Working Week

Working Week were a British jazz-dance band active in the 1980s and 1990s. The band was formed in 1983 by guitarist Simon Emmerson (at that time using the name Simon Booth) and saxophonist Larry Stabbins from the group Weekend, which ended when singer Alison Statton left to become a schoolteacher. The duo released their debut single single "Venceremos (We Will Win)" during the following year. The song was a tribute to Chilean protest singer Víctor Jara with vocals by Robert Wyatt and Tracey Thorn from the band Everything but the Girl. It became the band's sole entry in the UK Singles Chart where it peaked at No. 64. The single included founding members of the London School of Samba, notably Bosco de Oliveira and Dawson Miller. Other early members of the group also performed with the band.
The debut album Working Nights was released in April 1985 with vocalist Juliet Roberts added as a member of the band. Initial copies of the LP had a bonus 12" disc with (Jalaluddin) Jalal Mansur Nuriddin (also known as Lightnin' Rod, birth name Alafia Pudin) of The Last Poets. Roberts continued as singer on the 1986 album Compañeros and Surrender, released in 1987, but left the band after that year's single, "Knocking on Your Door". Julie Tippetts returned as vocalist for the 1989 album Fire in the Mountain, and Eyvon Waite was solo vocalist for Black and Gold (1991), the band's final studio album.
Working Week appeared on 9 February 1986 at the Royal Albert Hall in a benefit concert for victims of the 1985 Armero tragedy in Colombia.
== Links to Peel ==
The group got some airplay by Peel in 1984, who invited the band to do a session for his show, which they did. They were part of the same musical circle as Robert Wyatt, who sang on their "Venceremos (We Will Win"), a left-wing anthem in tune with the mood of the Peel show in the early 1980s.. After the late 80's, it seemed Peel lost interest in the group's music and in any case they made no more records after 1991.
Working Week's varying line-up included another former Peel favourite; Julie Tippetts, who sang on one track from the band's only session. She achieved pop star fame in the late 1960s as Julie Driscoll and did sessions for Top Gear before marrying jazz pianist Keith Tippett, who had himself done two sessions for Peel in the early 1970s. He was among the many jazz musicians who augmented the band on their albums.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
* 1984 Festive Fifty: Venceremos (We Will Win) #50
== Sessions ==
1. Recorded: 1984-05-01. Broadcast: 14 May 1984. Repeated: 30 May 1984, 20 June 1984
*Venceremos (We Will Win) / Stella Marina / Soul Of Light
== Other Shows Played ==
;thumb|330x330px1984
*17 May 1984: Venceremos (We Will Win) (12") Paladin
*23 May 1984 (BFBS): Venceremos (We Will Win) (7" Bossa Version) (12") Paladin VS 684-12
*19 August 1984 (BFBS): Venceremos (We Will Win) (7" Bossa Version) (12") Paladin VS 684-12
*18 December 1984: Venceremos (We Will Win) (7" Bossa Version) (12") Paladin VS 684-12 FF #50
;1985
*04 March 1985: Inner City Blues (7") Virgin
;1987
*03 November 1987: Largo (12") Virgin
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists