Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group led by guitarist-vocalist Matthew Ashman and also featuring drummer Paul Cook (formerly of the Sex Pistols).
The band was formed shortly after the demise of Bow Wow Wow in 1984. It comprised Ashman (who for a brief time tried to continue Bow Wow Wow as their lead singer after the departure of Annabella Lwin for a solo career), Cook, keyboard player Duncan Grieg, and bassist Lance Burman. An early lineup included Ashman and Cook with former Bow Wow Wow members David Barbarossa and Leigh Gorman.Often compared to Big Audio Dynamite (who they would later open for on tour), The Chiefs fused rock with hip hop & electronic elements from the era.
The group's only full-length album was 1988's self-titled release, which was issued in the US by Sire Records. Ashman died in 1995 and on the fifteenth anniversary of his death, the band reunited for a tribute concert for Ashman on 21 November 2010 at the Scala in London, in a show with Adam Ant topping the bill and also featuring later Ashman bands Bow Wow Wow and Agent Provocateur).
Famous quotes containing the words chiefs of, chiefs and/or relief:
“Fashion understands itself; good-breeding and personal superiority of whatever country readily fraternize with those of every other. The chiefs of savage tribes have distinguished themselves in London and Paris, by the purity of their tournure.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.”
—Chief Joseph (c. 1840–1904)
“That the townspeople might better see him, the President was persuaded to leave his carriage by the inducement that the ladies wished to get a look at him. ‘By Gad,’ he repied, ‘I’d like to see your ladies,’ and alighted.”
—For the State of New Hampshire, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)