The Wonder Stuff

Ah yes, The Stuffies. I only ever saw them live once at the Brixton Academy in 1990 which according to Room512.com was on the 21st August (I know that mainly because Janes Addiction were in support and had replaced the Ned's from the support slot for which I was pissed off with them and then they were totally c&*p anyway).
I first heard '8 Legged Groove Machine' on a tape I got from a friend at school which had 'The Stone Roses' on the other side - I wasn't sure about the Roses at the time. They soon became my favourite band of my school days and they provided some wonderful albums. I remember now getting 'Hup' on its first day of release and I also bought Jesus Jones' debut album the same day. What I think I liked best was the attitude from Miles Hunt and then also the pop songs with catchy lyrics and especially the fiddle parts from 'Fiddly' from 'Elvis' onwards.
At Uni when I first got into using the internet and email I was part of The Stuffies email list and managed to get hold of some great rare stuff, unfortunately most of which is now on tape and I don't have a way of playing. One of the best tapes came from Russ Hunt (Miles' Brother) who produced a tape with solo stuff and various rare tracks - thanks Russ if you happen to come across this.



I was thinking about what sort of things I wanted to put on this page and I settled on three songs. Firstly there's an early track from the 'Eight Legged Groove Machine' LP and then one of my absolute favourites 'Sing The Absurb' which is from the 'Construction For The Modern Idiot' album (their last proper album before the first ending of the band). In this acoustic radio performance from the 'Love Bites & Bruises' album its perhaps their finest moment in my eyes. In the same acoustic mode 'Can't Shape Up, Again' is the companion piece to 'Can't Shape Up' from 'Hup' and works great if you play the first followed by the second. Then finally 'Just Helicopters' which was a B-sides on the 'Hot Love Now' E.P. collection and one of their best later tunes.
Enjoy.

For more information:
The Wonder Stuff on Wikipedia
Room 512 - An Unofficial Wonderstuff Fansite

Essential Listening:
Never Loved Elvis
Love Bites & Bruises

Thousand Yard Stare

Thousand Yard Stare were probably the biggest local band around when I was growing up in Windsor. I think I first heard about them listening to Gary Crowley on BBC Radio London (or whatever it was called at the time). He had a show on Sunday afternoons and I used to try and do my homework listening to the latest music that you couldn't really hear anywhere else. TYS were a band based in Slough and as the biggest local music venue was the Old Trout they made the trip over to Windsor on a fairly regular basis. I can't remember exactly when I first saw them live but I have got a feeling it was Christmas 1990 (referring to the aforementioned Old Trout website). Their first E.P. was released earlier that year and had got a lot of attention with the lead track Weatherwatching. They then went on to release the Keepsake E.P. with lead track Buttermouth the following year. The big time (if there was ever a big time) came with their next release (the Seasonstream E.P.) with lead track No Score After Extra Time (or 0-0 a.e.t. as its also known). A classic piece of pop with a little help from Martin 'Fiddly' Bell from The Wonderstuff (I will definitely write something about them in the future). 0-0 a.e.t. even made it into the charts and on to many pages of the NME and the like.

Debut album 'Hands On' followed which I have just this week got from ebay in order to replace my original vinyl version. The most memorable gigs I remember are probably the two biggest that they played. Firstly there was the scorching hot afternoon at Glastonbury in 1992 where they were on the second stage and I seem to remember the small but excited crowd down the front going mad to all their greatest songs and then there was perhaps their biggest gig at what turned out to remembered at the 'Shoegazing Festival' - Slough Festival in Wexham Park July 1991 (according to a quick Google search). As the name suggested the rest of the line up included all the bands from that particular genre of music (including a wonderful headline set from Ride) but ofcourse as a homecoming gig it was always going to be the big one for TYS.

A second album 'Mappamundi' followed but TYS never really managed to continue their success and disappeared in 1993.

I'd like to say thanks to Stephen, Sean, Dominic, Giles and Kevin wherever you are these days. It was a great time of my musical life that I look back on with much pleasure.


For further information:
Thousand Yard Stare on Wikipedia
Whatever happened to..... TYS

Essential Listening:
Hands On

Ah well....

Ah well, my grand plans for writign a regular blog go up in smoke right from the off. I'll keep at it though and try to post a few musings every now and again and include some rare slices of music that mainly appear to be missing (or hidden) on the web. Lets give it another go.