Formed: Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Middling band which recorded two singles and two Peel Sessions (October 1978 and January 1979), but in spite of good press live and some television exposure (they were even featured in a Southern Television documentary on punk in Brighton), they never got anywhere.
They formed in 1977 and settled after a while with this lineup:
Stella Anscombe - vocals
Leoni Nicol - vocals
John Ellis - vocals (not the same John Ellis who played in the Vibrators!)
Paul Hayward - guitar
Mark Gresty - bass
Wayne Calcutt - drums (ex-Cruelty/Poacher)
Shortly after the first Peel Session (where they recorded all four songs later issued on their singles) there was a lineup shuffle, and the band now looked like this:
Carole Brooks - vocals
Tracy Spencer (real name Tracey Preston) - vocals
John Ellis - vocals
Paul Hayward - guitar
Mark Gresty - bass
Wayne Calcutt - drums
In January '79 this lineup recorded the second session for Peelie - 'Miss USA', 'What’s The Time', 'Latex Darling' and 'P.M.W./Young And Rich' - and also the first single, Disco Love, which was released in April '79 to bad reviews and poor sales. Band members Paul Hayward (lead guitar) and Tracey Preston (vocals) made some minor local splash around this time when they married "for a bet" in '79, just after the release of the first single. Paul told a local rag, "We got drunk in the pub and did it for a bet. We put £100 on the first one to back out". The same article described the band like this: "They have been described as sounding like a pub brawl, but they have been voted one of Britain's top 12 new bands". Not sure where this poll was conducted, but It must have a slow week for new bands. The lineup fractured after this, and the band split in June.
However, a radically re-jiggled lineup (the one pictured above) emerged later that year:
Paul Hayward - guitar, backing vocals
Wayne Calcutt - drums
Paul Martin - bass
Tom Maltby - lead vocals
This lineup recorded single number two, The End Of Civilisation. This is the better of the two singles: escalating tension and a non-stop vocal attack make it quite memorable, but it was released posthumously so did even less well than the first. After a few more lineup shuffles the band changed its name to Life Size Models, releasing a track as such on the Vaultage 80 comp. Again, no one cared.
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DISCOGRAPHY
Singles & Albums
Disco Love (7", 1979)
The End Of Civilisation (7", 1979)
Various Artists
Small Wonder: The Punk Singles Collection UK CD 1994 (Anagram): Disco Love / The End Of Civilisation
Small Wonder: The Punk Singles Collection Volume Two UK CD 1996 (Anagram): Commuter Man / Girl Behind The Curtain
Action Time Vision (A Story Of Independent UK Punk 1976-1979) UK 4xCD 2016 (Cherry Red): The End Of Civilisation
Optimism / Reject (UK D-I-Y Punk and Post-Punk 1977-1981) UK 4xCD 2019 (Cherry Red): Commuter Man
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Links
Punk BrightonBored Teenagers - Really good stuff here, as usual
