Sporting bodacious pompadours, tattoos, and leather jackets, the Stray Cats looked like a rockabilly band straight out of central casting. That was by the design of Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker, and Slim Jam Phantom, a trio of Long Island renegades who were attempting to keep the fire of old-time rock & roll burning during the height of punk and new wave. It took some time -and a trip across the Atlantic- for them to succeed, but when they did, it was beyond all expectations. For a few years in the early 1980s, the Stray Cats were one of the hottest bands in rock & roll, racking up Top Ten hits -"Rock This Town," "Stray Cat Strut," "(She's) Sexy + 17"- with the aid of the newly founded MTV, which found their retro fashion visually kinetic. The group's fall was nearly as swift their ascendency -by the end of the '80s, they had fallen apart- but the Stray Cats made an indelible impact, sending the rockabilly revival into the mainstream and setting the pace for the music's continuation over the ensuing decades.
The Stray Cats were formed by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York, in 1979. At first, Setzer played rockabilly covers in a band called The Tom Cats with his brother drummer Gary and bassist Bob Beecher; however, Setzer soon abandoned that group to join up with newly rechristened school friends Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker) and Slim Jim Phantom (born James McDonnell). Their retro '50s look and sound didn't go over well around Long Island, though, and in the summer of 1980, the group headed to England, where a rockabilly revival movement was just beginning to emerge.
After one of their gigs in London, the Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds, well-known as a roots rock enthusiast for his work with Rockpile, and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, released in England in 1981 on Arista. They were popular right out of the box, scoring three straight hits that year with "Runaway Boys," "Rock This Town," and "Stray Cat Strut." Their follow-up, 'Gonna Ball', wasn't as well-received and, stung by the negative reviews, the Stray Cats decided to return to the States and make a go of it.
The band signed with EMI America and in 1982 released their U.S. debut, 'Built for Speed', which compiled the highlights from their two British LPs. Helped by extensive airplay on MTV at the height of the anything-goes new wave era, "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut" both hit the American Top Ten, over a year after their British chart peaks. As a result, 'Built for Speed' was a left-field smash, and the Stray Cats were seen as avatars of retro style. Their second American album, 'Rant n' Rave with the Stray Cats', appeared in 1983 and produced another Top Ten hit in "(She's) Sexy + 17," as well as a minor Top 40 entry in the doo wop-styled ballad "I Won't Stand in Your Way."
Personality conflicts began to emerge in the ways the individual members handled their newfound success: Phantom married actress (and former Rod Stewart paramour) Britt Ekland, while Setzer made guest appearances with stars like Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks and became the concert guitarist for Robert Plant's Honeydrippers side project. In late 1984, Setzer broke up the band amid much bad blood. Rocker and Phantom immediately teamed up with guitarist Earl Slick and recorded an album as Phantom, Rocker & Slick, while Setzer waited a couple of years before releasing his roots rock solo debut, 'The Knife Feels Like Justice'.
By 1986, fences had apparently been mended enough for the Stray Cats to reconvene in Los Angeles and record the covers-heavy 'Rock Therapy', which didn't sell that well. The trio returned to their respective post-Stray Cats projects, which both released albums that performed disappointingly. In 1989, they reunited once again for the album 'Blast Off', which was accompanied by a tour with Stevie Ray Vaughan. No longer with EMI, the Cats entered the studio with Nile Rodgers for the lackluster 'Let's Go Faster', issued by Liberation in 1990. 1992's Dave Edmunds-produced 'Choo Choo Hot Fish' also attracted little attention, and after another covers album, 'Original Cool', the group called it quits again. Setzer went on to spearhead the '90s swing revival with his Brian Setzer Orchestra, which performed classic big-band swing and jump blues tunes, as well as Setzer originals.
The Stray Cats reunited on occasion throughout the 2000s, always concentrating on live performances, not the recording studio. The group sat out most of the 2010s, but they returned at the end of the decade with '40', their first album of original material in 27 years. Highlights from their supporting tour for '40' were compiled as the 2020 live album 'Rocked This Town: From LA to London'. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Phil Wilson is the charismatic leader of The June Brides, a London band that in the early 80’s started to get known within the independent scene just as labels as Creation Records, were taking their first steps following the tracks of other mythical ones like Postcard, Cherry Red or Rough Trade. Their peculiarity lied in the use of a viola and a trumpet added to the more classical pop sounds, giving as a result acclaimed songs that were included in compilations of the era such as "This Town", "Every Conversation" or "Sunday To Saturday". Their musical life was short, hardly spanning 3 years during which they released the essential mini-LP 'There Are Eighty Million Stories…' and a couple of singles and EP’s on In Tape and The Pink Label later compiled in 1995 for the CD 'For Better Or Worse' released by the Overground label. After a long hiatus, in 2007 Phil Wilson continued his solo career (that started in 1987) with the recording of various singles where he kept offering his elegant pop and culminating in 2010 with the recording of the single 'I Own It' and the following LP 'God Bless Jim Kennedy', both released on the North American label Slumberland Records. [SOURCE: MADRID POPFEST]
Although they rose to fame during the initial explosion of U.K. punk, The Stranglers always stood apart from the other bands from the class of 1977. They had been together before punk became the "next big thing", and while they had a great talent for being suitably rude and transgressive, their music didn't sound or feel much like the fast-loud guitar-based fury of The Damned, The Sex Pistols, or The Clash. Instead, it initially suggested a grimy version of '60s garage punk with a sinister psychedelic undertow added by Dave Greenfield's keyboards. The group didn't often concern themselves with politics or social commentary, either, preferring to weave tales of sexual decadence, strange relationships, and bad behavior. With the passage of time, they developed a more pop-oriented sound, still dark but with potent melodies that allowed numbers like "Duchess," "Always the Sun," and "Golden Brown" to become hit singles. This gave The Stranglers the time and opportunity to mature, and their songs became more nuanced and their production got cleaner and more user-friendly without entirely abandoning the sonic sneer that was always their trademark. Their first two albums, 'Rattus Norvegicus' and 'No More Heroes' (both released in 1977) typified the approach that won them fame, 1981's 'La Folie' and 1984's 'Aural Sculpture' are highlights from their more mature period, and 2004's 'Norfolk Coast' showed The Stranglers were still a potent force even after lineup changes and 30 years in the game.
The group first came together in 1974 in Guildford, Surrey, England under the name The Guildford Stranglers. Brian Duffy, who was born in 1938, had been playing drums in bands since the late '50s, and having made good money running a fleet of ice cream trucks and an off-license (the British equivalent of a liquor store), he wanted to put together a band and devote more time to music. Duffy recruited three musicians to join him in his new project. Hugh Cornwell (born in 1949) was a guitarist and vocalist who had played in blues bands, and as a schoolboy played in a band with a young Richard Thompson called Emil and the Detectives. Jean-Jacques Burnel (born 1952) had a background in classical guitar before he took up the bass. And Hans Wärmling played guitar and keyboards and had previously worked in a group with Cornwell called Johnny Sox. Duffy adopted the stage name Jet Black, and soon the group was regularly playing pubs as well as occasional weddings and private gigs. En route to a 1975 booking where they were asked to play a set of covers for a Bar Mitzvah celebration, Wärmling quit, and Dave Greenfield (born 1949), who had been playing in bands since the late '60s, came aboard as their keyboard player, and the definitive lineup of The Stranglers was complete.
Streamlining their name to The Stranglers, they earned a reputation on the club scene, and their sinister name and sound helped them find gigs in the burgeoning punk rock community, including opening shows for visiting Americans Patti Smith and the Ramones. United Artists signed the band (with A&M Records picking up American rights to their recordings), and their debut album, 1977's 'Rattus Norvegicus', arrived in shops in April 1977. The LP rose to the British Top Ten and spawned two hit singles, "Peaches" and "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)." Wasting no time, their second full-length release, 'No More Heroes', was issued in September 1977, and peaked at number two on the U.K. album charts and two more successful singles were drawn from the disc, "Something Better Change" and the title track. Little more than a year after their debut album came out, The Stranglers delivered album number three, 'Black and White', in May 1978. While it also topped out at number two in England and included the singles "Nice 'n' Sleazy" and "Walk On By" (the latter a cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic), critics were less enthusiastic about the album, and by this time The Stranglers had become infamous for their offstage behavior, with reports of frequent punch-ups, arrests for on-stage nudity when they used strippers as part of a show, and punishing an uncooperative French journalist by taping him to the Eiffel Tower.
The Stranglers dialed back their busy schedule a bit, and waited until September 1979 to bring out their fourth LP, 'The Raven', which initially appeared with a limited-edition 3-D cover. The album was another commercial success in the U.K., charting at number two, but wasn't released in the United States after A&M severed ties with the band. Instead, in 1980, I.R.S. brought out a compilation, 'IV', which mixed tracks from 'The Raven' with single sides and unreleased tracks. United Artists was shuttered in 1980, and The Stranglers moved to the EMI-distributed Liberty label for February 1981's 'The Gospel According to the Meninblack', a sci-fi-influenced concept album that introduced their greater use of electronics. (The independent Stiff imprint brought it out in the United States.) The recording coincided with a period in which the group began using heroin in hopes of boosting their creativity; Cornwell said that Black and Greenfield stopped after just a few days, though he and Burnel stayed on the drug for roughly a year, and Cornwell was briefly jailed on drug charges. 'The Gospel According to the Meninblack' was a commercial disappointment, and for their next project, Liberty paired the band with veteran producer Tony Visconti, who urged them to think of each track as a single. 'La Folie', issued in November 1981, revived their commercial fortunes when the track "Golden Brown" was pulled as a single and became The Stranglers' biggest hit, as well as EMI's best-selling single of the year.
The Stranglers struck a new record deal with Epic, and their first LP for the label, 'Feline', was released in January 1983. The disc, which found Greenfield making greater use of synthesizers, reached number four on the U.K. album charts, and the single "European Female" went Top Ten. Their second release for Epic, November 1984's 'Aural Sculpture', didn't sell quite as well, but fared better with critics, and the cassette edition included a video game program that could be played on the ZX Spectrum, an early low-priced personal computer. October 1986's 'Dreamtime' spawned another major hit, "Always the Sun," and June 1990's '10', produced by Roy Thomas Baker, featured a cover of the garage rock classic "96 Tears," and "Sweet Smell of Success" was a rare American success for the group, reaching the Top Five of the Modern Rock Singles chart. However, Hugh Cornwell had been increasingly dissatisfied with The Stranglers, and following the touring cycle behind '10', he left the group.
The announcement that The Stranglers had lost their guitarist and primary lead singer led to Epic dropping the band, but the group remained active, with guitarist John Ellis (a former member of The Vibrators who had filled in for some live dates when Cornwell was incarcerated) and vocalist Paul Roberts coming aboard. The new lineup of The Stranglers released their first album, 'Stranglers in the Night', in 1992 on their own newly founded Psycho Records label, distributed in England by China Records. Alan Winstanley, who produced the first four Stranglers albums, returned for 1995's 'About Time', issued by the Castle-distributed When (UK) label, while Gang of Four founder Andy Gill was at the controls for 1997's 'Written in Red'. 1998's 'Coup de Grace', brought out by Eagle Records, was the last LP from the second edition of The Stranglers; John Ellis left the group, and guitarist Baz Warne had taken his place by the time they recorded 2004's 'Norfolk Coast'. 2006's 'Suite XVI' found The Stranglers recording for a major label again, their former sponsors Liberty Records, and stripped the membership to a quartet; singer Paul Roberts was out, and Burnel and Warne traded off on lead vocals. Absolute Records teamed up with The Stranglers to release 2012's 'Giants'. In 2015, Jet Black, then 77 years old, retired from touring with the group, though he continued to remain an official member, and Jim Macaulay replaced him behind the drums for live appearances. On May 3, 2020, keyboard player Dave Greenfield died from complications of the Covid-19 virus while in the hospital for heart disease; he was 71. Sessions for their next album, 2021's 'Dark Matters', had begun prior to Greenfield's passing and so it posthumously featured his playing, but also included Burnel's "And If You Should See Dave," a heartfelt tribute to him. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Sting-Rays were formed in North London in 1981. A year later they signed to Ace Records and in 1983 they released their first LP on Ace's subsidiary label Big Beat. Titled 'Dinosaurs', it was a savage record very influenced by The Cramps, Meteors, obscure '60s garage punk bands such as The Novas and The Emperors and by the garage psych sound of The Chocolate Watch Band, 13th Floor Elevators and The Count Five. Their broad musical knowledge, along with cover artwork that avoided horror movie imagery and surly humor, set them apart from the other bands in the psychobilly scene. During this first garage-billy period, the band was formed by Keith Cockburn on bass, Alec Palao on drums (future member of The Sneetches and renowned music compiler for Ace Records), Mark Hosking on guitar (later of The Earls Of Suave and The Flaming Stars) and Bal Croce as vocalist (also of The Earls Of Suave).
After three singles on Big Beat and a live album for Media Burn Records, in 1987 they released 'Cryptic and Coffee Time'. It was a four-year gap since their debut, and during that time The Sting-Rays sound had made a pronounced turn towards pop, where their love for the '60s focused now on folk-pop and psychedelia, creating a new sound which linked them with contemporary British bands such as The Dentists or Television Personalities. It's precisely Joe Foster (a member of the latter) who released their second LP (and a four-track 12") on his Kaleidoscope Sound label. Three of the founding members remained in the line-up: Bal, Mark and Alec Palao. The new member was bass player Johnny Bridgewood (a member of Morrissey's band from 1991), who wrote one of the songs on the record. 'Cryptic and Coffee Time' completely abandon the escapist and caveman-like imagery of the psychobilly and garage genres and deals instead with more introspective and profound concerns. [SOURCE: FORCED EXPOSURE]
As the frontman for The Dead Boys, Stiv Bators terrorized audiences with his snotty, in-your-face punk rock style. But after The Dead Boys, Bators embarked on a musical journey that saw him touch upon new wave (The Wanderers), goth rock (The Lords of the New Church), and power pop (during a brief solo career), as well as a fling with movie acting. Born Steve Bator on October 22, 1949, in Youngstown, OH, Bators took a liking to garage rock and proto-punk early on -a story he liked to tell is that it was he who handed Iggy Pop the jar of peanut butter that he smeared across his chest and threw around while walking on the audience during The Stooges' televised infamous 1970 rock festival in Ohio (additionally, Bators befriended the Ramones during the quartet's first Ohio performance). As a result of his interest in the burgeoning punk movement, Bators hooked up with friend/guitarist Cheetah Chrome and others to form the short-lived local outfit Frankenstein. Sensing that there was little chance of launching a successful music career in Ohio, Bators convinced a handful of fellow local musicians (Chrome, guitarist Jimmy Zero, and drummer Johnny Blitz) to relocate to New York City in 1976, resulting in the formation of The Dead Boys.
The ploy worked, as The Dead Boys not only became an instant part of the CBGB's punk scene, but they also enlisted the club's owner, Hilly Kristal, as their manager, and signed a record deal with Sire. By specializing in a heavily Iggy Pop-influenced live show (which included Bators flailing himself around until he was battered and bloody, and faux-hanging himself on stage), the group built a buzz, which only intensified after the release of its 1977 debut, 'Young Loud & Snotty'. Despite a promising start, the group would quickly disintegrate -issuing only one more album that failed to replicate the debut's fire, 1978's 'We Have Come for Your Children', before splitting up.
In the wake of The Dead Boys' split, Bators decided to try shedding his wild man image by reinventing himself as a new waver, as he demoed power pop material and issued several singles via the Bomp! label (later collected on the 1994 'L.A., L.A.' compilation). In 1980 his full-length solo debut, 'Disconnected', was released; it saw Bators mix his new power pop direction with his punk roots. But rather than fully embark on a solo career, Bators opted to return back to a band, as he formed The Wanderers with ex-Sham 69 members Dave Parsons (guitar), Dave Tregunna (bass), and Rick Goldstein (drums). The group issued only one album, the schizoid concept album 'Only Lovers Left Alive', which forsake its members' punk past in favor of a sterile production and ambitious futuristic storyline. With punk fans still scratching their heads as to the career path Bators had embarked on since his Dead Boys days, the singer decided to give acting at try, with a bit part in the hilarious 1981 John Waters-directed movie, "Polyester".
A union with ex-Damned guitarist Brian James followed soon after, resulting in the formation of The Lords of the New Church. And once more, the group didn't sound like what you'd expect from a pair of punk veterans, as they specialized in goth rock (reminiscent of Bauhaus). Unlike his other post-Dead Boys musical projects, the Lords lasted longer, as they issued a trio of albums during the early '80s -1982's 'The Lords of the New Church', 1983's 'Is Nothing Sacred?', and 1984's 'The Method to Our Madness'- before Bators exited (an infamous story involves Bators finding out about his impending firing via an ad in a music paper advertising for a vocal vacancy in the band -for his last performance with the group, he wore a shirt with the ad replicated on it).
The late '80s saw Bators briefly work with ex-Hanoi Rocks singer Michael Monroe, appear in another movie, 1988's "Tapeheads", and the "Sun City" music video, plus sporadic reunion gigs with The Dead Boys. Having relocated to Paris, France, little was heard from Bators subsequently, although it became known in later years that he attempted to form a punk rock supergroup featuring ex-New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders and ex-Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone. But besides a few rehearsals, nothing ever came of the union. Shortly thereafter, Bators died on June 4, 1990, from injuries sustained after being hit by a car. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The Wishing Stones were a mid/late '80's indie-rock band formed from the ashes of early Creation band The Loft. The band, led by Bill Prince, backed up by John F. Niven, Stuart 'The Bull' Garden and Andy Kerr, played an ahead-of-its-time blend of early '70s classic US rock (The Band, Creedence) and late '70's New York No Wave (Television, The Voidoids). They released 3 singles via Jeff Barrett's pre-Heavenly label, Sub Aqua. 'Wildwood', their only album, was recorded for Sub Aqua but remained unreleased for several years after the label had folded. By the time Heavenly were up and running and 'Wildwood' was released, the band had split. Bill Prince moved into journalism (GQ, Q), Andy Kerr joined the much tipped Spirea X and Stewart 'The Bull' Garden worked at Truck Festival. John Niven ran Southpaw Recordings, home of Mogwai and The Zephyrs. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
The Desert Wolves where one of the many guitar bands circulating around Manchester in 1987. They played a mellow guitar pop that was styled by their lead singer and driving force Martin King. He was somebody who unashamedly loved 60's pop music and wasn't afraid to wear his pop heart on his sleeve. Coming together with two sibling guitarists David and Nick Platten they formed tight and classically named songwriting team Platten King Platten.
They never entered the outsider angst of The Smiths, the political chicanery of Easterhouse or the arty insanity of James. They wrote songs about love that would have had even Burt Bacarach drooling, certainly not the typical Mancunian fayre of the time. The band was completed by Richard Jones on bass, and Craig Winterburn on the drums.
The Desert Wolves felt like just the kind of band to build on pop sensibility whilst offering a slightly more mainstream tilt at jangling C86 fever.
While The Man From Delmonte -another Ugly Man Records band- where on the edge of mass acceptance with there thrashing style and openly ambiguous lyrics, The Desert Wolves were certainly more classical boys guitar band fitted nicely into the general pre baggy jangle of 1987. [SOURCE: THE CHRONICLE OF AN UGLY MEN]
Leaders Dom Mariani and Richard Lane formed Australia garage/punk rockers The Stems in 1983. Playing such local venues as The Wizbah, The Old Melbourne, and The Shenton Park on a regular basis, the group built a substantial following, resulting in the release of their debut single in mid-1985, 'Make You Mine b/w She's A Monster'. Further releases soon followed, including singles, EPs (such as the 'Love Will Grow' EP, produced by Radio Birdman's Rob Younger), and full-lengths (1987's best-selling 'At First Sight Violets Are Blue'). Strangely, at the height of their success, the group suddenly disbanded. But over the years, Mariani and Lane have been able to put their differences aside to reunite The Stems for an odd reunion show, including a pair of shows in 1997 (which coincided with the release an archival live release from the good old days, titled 'Weed Out!: Live at the Old Melbourne'). The Stems reformed in 2003 and released a new album, 'Heads Up' in 2007. Although the group disbanded again in October 2009, The Stems are an ongoing live concern. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Adored by critics and a small cult following, the seminal Squirrel Bait remain consistently underrated in terms of their influence on post-hardcore punk and alt-rock. A big part of that is due to their unfortunately scant recorded legacy: two albums, both under half an hour, both only sporadically available. Their visibility certainly wasn't helped by the lack of a bustling scene in their native Louisville, KY, at the time (though they helped kick start one), nor by the high-school-age members' youth, which made it difficult to tour and to make the transition to college. Furious and melodic, Squirrel Bait's music was most often compared to Hüsker Dü and the thrashier side of The Replacements, but that only began to capture the essence of their high-tension dynamics and angst-riddled mania. Their sensibility was often compatible with the emerging Dischord stable, yet indebted to heavy metal as well, and their musical chops foreshadowed the intense prog-punk that would become one wing of the emo movement. Most of Squirrel Bait's members remained active musicians after the band's dissolution, playing in bands that ranged from grunge and indie rock to experimental math rock and post-rock.
Squirrel Bait were formed in Louisville circa 1983 by vocalist Peter Searcy, guitarists David Grubbs and Brian McMahan, bassist Ethan Buckler, and drummer Britt Walford. Buckler left early on and was replaced by Clark Johnson, and Walford's place would later be taken by Ben Daughtrey. In 1985, the group released a self-titled debut EP on the Homestead label, which received highly complimentary reviews in spite of its relatively poor distribution. A slightly longer follow-up, 'Skag Heaven', appeared in 1987, documenting the band's musical growth and greater variety. However, by that time, the band -all teenagers when they started out- was growing up, and with both Grubbs and Johnson having departed for college, Squirrel Bait disbanded.
The list of bands whose personnel included former members of Squirrel Bait is a daunting one. Peter Searcy recorded several albums as leader of the alt-metal group Big Wheel. Ben Daughtrey played briefly with The Lemonheads before forming a lounge-revival band called Love Jones. Brian McMahan reunited with original Squirrel Bait rhythm section Ethan Buckler and Britt Walford in the equally influential Slint; Buckler and Walford later moved on to King Kong, while McMahan formed The For Carnation and moonlighted with Will Oldham's Palace project. David Grubbs was the most prolific, however: after Squirrel Bait's dissolution, he played in two challenging bands, Bitch Magnet and Bastro, the latter of which also included Walford for a short time. In the early '90s, Grubbs moved farther into avant-garde rock with Gastr del Sol, a project with multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire Jim O'Rourke. Grubbs also briefly joined O'Rourke in Brise-Glace, and played with a reorganized version of Mayo Thompson's Red Krayola. When Gastr del Sol disbanded in the mid-'90s, Grubbs released a number of increasingly experimental solo recordings, usually spotlighting his spare, improvisational guitar work. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Dog Faced Hermans were a post-punk band that formed in Scotland in the mid 1980s and remained active through the mid 1990s. They emerged from the UK anarcho-punk scene with a guitar/bass/drums line-up, but also incorporated trumpet and other instruments not commonly found in punk music at that time. Their composition style incorporated many genres of music outside of rock, including folk, jazz, ambient and noise music with often unorthodox instrumentation.
Dog Faced Hermans formed in Edinburgh out of the female-fronted funk-punk sextet Volunteer Slavery, named after an album by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Londoner Andy Moor, who was studying anthropology in Edinburgh, first met Colin McLean at a benefit for the Scottish Campaign to Remove the Atomic Menace, and the two shared a love of James Brown, free jazz, reggae, and African music. McLean owned both a guitar and a bass, which he traded off with Moor, eventually setting on who was to play which in the band after realizing that the songs they liked best were the ones with McLean on bass and Moor on guitar. Wilf Plum had been moonlighting with local noise bands Finitribe and Stretchheads, and Marion Coutts took time off from her studies at Edinburgh College of Art to play trumpet, and the whole group also took to banging on oil drums and other percussion.
Their band got their new name from a scene in a Frankenstein movie, "where a woman dreams that her husband, whose name is Herman, gets turned into a dog," although the phrase occurs in the 1933 horror "The Vampire Bat". When the group started, they played primarily improvised music, "like bashing oil drums and hitting the guitars without actually playing very many tunes," according to drummer Wilf Plum. The group's longer improvisations were condensed into shorter arranged songs that maintained their experimental qualities. The Hermans' line-up stayed constant throughout their tenure, with Marion Coutts fronting the band on vocals, trumpet and percussion, Andy Moor on guitar, Colin McLean on bass, and Wilf Plum on drums. Within their first three years as a band, the Hermans recorded and released a few singles and two albums on their own Demon Radge Records and on journalist Everett True’s label, Calculus. These early records demonstrated the breadth of the band's influences, including English and Scottish post-punk, American no wave, and various styles of folk music, exemplified in their renditions of the Italian partisan song "Bella Ciao" and the blues standard "John Henry". While in the UK, the Dog Faced Hermans made numerous appearances on the BBC, recording three songs for The John Peel Show in 1987 and appearing on the TV programme FSD in 1988.
The group found affinity in Dutch anarchist group The Ex, whom they'd been introduced to through members of Chumbawamba. The Ex and Dog Faced Hermans toured Europe, the United States, and Canada together and released the single 'Stonestamper's Song' under the name Ex Faced Hermans, a split live cassette, and began a longstanding collaboration with the free jazz ensemble Instant Composers Pool. The Dog Faced Hermans also served as the backing band for Kurdish musician Brader with whom The Ex had also collaborated. By 1990 the Dog Faced Hermans relocated to Amsterdam taking on The Ex's sound engineer Gert Jan as a member of the group, and in 1991 Andy Moor joined The Ex, and for some years played guitar for both bands.
The Hermans struck up a deal with the Dutch label Konkurrent for the release of 1991's 'Mental Blocks for All Ages' and 1993's 'Hum of Life', which featured covers of songs by free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman and American no wave group 8 Eyed Spy. Part of the lead track, "Jan 9", is lifted from the Rumanian folk tune "Rumelaj". An American fan of the group, Geoffery Treistadt from Minneapolis band Jonestown, released the Hermans' records simultaneously in North America on his tiny Project A Bomb label. Seeking wider distribution, the Hermans approached former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra who released the Hermans' final studio and live albums on his Alternative Tentacles label before the group disbanded in 1995. The Hermans gave their final three concerts in San Francisco in October 1995, having played nearly 450 gigs in their decade as a band.
Wilf Plum went to drum for the Canadian ensemble Rhythm Activism and the projects Two Pin Din and Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp. Andy Moor continues to play with The Ex as a permanent member, as well as numerous other projects. Colin McLean also toured with The Ex as the band's live sound engineer and played bass for their collaboration with Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria. Marion Coutts returned to the UK, dedicating herself to making and teaching visual art and writing books, with a few brief sojourns into playing and recording music. Sound engineer Gert Jan toured with The Ex for many years, as well as the bands Red Monkey and Zea. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
As one of the most traditional pop bands of the new wave, Squeeze provided one of the links between classic British guitar pop and post-punk. Inspired heavily by The Beatles and The Kinks, Squeeze were the vehicle for the songwriting of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, who were hailed as the heirs to Lennon and McCartney's throne during their heyday in the early '80s. Unlike Lennon and McCartney, the partnership between Difford and Tilbrook was a genuine collaboration, with the former writing the lyrics and the latter providing the music. Squeeze never came close to matching the popularity of The Beatles, but the reason for that is part of their charm. Difford and Tilbrook were wry, subtle songwriters that subscribed to traditional pop songwriting values, but subverted them with literate lyrics and clever musical references. While their native Britain warmed to Squeeze immediately, sending singles like "Take Me I'm Yours" and "Up the Junction" into the Top Ten, the band had a difficult time gaining a foothold in the States; they didn't have a U.S. Top 40 hit until 1987, nearly a decade after their debut album. Even if the group never had a hit in the U.S., Squeeze built a dedicated following that stayed with them into the late '90s, and many of their songs -"Another Nail in My Heart," "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," "Tempted," "Black Coffee in Bed"- became pop classics of the new wave era, as the platinum status of their compilation 'Singles 45's and Under' indicates.
Chris Difford (b. April 11, 1954; guitar, vocals) and Glenn Tilbrook (b. August 31, 1957; vocals, guitar) formed Squeeze in 1974. Tilbrook answered an advertisement Difford had placed in a store window, and the pair began writing songs. By the spring of 1974, the duo had recruited pianist Jools Holland (b. Julian Holland, January 24, 1958) and drummer Paul Gunn, and had named themselves Squeeze, after the disowned Velvet Underground album that featured none of the group's original members. Squeeze began playing the thriving pub rock circuit, although their songs were quirkier and more pop-oriented than many of their peers. By 1976, the band had added bassist Harry Kakoulli and replaced Gunn with Gilson Lavis (b. June 27, 1951), a former tour manager and drummer for Chuck Berry. They had also signed a contract with Miles Copeland's burgeoning BTM record label and management company. Squeeze had already recorded several tracks for RCA, including two cuts with Muff Winwood, that the label rejected. BTM went bankrupt before it could release the band's debut single, 'Packet Of Three' in early 1977, but Squeeze were able to work with John Cale on their debut EP, due to a contract Copeland had arranged with Cale.
Squeeze released 'Packet of Three' on Deptford Fun City Records in the summer of 1977 and soon arranged an international contract with A&M Records, becoming the label's first new wave act since their disastrous signing of The Sex Pistols. The band entered the studio with producer Cale later that year to work on their debut album, provisionally titled "Gay Guys" by the group's producer. Cale had the group throw out most of their standard material, forcing them to write new material; consequently, the record wasn't necessarily a good representation of the band's early sound. By the time the album was released in the spring of 1978, the group and A&M had abandoned the record's working title, and it was released as 'Squeeze'. In America, the band and album had to change their name to UK Squeeze in order to avoid confusion with an American band called Tight Squeeze; by the end of the year, they had reverted back to Squeeze in the U.S.. Preceded by the hit single 'Take Me I'm Yours', the album became a moderate success, but the group's true British breakthrough arrived in 1979, when they released their second album, 'Cool for Cats'. More representative of the band's sound than their debut, 'Cool for Cats' generated two number two singles in the title track and "Up the Junction." Later in 1978, the EP '6 Squeeze Songs Crammed Into One Ten-Inch Record EP' was released. Squeeze tried for a seasonal hit that year with "Christmas Day," but the single failed to chart. Kakoulli was fired from the band after the release of 'Cool for Cats' and was replaced by John Bentley.
Released in the spring of 1980, 'Argybargy' received the strongest reviews of any Squeeze album to date, and produced moderate U.K. hits with "Another Nail in My Heart" and "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)." Both songs, plus "If I Didn't Love You," became hits on college radio and new wave clubs in America, increasing the band's profile considerably; it was the first Squeeze album to chart in America, reaching number 71. Jools Holland, whose fascination with boogie-woogie piano was beginning to sit uncomfortably with Difford and Tilbrook's increasingly sophisticated compositions, left the band in late 1980 to form The Millionaires; he was replaced by Paul Carrack, formerly of the pub rock band Ace. Following 'Argybargy', critics in both the U.K. and U.S. were calling Difford and Tilbrook "the new Lennon and McCartney", and in order to consolidate their growing reputation, Squeeze made an attempt at their own 'Sgt. Pepper's' with 1981's 'East Side Story'. Initially, the album was to be produced by Dave Edmunds, but the group scrapped those sessions to work with Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian. Upon its summer release, 'East Side Story' was hailed with excellent reviews, but it didn't become a huge hit as expected. Nevertheless, it found an audience, peaking at number 19 in the U.K. and number 44 on the U.S. charts. The soulful, Carrack-sung "Tempted" failed to reach the U.K. Top 40, but it did become the group's first charting U.S. single, reaching the Top 50. The country-tinged "Labeled with Love" became the group's third, and last, British Top Ten hit that fall. Carrack left at the end of 1981 to join Carlene Carter's backing band; he was replaced with Don Snow, a classically trained pianist who formerly played with The Sinceros.
Ever since the release of their debut, Squeeze had been touring and recording without break, and signs of weariness were evident on 'Sweets from a Stranger'. Though it was the group's highest-charting U.S. album, reaching number 32 shortly after its spring release, 'Sweets from a Stranger' was uneven. In the U.K., it was a considerable disappointment, reaching number 37, with its single "Black Coffee in Bed" stalling at number 51. Nevertheless, the band had earned a considerable fan base, and were able to play Madison Square Garden that summer. Tired of touring and its frustrating commercial fortunes, Difford and Tilbrook decided to disband Squeeze late in 1982, releasing the compilation 'Singles 45's and Under', shortly after its announcement. Ironically, 'Singles' peaked at number three on the British charts; it would later go platinum in the U.S.
Though they had disbanded Squeeze, Difford and Tilbrook had no intention of ending their collaboration -they simply wanted to pursue other projects. In particular, they saw themselves as songwriters in the classic tradition of Tin Pan Alley or the Brill Building, and began writing for Helen Shapiro, Paul Young, Billy Bremner and Jools Holland. They also worked on "Labelled with Love", a musical based on their songs, which played briefly in Deptford, England early in 1983. The duo released an eponymous album in the summer of 1984, showcasing a sophisticated new sound, as well as long, flowing haircuts and coats. The record was a moderate success, but the duo were already thinking of re-forming Squeeze. Early in 1985, the band reunited to play a charity gig, which prompted Difford, Tilbrook, Holland, and Lavis (who had been driving a cab) to permanently re-form, adding bassist Keith Wilkinson. 'Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti' was released in the fall of 1985 to positive reviews and moderately successful sales. During 1986, Andy Metcalfe, a member of Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians, joined the band as a second keyboardist. 'Babylon and On' followed in the fall of 1987, and the album became a surprise hit, reaching number 14 in the U.K. and generating their biggest American hits -"Hourglass," which reached number 15 on the strength of MTV's heavy rotation of the song's inventive video, and the Top 40 "853-5937." After completing an international tour, which featured another concert at Madison Square Garden and a headlining spot at the Reading Festival, Metcalfe left the band, and he was not replaced.
'Babylon and On' may have been a hit, but Squeeze's renewed success wasn't long-lasting. The group's next album, 'Frank', was released in the fall of 1989 and it wasn't given much a promotional push by A&M. Consequently, it flopped in both the U.S. and the U.K. During the supporting tour for 'Frank', A&M dropped Squeeze, leaving the band in the cold. Following the tour, Holland left the band to concentrate on his career as a recording artist, as well as a television host for the BBC. Squeeze released a live album, 'A Round & a Bout', on IRS Records in the spring of 1990. Early in 1991, the band signed with Reprise Records and began recording a new album, hiring Steve Nieve, Bruce Hornsby and Matt Irving as session keyboardists. The resulting album, 'Play', was released in the fall of 1991 to little attention, partially because it received no support from the label. During the 'Play' tour, the band hired Don Snow and Carol Isaacs as keyboardists. Over the course of 1992, Difford and Tilbrook began to play the occasional acoustic concert, as Squeeze revamped its touring lineup again, hiring Steve Nieve as their touring keyboardist. Longtime drummer Gilson Lavis left the band later that year to play in Jools Holland's big band; he was replaced by Pete Thomas who, like Nieve, was a member of The Attractions.
Squeeze resigned from A&M Records in early 1993 and recorded their new album, 'Some Fantastic Place', with Thomas on drums and Paul Carrack on keyboards. Released in the September of 1993, the album became a moderate British hit, debuting at number 26; it was ignored in the U.S.. During 1994, Thomas left the band to join the reunited Attractions; by the end of the year, the group had replaced him with Andy Newmark. Prior to the recording of 1995's 'Ridiculous', Kevin Wilkinson -no relation to bassist Keith Wilkinson- became the group's drummer. Released in the U.K. in the fall of 1995, 'Ridiculous' became a moderate hit, generating the hits "This Summer" and "Electric Trains." The album was released in America in the spring of 1996 on IRS. Under the name John Savannah, Don Snow contributed keyboards on 'Ridiculous' and the album's supporting tour.
During 1996, Squeeze released two compilations, the single-disc 'Piccadilly Collection' in the U.S. and the double-disc 'Excess Moderation' in the U.K.. The following year, A&M U.K. issued the box set 'Six of One...', which contained remastered versions of their first six albums, plus two bonus tracks on each disc. A second box, covering the second six albums, was scheduled for release in 1998, but it was canceled after the label folded. By that time, Squeeze had finished their contractual obligation for new studio albums with the label. They signed with independent Quixotic Records, releasing a new album, 'Domino', in November of 1998. 'Domino' was recorded with a new lineup, featuring Difford and Tilbrook, plus Jools Holland's brother Chris Holland on keyboards, bassist Hilaire Penda, and drummer Ashley Soan, a former member of Del Amitri. Following the supporting tour, Squeeze went their separate ways again at the close of 1999.
Difford and Tilbrook pursued solo projects during the course of the 2000s, contributing to some Squeeze-related projects -notably the excellent 2004 book by Jim Drury, "Squeeze: Song by Song"- but they didn't reunite the band, not even when they were goaded by VH1's Band Reunited program in 2004. Squeeze started to lurch back into activity in 2007, as Universal reissued a deluxe edition of 'Argybargy' and a new hits collection; Difford and Tilbrook formed a new version of the band, largely relying on players from Glenn Tilbrook's Fluffers, for a U.S. tour later captured on the live album '5 Live: On Tour in America'. From that point on Squeeze toured fairly regularly, with the band announcing in 2010 that Difford and Tilbrook were working on new songs, but before that album was released came 'Spot the Difference', a 2010 record where the band re-recorded many of its biggest hits.
Over the next five years, Difford and Tilbrook worked steadily on new songs while touring with a lineup consisting of John Bentley, Stephen Large, and Simon Hanson; Bentley was swapped out for Lucy Shaw in 2015. Squeeze finally unveiled their new studio album, 'Cradle to the Grave' -their first album in 17 years- in the autumn of 2015. After its release, Shaw left the band and was replaced by Yolanda Charles; Steve Smith, formerly of Dirty Vegas, also joined the group as a percussionist. This lineup debuted on 'The Knowledge', which appeared in October 2017. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
