Greetings From Shitsville!
The (almost!) Complete Wildhearts Story
(A lot of the info on this page has been sheeped from the hallowed pages of
Kerrang!, but it's a bit of free advertising, huh guys?)
The frontman, Ginger, started off in a quite well-known band called
The Quireboys, got kicked out of that, and joined a glam-rock band called
The Throbs. That lasted two weeks. He came back to London after that,
and formed......... The Wildhearts!
The first formation was Ginger (vocals, Guitar), Stidi (Drums),
CJ (Guitar, Backing Vocals) and no bassist. They played stuff like
'Shame on me' in London. Danny McCormack, the present Bassist, then 16,
joined a Thrash Metal band named Energetic Krusher (one album was released,
called Pathway to Oblivion). He was too young to join The Wildhearts,
but he would have liked to.
Three years later, when Danny was 19, Ginger invited him to an audition.
It took five minutes for Danny to believe Ginger, and a day to get the
position! One of Danny's first gigs was at the London Astoria, where Kerrang
reviewed the Wildhearts as ' just about the most exciting unsigned Rock 'n'
Roll band in the UK right now! '
In April, 1992, The Wildhearts debut EP, 'Mondo Akimbo A-Go-Go' was released.
It was recorded twice. The first time, nobody liked it because of dodgy
production, so they remixed it with Pantera producer Terry Date in Seattle.
The remixed mini-album was re-released with four more songs, with the title
' Don't Be Happy.. Just Worry'.
The Wildhearts supported Love/Hate for a bit, and then supported Izzy
Stradlin (Formerly of Guns n' Roses) and the Ju-Ju Hounds. They lasted one
30 minute set in Nottingham before getting kicked off the tour!
At London's Bull & Gate, Ginger said that Izzy would be sick of the sight of
them the next year.
The first Wildhearts LP was recorded in seven days as demos! It was released
on August 31st, 1993. Stidi was replaced at the stool by Ritch Battersby.
He made his debut on the single 'Caffine Bomb' (A fine song) in Febuary '94.
It reached no. 31 in the charts, and they were on 'Top Of The Pops'. Not much
was released then, until P.H.U.Q, but they did some amazing gigs. At the '94
Reading festival, during the Wildhearts set, Danny dislocated his knee on
stage, and he just carried on playing! It just shows his dedication to the
band. His knee has plagued him for months now. It popped out on their recent
tour, and he still carried on playing! What a guy!
'94 also saw the sudden departure of CJ, and the subsequential search for
new Guitarists.
At the end of '94 the Monstrous 'Fishing for Luckies' was released, but it
was only available through the fan club.
'95 saw the release of P.H.U.Q, their second album proper. They started
looking for guitarists. They went through a lot of guitarists, before finally
settling on Mark Keds, formerly vocalist/Guitarist in Sensless Things.
Everything was hunky-dory, until Mark went A.W.O.L to Japan, so The Wildhearts
decided to find someone reliable.
They advertised in Kerrang!, and got swamped with tapes from hundreds of
hopefuls. They finally picked Jef Streatfield, an unknown from Bournmouth.
They then decided to split up. Cue lots of sobbing. They kicked off a UK tour,
which was nothing short of spectacular. It was to be their last, and best.
They have now parted ways with record company East/West, and created their own
record label, named 'Round Records'. When asked why the label had that particular
name, Ginger helpfully replied "Because they are". They decided not to split up,
and released 'Fishing for Luckies', removing four songs, and adding eight (only on vinyl version). Their
recent tour was nothing short of remarkable, kicking off with a show at the Leeds
Town and Country club as part of Radio One's Sound City week. They have said that
a new album may be in the pipeline for the end of the year. Life is looking good.