The Wonder Stuff - Curious, Weird And Ugly Songs (2004)

The Wonder Stuff were formed in 1986 by Miles Hunt (whose uncle Bill Hunt was keyboard player with ELO and Wizzard) on vocals and guitar, Malcolm Treece on guitar and vocals, bassist Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones, and Martin Gilks on drums, and grew from Hunt and Treece's collaboration with future members of Pop Will Eat Itself in a band called From Eden, that featured Hunt on drums. They reportedly took their name from a remark made about a very young Hunt by John Lennon, and six months after forming they recorded a self-financed debut EP, 'A Wonderful Day'. After finding management with Birmingham promoter Les Johnson, and signing with Polydor Records for £80,000 in 1987, the group released a series of singles including 'Unbearable', 'Give Give Give, Me More More More', 'A Wish Away' and 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby', which was their first Top 40 entry. All of these songs featured on their debut album 'The Eight Legged Groove Machine', which was released in August 1988, and it broke into the UK Top Twenty. A non-album single, 'Who Wants To Be The Disco King?' was released in March 1989 and was followed by UK, European, and United States tours and appearances at the Reading and Glastonbury festivals. Melody Maker hailed 'The Eight Legged Groove Machine' as one of their albums of the year for 1988, judging it, "A rollicking debut from the only band with enough wit, energy, charisma and acumen to cross over from loutish grebo into raffish pop". In September 1989 'Don't Let Me Down, Gently' became the group's first Top-20 hit, heralding the release of second album, 'Hup', in October, which reached No. 5 in the UK albums chart. 

This record saw the introduction of new band member, Martin Bell, a multi-instrumentalist who contributed violin and banjo, most notably on 'Golden Green' and its b-side 'Get Together', 'Unfaithful' and 'Cartoon Boyfriend'. Another non-album single was released shortly afterwards, with 'Circlesquare' appearing just before Paul Clifford replaced Jones on bass in the Spring of 1990. The rest of the year was very quiet, with no new music appearing until 'The Size Of A Cow' was issued as a taster for new album 'Never Loved Elvis' in March 1991, becoming the band's first UK top ten single, and the album duly followed in May. Just after the third single from the album, 'Sleep Alone', was released in September, the group scored a commercial success when they covered Tommy Roe's 'Dizzy' with comedian Vic Reeves, and this stayed at the top of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in November 1991. The band carried on touring into 1992, releasing the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP in February, as a 'soundtrack; to their video rockumentary of the same name which was released that Spring after eighteen months of filming on the road with the band. After previewing new material at a few European summer festivals, 'On The Ropes' was released as a single in September 1993, followed by the album, 'Construction For The Modern Idiot', and they closed the year with another single 'Full Of Life (Happy Now)' just before Christmas. 

The band toured Europe before going to the United States in February 1994, and then returned for the UK leg in March, but a planned tour of the Far East and Australia in May was cancelled with no explanation, although by June a split was announced in a fanclub newsletter. The Wonder Stuff performed the final contracted show on 15 July 1994 as headliners at the Phoenix Festival near Stratford-on-Avon in front of an audience of 30,000, and to commemorate the group an 18-song compilation 'If The Beatles Had Read Hunter...The Singles' was released, and reached No. 8 in the UK album chart. Hunt went on to be involved in several projects, hosting MTV Europe's '120 Minutes' show, ansd then putting together another band, Vent 414, with ex-Senseless Things bassist Morgan Nicholls and drummer Peter Howard. They released a self-titled debut album in October 1996, but were soon dropped by Polydor prior to the release of a second record. Hunt also to toured as a solo artist, and released four albums, but in December 2000 Hunt, Treece, Gilks, Bell and Whittaker, together with new bassist Stuart Quinell, reformed for a one-off concert at London's Forum, with this soon becoming five sold-out nights, preceded by two nights of shows at JB's in Dudley. More live performances continued into 2001 with the release of a live album 'Cursed With Insincerity' in June, but in early 2004, Hunt was informed that Gilks and Bell would no longer work with him, and thus The Wonder Stuff (in the eyes of Gilks and Bell) were defunct. As a result, Quinell and Whittaker were informed the band had split, and Hunt began work on a new record with Mark McCarthy (ex-Radical Dance Faction) and Luke Johnson, who was the son of one-time Wonder Stuff manager, Les Johnson. 

Sessions for this new solo record were later joined by Malc Treece, and the result was The Wonder Stuff's first new album for over a decade, with 'Escape From Rubbish Island' coming out in September 2004, with 'Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight' and the title track becoming singles. This line-up continued into 2006 for the release of their new album 'Suspended By Stars' in March, and for the single 'Blah Blah La Di Dah' to be made available as a download. In April 2006, original Wonder Stuff drummer Martin Gilks was killed in a motorcycle accident in London, and an album of 'We Know Where You Live's demo recordings and live tracks was released in December, with all profits being donated to a charitable concern at the request of Gilk's parents. After playing a few UK outdoor shows the band went on hiatus due to Treece starting a family. They got back together in 2008, and have continuted to tour and release new records, as well as complete re-recordings of their first three albums, and despite a number of line-up changes they are still going strong. As a reminder of how good they were during the first fifteen years of their classic line-up, here is a collection of all their non-album tracks, from that early self-financed EP through to the first reformation in 2004. 

  
Track listing

Disc I - 1987-1988
01 It's Not True... (from the 'A Wonderful Day' EP 1987)
02 A Wonderful Day (from the 'A Wonderful Day' EP 1987)
03 Down Here (from the 'A Wonderful Day' EP 1987)
04 Ten Trenches Deep (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
05 Inside You (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
06 Hit By A Car (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
07 I Am A Monster (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
08 Frank (b-side of 'Unbearable' 1987)
09 A Song Without An End (b-side of 'Give Give Give Me More More More' 1988)
10 Meaner Than Mean (b-side of 'Give Give Give Me More More More' 1988)
11 Sell The World Free (b-side of 'Give Give Give Me More More More' 1988)
12 Astley In The Noose (b-side of 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' 1988)
13 Ooh, She Said (b-side of 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' 1988)
14 Rave From The Grave (b-side of 'It's Yer Money I'm After Baby' 1988)

Disc II - 1988-1992
01 Jealousy (b-side of 'A Wish Away' 1988)
02 Happy Sad (b-side of 'A Wish Away' 1988)
03 Goodbye Fatman (b-side of 'A Wish Away' 1988)
04 Who Wants To Be The Disco King? (single 1989)
05 It Was Me (b-side of 'Don't Let Me Down, Gently' 1989)
06 Get Together (b-side of 'Golden Green' 1989)
07 Gimme Some Truth (b-side of 'Golden Green' 1989)
08 Our New Song (b-side of 'Piece Of Sky' 1990)
09 Can't Shape Up, Again (b-side of 'Piece Of Sky' 1990)
10 Circlesquare (single 1990)
11 El Hermano De Frank (b-side of 'Sleep Alone' 1991)
12 The Takin' Is Easy (b-side of 'Sleep Alone' 1991)
13 Dizzy (single with Vic Reeves 1991)
14 Me, My Mom, My Dad And My Brother (from the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP 1992)
15 Will The Circle Be Unbroken (from the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP 1992)
16 That's Entertainment (from the 'Welcome To The Cheap Seats' EP 1992)

Disc III - 1992-2004
01 Coz I Luv You (from the 'Ruby Trax' compilation 1992)

02 Professional Disturber Of The Peace (from the 'On The Ropes' EP 1993)
03 Hank And John (from the 'On The Ropes' EP 1993)
04 Whites (from the 'On The Ropes' EP 1993)
05 Burger Standing (from the 'Full Of Life (Happy Now) EP 1993)
06 A Curious, Weird And Ugly Scene (from the 'Full Of Life (Happy Now) EP 1993)
07 Closer To Fine (from the 'Full Of Life (Happy Now) EP 1993)
08 Just Helicopters (from the 'Hot Love Now!' EP 1994)
09 I Think I Must've Had Something Really Useful To Say (from the 'Hot Love Now!' EP 1994)
10 Room 512, All The News That's Fit To Print (from the 'Hot Love Now!' EP 1994)
11 Sing The Song (from the 'Limited Edition 5 Track EP' 2001)
12 Ooh, Ooh, Aah, Aah (from the 'Limited Edition 5 Track EP' 2001)
13 Apple Of My Eye (b-side of 'Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight' 2004)
14 Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart (b-side of 'Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight' 2004)