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m →‎Later line-ups: For pity's sake, Sir Patrick Moore no more played on any Splodgenessabounds album than did Rolf Harris! Show SOME common sense instead of regurgitating off other websites!
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*Richard Stone - Guitars
*Richard Stone - Guitars
*Min Johnson - [[Saxophone]]
*Min Johnson - [[Saxophone]]
*Sir [[Patrick Moore]] - [[Xylophone]]
*Ian Whitehouse - Drums
*Ian Whitehouse - Drums
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dvfixq8kldfe~T2|title=Allmusic ((( Splodgenessabounds > I Don't Know > Credits / Review )))}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dvfixq8kldfe~T2|title=Allmusic ((( Splodgenessabounds > I Don't Know > Credits / Review )))}}</ref>

Revision as of 14:51, 7 December 2009

Splodgenessabounds

Splodgenessabounds is an English punk rock band formed in Keston, Bromley, Kent. The band is associated with the Oi! and Punk Pathetique genres. Their frontman is Max Splodge.

Career

The band was originally fronted by Max Splodge and his girlfriend of the time, who was known as Baby Greensleeves. The band won a recording contract with Deram Records after finishing runner-up in the 1979 Battle Of The Bands contest, even though Deram was planning to cease all activities in the music markets outside of classical music. The band's first release for Deram in 1980 was "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please", which later inspired the title of the BBC situation comedy, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. The song was released as a triple A side vinyl single, along with "Simon Templar" (a pastiche of the theme tune of the TV series, Return of the Saint) and "Michael Booth's Talking Bum".

"Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" was the only song from that release that picked up any airplay, first from John Peel on his BBC Radio 1 show, and later on daytime radio as a novelty song. The song peaked at #7 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1980, however the band members were unable to capitalise on their success by appearing on Top Of The Pops, because the show was off the air due to strike action at the BBC Television.

The follow-up to "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" was a cover version of "Two Little Boys" (a live version that appeared in the soundtrack to the 1981 film, Urgh! A Music War). It was another triple A-side, with "Horse" and "The Butterfly Song". The band then performed on Top Of The Pops, but the single only reached #26 in September 1980. Their eponymous debut album (released in January 1981 when the band was on hiatus) failed to chart.

In the band's early days, they were noted for playing pranks. These included leaving Splodge stranded on top of a set of speakers for an entire set; supporting themselves when the support band failed to show by playing the wrong instruments badly at deafening volume levels; and a stunt where Splodge was rumoured to be held in Maidstone Prison and came on stage handcuffed to a prison officer. Splodgenessabounds' stage show sometimes went to carnivalesque extremes. Police were frequenting their concerts, due to unsubstantiated reports of public nudity and "farting on demand" during renditions of "Michael Booth's Talking Bum", and "Blown Away Like a Fart in A Thunderstorm", during which "Max gets a blowjob onstage from his female singing partner".[1]

The group often made humorously grandiose press release claims, such as that their debut album would be a triple, including a side of "old material transcribed from their own cassettes, coupled with their 'Pathetic Movements Manifesto', and including a free Christmas tree with every copy.[2]

Splodge got back into the studio - having lost the rest of his band in 1980 - with help from the Heavy Metal Kids, whose lead singer and guitarist Gary Holton was a friend of Splodge and sometime member of Splodgenessabounds. Their single "Cowpunk Medlum" (a medley of the theme song of the Western film High Noon and the TV series Bonanza) reached #69 in June 1981, but after this, Deram terminated the band's recording contract. Nevertheless, the new Splodgenessabounds (temporarily shortened to Splodge for legal reasons) released a follow-up single, "Mouth And Trousers", along with the album In Search of the Seven Golden Gussets on the independent Razor Records. Despite the single getting good airplay and favourable reviews (being a ska song rather than their usual punk style), without the backing of Deram Records, it became the first Splodgenessabounds single to fail to chart. After this, the band went on an indefinite hiatus as Splodge pursued his career as an actor and bingo caller, as well as playing with Angelic Upstarts.

With a revived interest in the band after appearing at punk festivals such as Morecambe, a new album, A Nightmare on Rude Street was recorded in 1991, but sales and reviews were poor, and the band split again. In 1999, after becoming obsessed with the BBC documentary Storm from the East, about the life of Genghis Khan (produced by Edward Bazelgatte of The Vapors), Splodge penned four songs: "Genghis Khan", "Lulluby of Mongolia", "These Are the Things That Make the Mongols So Great" and "Mongols on the Streets of London" and decided to resurrect the band once more.

Two subsequent albums I Don't Know (2000) and The Artful Splodger (2001) were released by Captain Oi! Records. Since 2001, the only releases have been a concert/interview DVD (released in 2005) and a joint single with John Otway, "No Offence - None Taken", available for download only. In 2006, the band appeared on Harry Hill's TV Burp, after being featured on Rock School with Gene Simmons. Hill made fun of the Kiss frontman, and Splodgenessabounds performed at the end of the show, accompanied by Hill dressed as "The Demon", Gene Simmons.

Partial discography

Singles

  • "Simon Templar" / "Michael Booth's Talking Bum" / "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" (Deram) - 1980 - UK Number 7
  • "Two Little Boys" / "Horse" / "Sox" / "Butterfly" (Deram) - 1980 - UK Number 26
  • "Cowpunk Medlum" / "Brown Paper" / "Have You Got a Light Boy?" / "Morning Milky" (Deram) - 1981 - UK Number 69

[3]

Studio albums

  • Splodgenessabounds (Deram) - 1981
  • In Search of the Seven Golden Gussets (Razor Records) - 1982 (as Splodge)
  • A Nightmare on Rude Street (Receiver) - 1991
  • I Don't Know - 2000
  • The Artful Splodger - 2001

[4]

DVDs

  • Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please (Secret Records) - 2005

Band members

Original line-up

  • Max Splodge - Vocals
  • Chrissie (Baby Greensleeves) - Backing vocals
  • Desert Island Joe Slythe - Coconuts
  • Miles Flat - Guitar
  • Pat Thetic Noble - Guitar
  • Roger Rodent - Bass guitar
  • Wiffy Archer - Comb and paper
  • Winston Forbes - Keyboards
  • Squint - Windows

Later line-ups

On I Don't Know

  • Max Splodge - Vocals, trombone
  • Richard Stone - Guitars
  • Min Johnson - Saxophone
  • Ian Whitehouse - Drums

[5]

On The Artful Splodger

[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gimarc. Punk Diary 1970-1982. p. 271.
  2. ^ Gimarc. Punk Diary 1970-1982. p. 386.
  3. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 521. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ^ "Allmusic ((( Splodgenessabounds > Overview )))".
  5. ^ "Allmusic ((( Splodgenessabounds > I Don't Know > Credits / Review )))".
  6. ^ "Allmusic ((( Splodgenessabounds > The Artful Splodger > Credits / Review )))".
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