their Skint debut, Stokes and Marsh took up a monthly residency at Heavenly’s Sunday Social club (where the Chemical Brothers got their start).

Bentley Rhythm Ace – Midlander (There Can Be Only One)

Bentley Rhythm Ace – Return of the Hardcore Jumble Carbootechnodisco Roadshow

Bentley Rhythm Ace – Let There Be Flutes

Mike Stokes’ MySpace

~ by acidted on June 25, 2008.