The Pathetix

The Pathetix was a Nelson, Lancashire band, formed as early as 1976, initially by Andrew Nicholson and Philip Husband. Nicholson, now a producer for the BBC, had first chanced upon punk while doing his paper round. The band played a lot of gigs during the summer of 1978. However, the major labels were not beating a path to their door. The 'Aleister Crowley' EP was duly released on their own No Records label, and its drunken séance diorama seemed to hit a chord, which was more than some of their peers were capable of at this stage. Both Giovanni Dadomo at Sounds and Mark Perry of Sniffing Glue were impressed. The good press saw them reach the Top 10 of the (then unofficial) Independent Charts after the single was picked up for distribution by Rough Trade. 

After a further batch of gigs they signed with Manchester’s TJM label. A further single emerged. ’Love in Decay’ should have been great but Tony Davidson from TJM wouldn't pay for a producer and just when they should have been sounding better and getting a push there was a big nothing. TJM did at least organise a package tour for them. It included a band called The Frantic Elevators with a flame-haired eejit as vocalist. His name was Mick Hucknall (Simply Red), and also a big fan of the Pathetix’s "Don’t Let The Bastards Grind You Down", and once sang it back to its co-author verbatim in a drunken moment while doing an interview for Music Box. TJM’s only saving grace, apparently, was its rehearsal studio. 

 

Thereafter the line-up of The Pathetix shuffled. Gary Brown (bass) left to join the Notsensibles and Pete Leeper (saxophone) became an actor, appearing as Malcolm Parrot on "Grange Hill". But the band weren’t satisfied that TJM were delivering on their promises and promoting their single nationally, and instead signed a deal with French independent (with Mancunian connections) Sordide Sentimental. They ground to a halt soon after, though they were joined for a while by keyboard player John Finch. They’d also grown a bit tired of punk’s self-regulation. There were a further cassette and a single as Citizen UK while Husband and Nicholson were also involved in the punk-hip-hop hybrid Trash Culture. And as the man says, that was that. All over.  [SOURCE: BORED TEENAGERS]