The Wolfgang Press originally formed back in 1983 and comprised bassist and vocalist Michael Allen, keyboardist Mark Cox and guitarist Andrew Gray.
Prior to this Michael Allen had formed punk outfit the Models back in 1977. I purchased their classic ‘Freeze’ / ‘Man Of The Year’ single which was on the Step Forward label. The back cover shows Mick Allen on bass/vocals, along with Terry Day on drums/vocals, Cliff Fox vocals/guitar, and a certain Marco on guitar. This particular Marco being Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni who went on to be Adam Ants’ right hand man in Adam & The Ants. Interestingly, Terry Day is actually Terry Lee Miall who was also in the band and they were immortalised in the lyrics to ‘Ant Rap’ “Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and yours truly”. Marco’s first appearance on stage was with Siouxsie And The Banshees for their legendary their début gig, which was at 100 Club Punk Festival in 1976 and Sid Vicious, future bassist for the Sex Pistols, was on drums.
After the Models imploded, future members of The Wolfgang Press, Michael Allen and Mark Cox, as well as Marco, got it together in 1978 with Gary Asquith (guitar/vocals) and the now Brighton based drummer Dorothy Prior (known as “Max”), who later recorded as Dorothy with Psychic TV. Collectively they had become the post-punk outfit known as Rema-Rema. They signed to 4AD, but by December 1980, the band had run their course, and Marco went off to be an Ant. Thus leaving Asquith and future The Wolfgang Press members Allen and Cox to carry on under a different name, they recruited Danny Briottet and were now known as Mass.
By 1983 Mass were no longer and Allen and Cox carried on working together and by 1986 Asquith and Briottet had formed Renegade Soundwave with Carl Bonnie.
Allen and Cox began working with a few guest musicians and these included Richard Thomas (Dif Juz), David Steiner (In Camera) and guitarist and percussionist Andrew Gray, who soon joined their ranks and so The Wolfgang Press was born!
They signed to 4AD and released a whole host of records up until 1995, when Cox departed in February shortly before the release of their fifth studio album ‘Funky Little Demons’. They had left a quartet of long-players: ‘The Burden Of Mules’ (1983), ‘Standing Up Straight’ (1986), ‘Bird Wood Cage’ (1988), and Queer (1991).
Allen and Gray aimed to continue, and toured the USA without Cox to promote their ‘Funky Little Demons’ record, but they eventually conceded the band had run its course. The Wolfgang Press were one of 4AD’s longest-running acts, and shifted from pitch-black, industrial-tinged post-punk in their early years to funky, hip-hop-inspired avant-dance as they stepped into the ’90s.
A compilation album titled ‘Everything Is Beautiful (A Retrospective 1983–1995)’ surfaced in 2020 and no doubt this sparked some renewed interest and on 27th September 2024 a brand new Wolfgang Press album arrived, titled ‘A 2nd Shape’, it consisted of all new material, their first in almost 30 years. The musicians that had recorded this were original members Michael Allen and Andrew Gray, along with Andrew Gray’s brother Stephen Gray replacing Mark Cox. The record signalled the guys returning to their noisier, post punk ‘Burden Of Mules’-era sound.
Select live performances soon followed: the ‘Soundedit’ festival in Poland on 27th October 2024; The Steel Yard in London on 22nd April 2025; The Lexington in London on 11th January 2026; and Strange Brew in Bristol on 11th April this year.
The Wolfgang Press have now announced a standalone concert for the Green Door Store here in Brighton on Saturday 10th October, courtesy of Fragile Productions. This is currently the only scheduled UK show for the rest of this year and will be the first since the announcement of the band’s next studio album ‘Asylum Variations’ which is due for release on 25th September.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from HERE.
Further information on the forthcoming ‘Asylum Variations’ album can be found HERE.
www.instagram.com/thewolfgangpress_official
