The Charisma record label has an entertaining Twitter presence and over the last couple of days there has been a mystery unfold over the identity of this moody, presumably 80s, band.
I’ll tell you who it isn’t – my guess was Furniture who tickled the hit parade with their excellent single, Brilliant Mind. I know this because the lead singer himself responded in the negatory on Twitter.
It also doesn’t seem to be The Fixx, Re-Flex, Love and Money or an early Psychedelic Furs.
So who could it be? I asked the Man from Charisma if it was OK to post the pic and he say yes. Any ideas?
My money’s on Bizzniss, the band fronted by moody, enigmatic Lixx Crowley (cigarette). They were big in Cradley Heath in the summer of ’89 with local radio hit “Dark Hunting”.
Do try to take this seriously. There is no such band and Lixx Crowley doesn’t exist. I know this because I googled it – damn you – just to be sure.
Nev Tarantula (bass, back seat left) played with pubrockers Pork Skratchins before joining Bizzniss, after failing the audition for The Furkers ( a Lurkers tribute band). He retired from the music business to run a successful plumbing supplies consultancy in Godalming and is currently helping Thames Valley Police with their enquiries.
hmm my guess would be l-r drums, bass, lead vocals/poss guitar, keyboards, guitar.
You’re right! My “bad”, artdog! Nev Tarantula (whose real name was the decidedly more prosaic Brian Tarantula) was indeed the drummer. Also the roadie. Also Lixx Crowley’s “uncle” (or known as such). He also recorded the collector’s item solo album “Aggrophobia” (defined in the sleeve notes as “the sciencific name for fear of spiders”) with Larry Steinbachek out of Bronski Beat.
I believe Bob Dylan also named his book of opaque beat poetry after the Bizzniss skinsman.
I’m sure many of us have lain awake at night struggling to get a grip on little Nev
Looks like that scottish actor fella from the thick of it at the wheel. Was he in a band? Quick google and: is that the Dreamboys and is that Craig Ferguson in the back?
As in Peter Capaldi, fag and steering wheel.
Nah that ain’t Capaldi. When he was younger he still really looked like Peter Capaldi.
Bloody hell, Retro you might be on to something. There’s chubby Colin Baker beside a short-haired Paul McGann in the back, floppy-fringed Matt Smith resting his cheekbones against the headrest. But who is the figure in the passenger seat? One can only speculate that a glitch during the opening credits has caused a Doctor to be stuck mid-morph perhaps as McCoy becomes the half-human movie Doc. Capaldi’s Stratocaster and Troughton’s recorder are alongside K909 in the boot..
Funny though…they definitely look Scottish don’t they? I can’t define what it is that makes them look Scottish.
Rickets?
The deep-fried Mars bar on the dashboard?
Their sunny smiles and carefree demeanour?
The fact this is a holiday pic with ‘August, Largs’ written on the back?
The fact that they’re driving away from the Bar-L after doing a 3-stretch for Aggravated Assault?
Or is it the fact they are all handsome men with Celtic soul depth in their eyes? (writes a Scotsman trying to balance the comments here).
I’ve been ‘offended’ and ‘outraged’ by the casual waycism on display here.
It’s Simon Fuller’s abortive first attempt at assembling the Spice Girls. Due to a mix up at the printers the audition notices got mixed up with the one for the group who would go on to become Take That (this early incarnation was called Leather Chaps if memory serves), with hilarious results!
It’s Comfort of Strangers. There’s Marc King (no relation) on bass.
Can you tell me a bit more about them? I am sure the Charisma guy will shower you with gifts*
*i have no authority to make such promise
I feel duty-bound to tell you that Comfort of Strangers is very old in-joke from the Mark Elen days of Q Magazine. They were a non-existent band that were created for an article where they sent demo tapes to record labels but **spoiler alert** the tapes were BLANK! Q recorded the record company responses for fun. (“You seem to have sent us a blank tape, could you send another one?” Was one such response.)
Thereafter for years you’d play the game spot-the-random-mention-of -Comfort-of-Strangers when they’d feature at the end of some list in Q. Good times, etc.
Oh bloody hell – now you mention it I do remember that quite well.
Totally taken in. What a twat.
I even googled.
Anyone can see that it’s Egg Friday
I’m not even sure of the gender of the rightmost two in the photograph.
As this photo was originally posted by the Charisma Records twitter account, could this be an act who recorded for either Charisma or one of its subsidiaries?
Could it be the final line-up of The Delta 5, who put out a single on Charisma’s Pre label in 1982?
Delta 5 had two or three female members (two bassists) so I don’t think it’s them. Not that you can really tell from those haircuts.
Tuxedomoon?
The Bald bloke in the back isn’t really there. He’s an apparition the other hirsute eyeliner types would be appalled at for photo-bombing their shot!
Is it The Funnymen?
Dunno who they are but it’s a great pic.
Gecko and the Funnymen
The Damp Cortinas?
It’s not a Cortina. E30 BMW 3-series, I think.
I’ll get my anorak…
Is it ‘A Landfill For Heroes’?
Portentous, Pretentious, Pompous, Zealous.
Oh and the drummer, Superfluous.
Greek lads they were, I think.
Isn’t that Barry Grant of Brookside sat in the middle of the back row?
It’s the Midnight Marauders, you fools!
Are we certain that they actually were a band, and not just five wazzocks sat in a car?
And if they were a band, could they have been an act that got no further than their local live-music scene and the odd self-financed cassette?
Might even be a photo shoot for an ad – who knows?
But they do have the demeanour of a band and the quality of the photo leads me to believe that at some point this band were a going concern.
Can’t stop thinking about this for some reason. I feel that I almost certainly do know who the two guys in the back are, but can’t quite put a finger on it. One of them looks like Giles Smith, but I’m not sure – could this be the later lineup of the Cleaners From Venus (without Martin Newell), perhaps with members of Voice of America filling out the numbers?
I ruled out The Quick, The Europeans, Les Enfants and other also-rans…
You need to calm downwind back off, Mavis. See that door behind the car? That’s the door to the nuthouse and you are turning into a character in a Poe story/Amicus portmanteau horror film..
Ah Mr Robot… well, I’m doing my best…
Milton Subotsky was my home boy.
Nor is it Dance Class. No leotards or 1-inch ponytails.
bloody hell. I loved Dance Class. Musically that is. Absolutely fantastic bass player as I recall. I was the saddo buying the album on the way out of the gig at college. You’re right though, it isn’t them. No visible BO in the picture (unlike their album cover).
At last. A photograph of the legendary……Aspidistra Hatstand!
left to right – Bassist, Guitarist, Singer, Drummer, Keyboards Player
Keyboards player? Surely it’s Fairlight CMI Operator?
Nah. more of a Synclavier maven.
So @black-celebration, was there an answer to this pressing issue ? Who the hell are they ? I can’t see anything on the Charisma twitter feed…
@harold-holt – it remains unsolved.