Andy Overall

Andy Overall was born March 21st 1959 at St Michaels Hospital, Braintree, Essex, England

Andy Overall - Out and about

In 1978 Andy, now calling himself Andy O, helped form Braintree band The Rave who went on to win the Triad Battle of the Bands in nearby Bishops Stortford. Following the win, an article in music magazine Sounds, by music journalist Robbi Millar, brought them a lot of attention from the music business, but a deal was not sealed. Andy was courted by management in London and subsequently left The Rave to follow his career in London. In 1980 Andy was instrumental in forming the new wave electronica band, Modern Jazz with Tim Parry, Michael Sparrow, Mike Ansell and David Woolfson. The band soon signed a deal with Magnet Records and released their first single I Shoot Sheep in My Sleep, produced by the son of Mickey Most, Calvin Hayes. The band changed their name to Blue Zoo in 1981 and the first single under the new name, Love Moves In Strangeways, was single of the week in NME. In late summer of 82, Blue Zoo had their first major hit with Cry Boy Cry reaching No.13 in the UK charts, resulting in appearances on Top of the Pops. The band released an album 2x2 in 1983 and their last single before they disbanded in 1984 was Somewhere in the World There's a Cowboy Smiling. Andy went on to form two other bands after the Blue Zoo demise, Sky West & Crooked who secured a publishing deal with Warner Brothers and the Motherhive. An expanded edition of Blue Zoo's 2x2 album was re-released in 2013 y Cherry Red

Andy O on stage with Blue Zoo

In 2010, following a 26 year hiatus Blue Zoo reformed and in 2016 released their first single for 30 years, Funganista. The title of this recent release comes as no surprise as Andy is a highly reputed and respected Field Mycologist having studied the larger fungi since the late eighties. In 1996 he co-founded Fungi to be With and in late 2017 he published his first book on the subject, FUNGI-Mushrooms and Toadstools of Parks, Gardens, Heaths and Woodlands.