Ardkore

History

Ardkore (1985-1991) were a thrash/hardcore band from Teesside, North East England, and possibly the loudest band ever to exist........EVER!! They were formed in early '85 by Dave Gregory and Lash, who knew each other from previous bands, before recruiting Ste Hoggart and Ian Williams via a local 'Ad Mag'.

With emphasis on speed and volume, Ardkore were soon out gigging, building up a solid local fan base before bagging more prestigious gigs supporting the likes of The Exploited, Warfare, The Electro-Hippies and Re-Animator.

They were eventually signed to London based indie label Metalworks, and in 1989 released their eagerly anticipated debut album 'Napalm Stix to Kidz!', which was well received by the music press and went on to shift around 30,000 units worldwide. Never saw any cash and this seems to go up all the time but getting hold of a copy of the album is a doddle so there must be a few kicking about!

But despite their initial success, in 1991 after a disastrous name change to the band, compounded with record label problems, Ardkore decided to call it a day, and it's members went on to form fresh bands. Ste would form Riot Act, and Dave, Lash and Ian went on to form Spasm Gang.

(source: Ardkore's MySapce.com page, January 2009)