"These
are stuff as dreams are made of..." - with a Shakespearean paraphrase and
a bounce, The Wonder Stuff's debut album springs to life. "Red Berry Joy Town," the
opening salvo of impish snarl from the Stourbridge quartet, leading way to the
cut-time drive of "No, for the 13th Time."
Formed
in 1986, The Wonder Stuff's original lineup consisted of Miles Hunt on vocals
and guitar, Malcolm Treece on guitar and backing vocals, "The Bass
Thing" Rob Jones on bass guitar, and Martin Gilks on drums and percussion. Their debut album is full of hooks,
grooves, and Hunt's trademark mischievous attitude. Influenced in equal parts by The Clash, The Jam, and the Sex
Pistols; The Eight Legged Groove Machine
brought a modern spin on classic British power pop.
Though
the album contains many of Hunt's angst filled rants on "Unbearable,"
"Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More," and "Poison," there
are also melodic ballads, such as "Rue The Day" and "Some Sad
Someone." When the album has
its softer moments, though, it quickly springs back with the boisterous glee of
songs like "A Wish Away," "It's Yer Money I'm After, Baby,"
and "Ruby Horse."
The
Wonder Stuff followed their debut album with the single "Who Wants To Be
The Disco King?" in early 1989, and their sophomore album HUP!, a few months later, preceded by
the single "Don't Let Me Down, Gently". HUP! saw the band
adding more reliance on drum loops, as well as the addition of Martin Bell on
fiddle, mandolin, accordion, and guitar.
Bell's contributions, on "Unfaithful," "Cartoon
Boyfriend," and the albums second single, "Golden Green," was
inspired by the fiddle playing on Bob Dylan's Desire album, and would add a new color to the bands repertoire.
Following
a U.S. tour supporting The Mission U.K., Jones left the band following the
recording of the fiddle-driven single "Circlesquare." Despite his departure, the band would
not be idle, replacing Jones with Paul Clifford on bass in 1991.
The
subsequent album, Never Loved Elvis, and
the singles released during this period, would see the band reach their highest
chart position with the singles "The Size of a Cow," "Caught in
my Shadow," and "Welcome to the Cheap Seats." Opening with "Mission Drive,"
the album starts off gently before jumping into a rush of fiddle and guitar
driven excitement. Many of the
singles had a tongue-in-cheek irreverence, but these were tempered with Hunt's
fierceness on "Donation," and "Here Comes Everyone." Never
Loved Elvis succeeded in taking the new territory explored on HUP! and bringing in the spirit of fun
found on the bands debut.
This
period also saw the band get their biggest U.K. hit, which almost came by
accident. The band reached number
1 on the U.K. singles chart, dethroning U2's "The Fly," with a cover
of the Tommy Roe song "Dizzy," featuring comedian and television
personality Vic Reeves on lead vocals. The band had
graduated to festival headliners, had gained critical and commercial acclaim,
and all seemed to be coming up roses.
However, as they began recording the follow up, word came that "The
Bass Thing" Rob Jones had passed away in New York as result of an
undiagnosed heart condition. This
put a damper on the sessions and tensions amongst the band over the success of
the band began to rise.
In
late 1993 the band released its final album for Polydor Records, Construction for the Modern Idiot. The album would feature a less buoyant
sound than it's predecessor, featuring a leaner, angrier sound than any of
their previous albums. The singles
"Full of Life (Happy Now!)" and "Hot Love Now" would
lighten the mood, but tracks like "I Wish Them All Dead" and the
album's first single, "On the Ropes," would capture the tension the
band was going through internally.
As the tour wound down in the spring of '94, the band entered the studio
in an attempt to explore new material, but was unsatisfied with the
results. They accepted an offer to
headline the first day of the 1994 Phoenix Festival in Stratford Upon Avon and
announced their farewell performance would be on July 14th of that year. The band bid their fans adieu with a
whirlwind performance of 28 classics ranging from their first single "It's
Not True" to their more recent material, even bringing out Reeves for a
spin through "Dizzy."
Following
the split, Hunt did a short stint as a V.J. on MTV Europe, before recording an
album with a new group, Vent 414, while Treece, Gilks, and Clifford formed We
Know Where You Live with Ange Doolittle of the recently split U.K. band
Eat. By the late 1990's Hunt
embarked on an acoustic tour of the U.S. accompanied by Treece. Hunt would begin releasing solo e.p.'s
(short for "extended play") and albums with help from Treece and
Bell.
In
December 2000, The Wonder Stuff, with Clifford being replaced by Stewart
Quinnell, reunited in London for five sold out shows at The Forum. The reunion
lasted into the summer, with the band playing a handful of festivals. The band launched summer and winter
tours over the next few years, but tensions over whether or not to record new
material and the growth of the tour costs began to arise between Hunt and
Gilks. In 2004, Hunt announced
that he and Treece had recorded a new album with Mark McCarthy and Andres
Karau, and intended to release it as The Wonder Stuff. Escape
From Rubbish Island marked the first Wonder Stuff album in 10 years, but
dissolved the relationship between Hunt, Gilks, and Bell. The band
recruited Erica Nockells to take over Bells duties of fiddle, and recorded Suspended by Stars in 2006. Just after the albums release, Martin
Gilks was killed in a motorcycle accident.
The
Wonder Stuff marked the 20th anniversary of The
Eight Legged Groove Machine in
2008 by performing the album in its entirety at a series of shows, and also
recording the album live in the studio, along with a selection of era
b-sides. They enjoyed the process
so much they decided to do the same for the 21st anniversary of HUP!, two years later. In 2011, they booked shows for the 20th
anniversary of Never Loved Elvis, but
announced shortly before the shows that Malcolm Treece had decided to leave the
band.
In
2011 and 2012, they released a series of 7" singles titled From the Midlands with Love that celebrated other groups from the
same area. In March 2013, The
Wonder Stuff, now featuring only Hunt from the bands original lineup, released
its 7th studio album, Oh No! It's...The
Wonder Stuff.
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