PragVEC

{{Short description|British post-punk band}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Use British English|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox musical artist  | name = PragVEC | image =  | caption = | image_size =  | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = London, England | genre = Post-punk | years_active = 1978–1981 | label = | associated_acts = The Derelicts, Fad Gadget, the Lines, the Atoms, Foetus | website = | past_members = Susan Gogan<br />John Studholme<br />David Boyd<br />Nicholas Cash }}

'''PragVEC''' was a post-punk band from London<ref name="PSF">{{cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/pragvec.html |title=Perfect Sound Forever: Prag Vec interview |website=Furious.com |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref> formed in 1978. The band name was a contraction of the two words "pragmatism" and "vector", chosen at random.<ref name="PSF"/> <ref name="PVCo">{{cite web|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/%7Eflare/pragvec.html |title=prag VEC |website=Users.globalnet.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref>

==History== PragVEC were formed in February 1978 by ex-Derelicts members Susan Gogan (vocals, synthesizer) and John Studholme guitar, synthesizer, along with David Boyd (bass) and Nicholas Cash (drums).<ref name="Gimarc">Gimarc, George (1994) ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982'', Vintage, {{ISBN|978-0-09-952211-9}}, p. 113</ref><ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C.: ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', 1999, Canongate, {{ISBN|0-86241-913-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/%7Eflare/nme781021.html |title=prag VEC |website=Users.globalnet.co.uk |date=1978-10-21 |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref>

On 16 October 1978, they released their debut EP, the four-song 7-inch ''Bits'', on their own Spec Records label.<ref name="PVCo" /> It was followed on 10 July 1979 by the "Expert" single.<ref name="PVCo" /> Both records were compiled on an eponymous 12-inch EP issued on the French label Celluloid Records.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/pragVEC-pragVEC/release/990007 |title=pragVEC - pragVEC (1979, Vinyl) |website=Discogs.com |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref>

PragVEC played concerts during 1978 and 1979, opening for bands such as Cabaret Voltaire, Scritti Politti, the Psychedelic Furs, the Monochrome Set, Au Pairs, Magazine, Chelsea, Stiff Little Fingers and the Teardrop Explodes.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Neil Taylor|title=Document and Eyewitness|date=22 July 2010|publisher=Orion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lqQbgGhFCr8C&dq=pragVec&pg=PT150|isbn=978-1-4091-1221-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/%7Eflare/pvgigs.html |title=prag VEC |website=Users.globalnet.co.uk |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref>

During their short existence, they also recorded a total of three sessions for the John Peel programme.<ref name="BBC">"[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/p/pragvec/ Pragvec]", ''Keeping It Peel'', BBC, retrieved 2011-12-19</ref> The last of these showed them moving away from the guitar-based sound of the first EP towards the use of the Wasp, a battery-powered portable synthesizer with a built-in speaker. Two of the songs, "Rural Erotic" and "Third Person", were re-recorded for the ''No-Cowboys'' album, released in December 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Various-No-Cowboys/release/877774 |title=No-Cowboys (1980, Vinyl) |website=Discogs.com |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref> Packaged in a polythene bag, the record was presented as a compilation by various bands, although all of the material was recorded by PragVEC.<ref name="PVCo" />

The band split in 1981, with Cash joining Fad Gadget and the Lines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jccarroll.com/nickcash.html |title=Nick Cash Musician |website=Jccarroll.com |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref> Gogan joined the Atoms. Jim Thirlwell, who had contributed Wasp synth to ''No-Cowboys'', went on to form Foetus.<ref name="Strong" />

Studholme, who had co-written many of the band's songs with Gogan, died in November 2005 after a long illness. Around the time of his death, he, Gogan and Cash had been working with Mute Records to compile a reissue of PragVEC material.

==In popular culture== Half Man Half Biscuit recorded a song "Prag VEC at the Melkweg", on their 1991 album ''McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/312784-Half-Man-Half-Biscuit |title=Half Man Half Biscuit | Discography |website=Discogs.com |date= |accessdate=2020-05-30}}</ref>

==Personnel== ;Former members *Susan Gogan – vocals, synthesizer *John Studholme – guitar, synthesizer *David Boyd – bass *Nick Cash – drums

;Guest studio members *John Glyn - tenor sax *Art Moran - alto sax *Jim Thirlwell - synthesizer, vocals

==Discography== ===Studio albums=== * ''No-Cowboys'' (1980, Spec Records)

===Singles and EPs=== * ''Bits'' 7-inch EP (1978, Spec Records) * "Expert" 7-inch single (1979, Spec Records) * ''PragVEC'' 12-inch EP (1979, Celluloid Records)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~flare/pragvec.html Unofficial bandsite] *[http://www.furious.com/perfect/pragvec.html Susan Gogan interview]

Category:Rock music groups from London Category:English post-punk music groups