HMHB News Archive
July - December 1998
Festive 50 (24/12/98)
So far, one entry in John Peel's Festive 50 so far - "Turn A Blind Eye", at No.25. The final
installment (16 - 1) can be heard on his show next Tuesday, 29th December. "A Country Practice"
must appear, surely?
Look North (10/12/98)
Andy Martin:
Apparently last night's Look North (your regional news bulletin if you
live in Yorkshire) featured a "real life footage" piece regarding
shoplifting. It showed shop camera evidence of a bloke on the rob who,
when nicked, was made to empty the contents of his bag on camera.
The shop - HMV.
First items out of the bag - 2 copies of Four Lads....
Well at least he had taste.
HMHB on University Challenge (17/11/98)
Yep, HMHB figured in a question on University Challenge on BBC2 on Tuesday night,
and it seems that about three-quarters of the people who read these pages were watching
it, judging by the amount of mail I got.
Question was along the lines of : "Kim Carnes' song Bette Davis Eyes was covered as
Dickie Davies Eyes in 1986 by which Liverpool-based indie band?"
OK, so Paxman's researcher hasn't quite got their geography right, and the Sheffield team didn't cover
themselves in glory with their answer - Scaffold. I'm sure the bloke in the Teenage Fanclub t-shirt
would have known the answer...
Tab request (17/11/98)
No, I'm not after ten Benson, but guitar tab instead. Scott McKenzie
is collecting HMHB guitar tab, and would appreciate contributions. You can
send them to me as well while yer at it, ta.
Some news! (5/11/98)
A few real bits of news, for a change:
- HMHB will be going into the studio before Xmas - Nigel's got a whole batch of new material ready for the tape decks.
- HMHB articles/interviews will be appearing in upcoming editions of Deluxe (December's, I think) and Esquire. Keep your eyes peeled.
- A couple more gigs in December - Sheffield and Scunthorpe. See the Gig Guide for more details.
Four Lads review (26/10/98)
Months late, but a review of Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral from the Liverpool Post (24 July!)
can be found here.
Gigs (23/10/98)
Stuart McHugh / Andy Martin with some rumours:
"Looks like the Scottish tour has collapsed [for the time being], even the Dumfries gig
seems to be out as there's not a second one to make it a 'tour'."
"The next Manchester gig will be on a Friday at the end of January (22nd or 29th)."
PC Zone (23/10/98)
Andy Martin:
Check out December's PC Zone magazine...particularly that first bloke in "What's On
Your Hard Drive?" (page 4), and the feature on Liverpool (p29)...(not P34 like it says in the
index, either).
Mersey Radio (20/10/98)
Russ Reid says, "Did you know that Nigel was on Radio Merseyside last week in an
hour-long programme where he was interviewed and they played HMHB tracks? It was very
funny at times. The interviewer seemed to think The Beatles/Ian Dury were Nigel's influences!"
Upcoming gigs (24/9/98)
In case you've somehow missed them, there are some new gigs to announce -
Preston, Liverpool, Norwich, Northampton and Chester (October),
London and Leeds (November) and Crewe (December).
More details in the Gig Guide.
Q review Four Lads (5/9/98)
Better late than never...Q magazine have finally reviewed the album:
"CROWN PRINCES OF CLEVER DICKERY AND FRAZZLED POST-PUNK GUITARS"
Gargling and gagging on the alphabet soup of pop
culture, HMHB have been pricking the pretensions of
po-faced pop stars and B-list celebrities for longer
than they probably care to remember. Song titles here
tell half the story - Moody Chops, Four Skinny Indie
Kids, You're Hard - as they cram together a deliciously
barbed cocktail of withering one-liners and comic
death-dealing rhyming couplets.
Rating was *** (out of 5).
Again, no effort made at all - repeat the age-old minor
celebrities line, stick in a few song titles, and hey presto - a review.
Good review (6/8/98)
I've managed to get a review of the recent Oxford gig into the current edition of Nightshift Online
(Oxford Music Mag). It's here.
GLR coverage (6/8/98)
The site got a brief mention on Greater London Radio a couple of days back, during an interview
with the editor of one of the new Guinness Encyclopaedia of Music type things - this site was
hailed as being the best music site on the web, apparently....(much parping on own trumpet).
Meltdown broadcast on Peel (23/7/98)
The broadcast of HMHB at Meltdown finally happened on John Peel's
programme tonight (23rd July), a bit earlier than expected in the show. Only three tracks were
aired - A Country Practice, Running Order Squabble Fest and Four Skinny Indie Kids. Oh well,
better than nothing, I suppose. The sound was superb - I don't think I've ever heard Neil's bass
sound so solid.
Lyrics book / Lyrics on the web (18/7/98)
Right - the official word on lyrics, once and for all, since loads of you keep emailing me
asking why the lyrics aren't on the site. I spoke to Nigel about this a couple of years back, and he
was keen that people should have to work them out for themselves. Fine, I thought.
At recent gigs, a lyrics book has been on sale - however, this is not an official Probe Plus product,
and looks like its existence will be very much short-lived. Nigel's opinion on publishing lyrics has not
changed - that's why they haven't appeared on the CD sleeves since they reformed.
So there you go. There will not be a lyrics page - you'll just have to do what Nigel wants. However,
you can always mail me with any particular questions about
the words, or even post something to the mailing list (register on the front page).
C4 Teletext review new LP (18/7/98)
C4 Teletext P484 reviewed the new LP this week:
"After a decade in the indie wilderness, the Scouse japesters plod on with their eighth LP of sardonic
lyrical attacks on pop culture and wonky geetar twang."
"As ever, many of the tunes here verge on in-jokery, while dirgier tracks are irritating. But there are
some gems."
"Top tunes are the chirpy Four Skinny Indie Kids ("drinking weak lager in a Camden boozer"),
You're Hard (which slags off Lenny Henry - hurrah!) and the geeeeenius Turn A Blind Eye." 3/5
Review by Steven Eastwood, c/o Channel 4 Teletext.
Probe website (16/7/98)
Probe Records have a website - click here. Note
that Probe Records is the shop that Geoff started in 1971, and is a totally separate entity to the label
Probe Plus, which is Geoff's sole business these days.
NME review the LP (15/7/98)
The (not overly favourable) NME review of
Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral is available for perusal.
New merchandise (12/7/98)
HMHB have some new merchandise on offer - as well as the LP/CD, there's an accompanying t-shirt (front and
back prints). The Back Again In The DHSS and Live At Derby Wherehouse videos are now
available again.
HMHB Meltdown gig NOT broadcast on Peel on Thu 9 July (9/7/98)
John Peel didn't broadcast HMHB's gig at the Meltdown Festival on Thursday 9 July, due to the
unplanned arrival of Billy Bragg in the studio, who played an 8-song acoustic session instead of
the Meltdown broadcasts. Hopefully HMHB will appear in the coming week (Geoff had no more
knowledge about this than me). Anyway, Peel is on Tue-Thu, 8.40-10.30pm. The broadcasts so far have
been after the 9.30pm news.
Monday 6 July is National HMHB Day (updated 7/7/98)
So click on the banner and join in the fun. It's been top of the Angst charts on the NME
site for the last week now.
It's doing wonders for the site too, the hit-rate is up a fair bit this week - 148 visitors
yesterday was a record for a single day (since I began monitoring in February, anyway). Just
thought you'd like to know.
Peel playing tracks from the LP (1/7/98)
John Peel is now playing tracks from Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral nightly.
I've heard Children of Apolcalyptic Techstep and Split Single With Happy Lounge Labelmates,
and I'm sure there have been more.
Return to the Half Man Half Biscuit Home Page.