Splodgenessabounds
Encyclopedia
Splodgenessabounds are an English
punk rock
band
formed in Keston
, Bromley
, South London
. The band is associated with the Oi!
and Punk Pathetique
genres. Their frontman is Max Splodge.
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 carnival
esque 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".
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.
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.
On The Artful Splodger
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
formed in Keston
Keston
Keston is a part suburban, part rural area of the London Borough of Bromley, England. It lies on the edge of Hayes Common, to the northwest of Greater London's border with Kent.-History:...
, Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
. The band is associated with the Oi!
Oi!
Oi! is a working class subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads and other working-class youths ....
and Punk Pathetique
Punk Pathetique
Punk pathetique is a subgenre of British punk rock that involved humour and working class cultural themes....
genres. Their frontman is Max Splodge.
Career
The band were originally fronted by Max Splodge and his girlfriend of the time, who was known as Baby Greensleeves. The band won a recording contractRecording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Deram Records
Deram Records
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...
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
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. 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
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps was a BBC sitcom created and written by Susan Nickson. It is set in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, England, and initially revolves around the lives of five twenty-somethings, played by Ralf Little , Sheridan Smith , Will Mellor , Natalie Casey and...
. The song was released as a triple A side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
vinyl single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, along with "Simon Templar
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
" (a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of the theme tune of the TV series, Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint
Return of the Saint was a British action-adventure television series that aired for one season in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States...
) 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
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
on his BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
show, and later on daytime radio as a novelty song
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
. The song peaked at #7 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in June 1980, however the band members were unable to capitalise on their success by appearing on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, because the show was off the air due to strike action at the BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
.
The follow-up to "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" was a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Two Little Boys
Two Little Boys
"Two Little Boys" is a song written by American composer Theodore Morse and lyricist Edward Madden. It was written in 1902 and became a popular music hall song of the time, made popular by Harry Lauder. It describes the story of two boys who grow up to fight in the American Civil War. In 1969, it...
" (a live version that appeared in the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the 1981 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Urgh! A Music War
Urgh! A Music War
Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, New Wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Magazine, The Go-Go's, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead...
). 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
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
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
Prison officer
A prison officer , also referred to as a corrections officer , correctional officer , or detention officer , is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision, safety and security of prisoners in a prison, jail, or similar form of secure...
. Splodgenessabounds' stage show sometimes went to carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
esque 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".
The group often made humorously grandiose press release claims, such as that their debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
would be a triple, including a side of "old material transcribed from their own cassettes
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, coupled with their 'Pathetic Movements Manifesto', and including a free Christmas tree with every copy.
Splodge got back into the studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
- having lost the rest of his band in 1980 - with help from the Heavy Metal Kids
Heavy Metal Kids
The Heavy Metal Kids are a British hard rock band, formed in 1972 in London. The band's former frontman Gary Holton and their core founding member Dave Dee are both deceased.-Early years:...
, 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
High Noon
High Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
and the TV series Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
) reached #69 in June 1981, but after this, Deram terminated the band's recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
. 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
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...
and favourable reviews (being a ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
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
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and bingo caller, as well as playing with Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts
Angelic Upstarts are an English punk rock/Oi! band formed in South Shields in 1977. The band espoused an anti-fascist and socialist working class philosophy, and have been associated with the skinhead subculture...
.
With a revived interest in the band after appearing at punk festivals
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
such as Morecambe
Morecambe
Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...
, 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
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
(produced by Edward Bazelgatte of The Vapors
The Vapors
The Vapors were a New Wave and power pop band from England, that existed between 1979 and 1981. They had a hit with the song "Turning Japanese" in 1980, which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart, and #36 in the U.S...
), 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
Captain Oi! Records
Captain Oi! is a punk rock and Oi! record label based in High Wycombe, England. The company has released over 300 albums by many notable punk and Oi! bands of the late 1970s and 1980s. The label was set up by Mark Brennan, former bassist of The Business, who had previously co-run Link Records and...
. Since 2001, the only releases have been a concert/interview DVD (released in 2005) and a joint single with John Otway
John Otway
John Otway, is an English singer-songwriter, who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.-Biography:...
, "No Offence - None Taken", available for download only. In 2006, the band appeared on Harry Hill's TV Burp
Harry Hill's TV Burp
Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy programme produced by Avalon Television for ITV and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show presents a satirical look at the week's television, including extracts from TV shows with added sketches, observational voice-overs, and guest appearances...
, after being featured on Rock School
Rock School
Rock School is a British reality TV series starring Gene Simmons , in which he has a short time to turn a class of school children into a fully fledged rock band, at the end of which they must perform in a supporting slot for a leading rock band.Rock School is made by British production company...
with Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
. Hill made fun of the Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
frontman, and Splodgenessabounds performed at the end of the show, accompanied by Hill dressed as "The Demon", Gene Simmons.
Singles
- "Simon Templar" / "Michael Booth's Talking Bum" / "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please" (DeramDeram RecordsDeram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...
) - 1980 - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
Number 7 - "Two Little BoysTwo Little Boys"Two Little Boys" is a song written by American composer Theodore Morse and lyricist Edward Madden. It was written in 1902 and became a popular music hall song of the time, made popular by Harry Lauder. It describes the story of two boys who grow up to fight in the American Civil War. In 1969, it...
" / "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
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
Original line-up
- Max Splodge - VocalsHuman voiceThe human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
- Chrissie (Baby Greensleeves) - Backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Desert Island Joe Slythe - Coconuts
- Miles Flat - Guitar
- Pat Thetic Noble - Guitar
- Roger Rodent - Bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Wiffy Archer - Comb and paper
- Winston Forbes - KeyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
- Squint - Windows
Later line-ups
On I Don't Know- Max Splodge - Vocals, tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Richard Stone - Guitars
- Min Johnson - SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Ian Whitehouse - Drums
On The Artful Splodger
- Max Splodge - Vocals, trombone, arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
- Darryl Barth - Guitar
- WürzelWürzelMichael Burston commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician and formerly a guitarist in the British heavy metal band, Motörhead....
(Motörhead) / Garrie Lammin (ex Cock SparrerCock SparrerCock Sparrer are a punk rock band formed in 1972 in the East End of London, England. Although they never enjoyed much commercial success, they are considered one of the most influential streetpunk bands, helping pave the way for the late-1970s punk scene and the Oi! subgenre...
) - Guest guitars - Micky Fitz (The BusinessThe Business (band)The Business are an English Oi!/punk rock band formed in 1979 in Lewisham, South London. Their album Suburban Rebels became influential in the Oi! movement...
) - Guest vocals - Steve Whale - Vocals
See also
- List of British punk bands
- List of musicians in the first wave of punk music
- List of Peel sessions
- Timeline of punk rockTimeline of punk rockThis is a timeline of punk rock, from its beginnings in the early 1960s to the present time.-1965:*Bands formed**The Velvet Underground*Albums** The Sonics - Here Are the Sonics-1967:* Bands formed** The Stooges** The Deviants*Albums...
- Public housePublic houseA public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...