A Tier III

Diana Rogerson.

British singer, vocalist and artist of the Nurse With Wound and United Dairies circle · best known under the alias Chrystal Belle Scrodd, later as A Bad Diana and under her own name · an occasional member of Nurse With Wound and the partner of Steven Stapleton · a voice in the early-to-mid-1980s surrealist wing of the British post-industrial underground

filed under
Experimental · surrealist song · post-industrial · the United Dairies orbit · voice, collage and arrangement in the Nurse With Wound manner
A small but distinct body of work built around the voice and a surreal, provocative sensibility · recordings made within the Nurse With Wound and United Dairies world, with Stapleton arranging, and contributions to Current 93 and HNAS · filed for the junction she forms with the founding esoteric-industrial circle
WhoDiana Rogerson · British singer, vocalist and visual artist · an occasional member and associate of Nurse With Wound and the partner of Steven Stapleton · her recorded work sits inside the United Dairies world of the 1980s onward
The aliasesRecorded chiefly as Chrystal Belle Scrodd (the spelling on the United Dairies releases); under her own name Diana Rogerson; and latterly as A Bad Diana for The Lights Are On But No-One's Home · the names cover one continuous body of work
The debutThe Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd Record (United Dairies, UD017, 1985), issued under the Diana Rogerson name · arranged with Steven Stapleton, with Robert Haigh, Karl Blake (of Shock Headed Peters) and others among the players · a surrealist, provocative record close in feel to Nurse With Wound
Belle de JourBelle de Jour (1986), the second album, again under the Chrystal Belle Scrodd name and again within the United Dairies orbit · Stapleton present, the sound continuous with the debut
With Nurse With WoundA frequent contributor to Nurse With Wound recordings · the 1987 Termite Queen split 7-inch paired Scrodd with NWW · three of her recordings with Stapleton appear on the 1999 NWW compilation The Swinging Reflective, credited to Diana Rogerson
Other appearancesRecordings with Current 93 and HNAS (Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa) · work with Shock Headed Peters · the 1993 compilation Beastings gathers the best of the Scrodd material across both albums
As a documentOne of the women's voices of the United Dairies surrealist wing · the work is small in volume but distinct, and it is part of the canonical history of this scene · David Keenan's England's Hidden Reverse records her place in the Nurse With Wound and Current 93 world
Why Tier IIIFiled for her tradition-internal place rather than for founding a form · a member and associate of Nurse With Wound, a United Dairies recording artist, and a contributor to Current 93 and HNAS · routed through several filed entities of the founding esoteric-industrial circle
Filed atartist file · diana-rogerson.html · cross-referenced at Steven Stapleton, Nurse With Wound, United Dairies and HNAS

Editorial.

§ 01 · Editorial approx. 700 words

Diana Rogerson is the singer and artist whose recorded work sits inside the Nurse With Wound and United Dairies world of the 1980s and after. She is best known under the alias Chrystal Belle Scrodd, the name on her two albums, and she is an occasional member of Nurse With Wound and the partner of Steven Stapleton. The Bureau files her for that tradition-internal place: she is one of the voices of the United Dairies surrealist wing, routed through several of the archive's founding entities rather than standing outside them.

The recorded work begins with The Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd Record, released on United Dairies as UD017 in 1985 and credited to Diana Rogerson. Stapleton arranged and played on it, and the cast around the record · Robert Haigh, Karl Blake of Shock Headed Peters, the singer Tathata Wallis and others · places it squarely in the surreal, collage-built manner of Nurse With Wound itself. The record plays as feminist-surrealist provocation set to the United Dairies sound, and it was followed in 1986 by a second album, Belle de Jour, again under the Chrystal Belle Scrodd name and again with Stapleton present. The 1993 compilation Beastings later gathered the strongest moments from both.

Rogerson's connection to the United Dairies circle runs through more than her own albums. She contributed to Nurse With Wound recordings across this period, and the 1987 Termite Queen split 7-inch paired Scrodd with NWW directly. Three of her recordings made with Stapleton appear on the 1999 Nurse With Wound compilation The Swinging Reflective, there credited under her own name. Beyond the Stapleton orbit she appears on recordings by Current 93 and by HNAS (Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa), the German group in the same surrealist-collage tradition, and she worked with Shock Headed Peters through Karl Blake.

The work is small in volume and has never sought a wide audience, but it is a documented part of the canonical history of this scene. David Keenan's England's Hidden Reverse, the standard account of the Nurse With Wound, Current 93 and Coil world, records Rogerson's place within it. In later years she returned under a new alias, A Bad Diana, for the album The Lights Are On But No-One's Home, continuing the same body of work under a third name.

The Bureau files Diana Rogerson at Tier III as a tradition-internal figure: a member and associate of Nurse With Wound, a United Dairies recording artist in her own right, and a contributor to Current 93 and HNAS. She founded no form and codified no method, and the file makes no such claim. What it records is the junction she forms with the founding esoteric-industrial circle the archive is built around · the surrealist wing of United Dairies, heard through one of its own voices.

Selected discography.

§ 02 · Selected discography chiefly as Chrystal Belle Scrodd
YearReleaseNote
1985The Inevitable Chrystal Belle Scrodd RecordDebut LP · United Dairies UD017 · credited to Diana Rogerson · arranged with Steven Stapleton; players include Robert Haigh, Karl Blake, Tathata Wallis
1986Belle de JourSecond album · as Chrystal Belle Scrodd · United Dairies orbit, Stapleton present
1987Termite Queen split 7-inchWith Nurse With Wound
1993BeastingsCompilation · gathers the best of the Scrodd material across both albums
1999The Swinging ReflectiveNurse With Wound compilation · includes three Rogerson / Stapleton recordings, credited to Diana Rogerson
laterThe Lights Are On But No-One's HomeReleased as A Bad Diana · the third alias for the same body of work

Cross-references.

§ 03 · Cross-references selected
DirectionSubjectNote
Partner · collaboratorSteven StapletonArranged and played on both Scrodd albums; the partnership runs through the catalogue
Member ofNurse With WoundOccasional member and contributor; Termite Queen split; The Swinging Reflective
LabelUnited DairiesReleased both Scrodd albums; the home of the surrealist circle
Contributed toCurrent 93Appears on Current 93 recordings of the period
Contributed toHNASAppears on Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa recordings
AssociatedKarl Blake · Shock Headed PetersPlayed on the debut; outside this archive's scope
Documented inEngland's Hidden ReverseDavid Keenan's history of the NWW / Current 93 / Coil world
Filed atartist file · diana-rogerson.htmlBureau filing · Tier III

Coda.

Filed at Tier III as a tradition-internal figure of the United Dairies surrealist circle: a member and associate of Nurse With Wound, a recording artist in her own right under the Chrystal Belle Scrodd and A Bad Diana names, and a contributor to Current 93 and HNAS.