B-Movie formed in Nottinghamshire, England in 1979, out of the ashes of local punk band The Aborted.
Originally a three piece, the band featured Steve Hovington (vocals & bass), Paul Statham (guitars) and Graham Boffey (drums).
They were spotted by Lincoln independent label Dead Good Records and contributed two songs to its compilation album East. Rick Holliday joined the band on keyboards in October 1979 and in 1980 B-Movie released their debut single, The Take Three EP on Dead Good which brought them to the attention of Radio One DJ John Peel. A six track EP followed later that year, featuring early versions of their best known songs Remembrance Day and Nowhere Girl.
Now attracting wider attention, through great live reviews and radio plays, and after Steve managed to pass a demo tape into the hands of upcoming music impresario, Stevo backstage at a Cabaret Voltaire gig, the band were invited to play his two day Futurist Festival supporting DAF in Hammersmith, London. Stevo subsequently became their manager (along with Soft Cell) and the band recorded Moles for the Some Bizzare Album released December 1980, which also featured recording debuts by Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, The The and Blancmange.
In January 1981, B-Movie signed to Deram Records (A subsidiary of Decca) and went on to release three critically acclaimed singles, "Remembrance Day,"(featured in John Peel's Festive 50 of 1981) Marilyn Dreams" and "Nowhere Girl". The band supported Duran Duran on their first UK tour and their classic John Peel session of 1981 became one of the most requested that year!
"B-Movie define a unique, obsessively modern rock sound that is compulsively entertaining"
Melody Maker
B-Movie went on to tour America three times and scored several hits in Europe.
The original line-up split in 1983 but original members, Hovington and Statham, continued the band and went on to sign to Sire Records and released one album Forever Running in 1985. A retrospective of this period The Platinum Collection was released by Warner Brothers in 2005.
Several compilation albums have appeared, most recently The BBC Radio Sessions on Cherry Red Records.
In 2004 the original line-up reformed for a show at The Metro Club in London and then went on to perform throughout the UK and Europe, then releasing their first new material for thirty years in 2012 with the album Age of Illusion on German label No Emb Blanc Records.
A second studio album for US label Cleopatra, Climate of Fear followed in 2016, with the band’s original hard edged melodic pop, evolving into a more eclectic mix drawing from a wider range of influences but still with the unmistakeable B- Movie sound of elegant synthesisers, Graham"s rock-solid drums, Paul"s beautifully harmonic guitar and Steve"s wonderfully deep, velvety baritone vocals
"A glorious throw back to the band's trademark sound "
CrypticRock.com
The band made a video for lead track Another False Dawn
B-Movie’s best known song Nowhere Girl, whilst not a big hit at the time of its release in the UK in 1982, is now widely considered a classic of its time and for many of that generation from all over the world is one of the songs that defines an era
"An absolute classic that takes us back to the days when the nights were long and the days were short"
Furio Magazine
It is possibly true to say that it is one of the most underrated songs of the early 80s, with its iconic sleeve, unforgettable melody, the musicianship, pulsating beat and the timeless lyrical theme of thwarted adolescent longing still resonating four decades after its release
Fans of the song include Peter Hook, Huey from the Fun Lovin' Criminals, Ellen DeGeneres and the esteemed American author Mary Gaitskill who wrote an essay about the song:
“I heard it at a small Manhattan Club, at a time of costuming, pretence and fancy-shaped day-glo coloured hair " Mary Gaitskill
The song was recently name checked several times in Brett Easton Ellis’s novel The Shards and was also featured in the hit Spanish TV series La Ruta (2022).
The track has been covered many times with particular note to versions by Nouvelle Vague and Real Life, with countless remixes from top dance producers like Adam Freeland and Die Krupps, whilst also featuring on several compilation albums.
Having built up a loyal following in Europe amongst the Dark/ Cold Wave scene and in June 2017 made their second headline appearance at the Wave-Gotic-Treffen festival in Leipzig, Germany.
A new song 'Repetition' was released in 2018.
In 2022, original keyboard player Rick Holliday left the band and was replaced by Keith Philips