Thirty years ago this year, a band called The Wonderstuff made inroads across my eleven year old radar when they appeared in Smash Hits. They were uniquely witty and acerbic, and when I finally heard their music they were even better.
In 1994, they called it a day…before reforming several years later. On one occasion my brother was privileged to have frontman, the legendary Miles Hunt, perform ‘Size Of A Cow’ for him in his hotel room. Which is pretty darn special, really. The band still evoke so many happy memories for so many people. A few months ago friends were round for dinner, and I put on their third album Never Loved Elvis. Within seconds of the needle hitting the vinyl my friends responded ‘Love this album.’ So do I, still.
Mr. Hunt (we’re friends on facebook, and he seems much less frightening than I thought he might be), is shortly to release an album called The Custodian, on October 5.This features him doing acoustic versions of the songs he has written over thirty years or more. The version of ‘On The Ropes’, a top ten hit from 1993 is just amazing.
Oh, and I am getting to interview Miles Hunt this week. My week quite probably beats your year!
The tracklisting for the album is as follows:
Disc One:
01. Speakeasy 02. It’s Not True… 03. Unbearable 04. Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More 05. Can’t Shape Up 06. Them, Big Oak Trees 07. The Size Of A Cow 08. Caught In My Shadow 09. Maybe 10. On The Ropes 11. Sing The Absurd 12. I Think I Must’ve Had Something Really Useful To Say 13. Room 512, All The News That’s Fit To Print 14. Fixer 15. Fits & Starts
Disc Two:
01. Everything Is Not Okay 02. Flapping On The Pier 03. Escape From Rubbish Island 04. Was I Meant To Be Sorry? 05. Tricks Of The Trade 06. We Hold Each Other Up 07. Falsified 08. Were You There? 09. Steady As You Go 10. Right Side Of The Turf 11. You Can’t Go Back (To Once Upon A Time) 12. Don’t You Ever 13. Good Deeds & Highs 14. The Sweetest Of Bitterest Ends 15. Custodian
The tour dates are as follows:
October
1st – Southampton, The 1865
2nd – Indie Daze, London
11th – Liverpool, Music Room
12th – Selby, Town Hall
25th – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
26th – Leicester, The Y Theatre
27th – Sheffield, Greystones
November
5th – Hastings, Black Market VIP
6th – Swindon, Vic
9th – Stowmarket, John Peel Centre
10th Harpenden, Public Halls
17th – Barnstaple, Pilton Village Hall
18th – Shiiine On Weekender, Minehead
21st – Leeds Brundenell
22nd – Bury, The Met
23rd – Biddulph, Town Hall
24th – Bristol, Thunderbolt
27th – Carlisle, Old Fire Station
29th – Dumfries, CatStrand
30th – Irvine, Harbour Art Centre
December
1st – Newcastle, Cluny 2