Terrorvision were formed in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England in 1987, and after abandoning the name Spoilt Bratz in 1991, Terrorvision (named after a cult B-movie) formed around vocalist Tony Wright, guitarist Mark Yates, bass player Leigh Marklew, and drummer Shutty. A single demo tape was enough to convince EMI Records to offer them not only a deal, but their own imprint, Total Vegas. Their first release on the label was the 'Thrive' EP in 1992, swiftly followed by the 'Formaldehyde' album later that year. Although showing their obvious Heavy Metal influences, there was a sense of humour and pop leaning which could not be hidden, particularly in their breakthrough single 'My House'. It was those pop quirks which informed their breakthrough second album 'How To Make Friends And Influence People' in 1994, which was a collection of exuberant pop-metal classics, featuring the single 'Oblivion', which showed off their trademark mix of disenfranchised lyrics coupled with enormously catchy tunes. The singles released from the album all charted well, propelling the decidedly unfashionable Terrorvision firmly into the mainstream. By the time their third record, 'Regular Urban Survivors', was released in 1996, Briptop was firmly established in the mainstream, but perhaps surprisingly Terrorvision thrived, with their 'Perseverance' single charting at number five, and the band even got in a few digs in at the Briptop elite, with 'Superchronic' taking a decidedly humourous swipe at Oasis.
Following the critical and chart success of 'Regular Urban Survivors', hope were high for the next record, but 1998's 'Shaving Peaches' was a curiously restrained record, which in hindsight sounds like an ill-founded attempt to gain a mainstream audience, which in truth they probably already had. Despite the album selling poorly, it ironically spawned their biggest hit in 'Tequila', although admittedly it was a Mint Royale remix of the track which reached number 2 in the UK charts. Possibly due to the poor sales of 'Shaving Peaches', Terrorvision were dropped from EMI, and after a two year break they finally returned in 2001 with the independently released 'Good To Go' on Papillion Records. Probably knowing it would be their final record, it is very much a return to 'classic' Terrorvision, and while the record lacks some of their prime period sparkle, the choruses are undeniably huge and the album brims with the band's trademark good time party vibes. Terrorvision played their 'final' gig in October 2001, in their hometown of Bradford, and the riotous celebration of all things Terrorvision was eventually released as a double live album, 'Take The Money And Run', after which the band called it a day. While they have never returned to music full-time, Terrorvision have reformed numerous times since their initial split, and in 2011 Wright announced that they band would be releasing a new album, 'Super Delux'. They remained elusive in the following years, emerging in 2016 for a U.K. tour alongside Thunder, and another in 2017 alongside Reef and the Wildhearts, but they finally returned to the studio in the early 2020's, resulting in their seventh studio album, 2024's 'We Are Not Robots'. This post looks back at their classic period between 1992 ans 2001, and all the non-album tracks that they tucked away on the b-sides of their singles, including some well-chosen covers, from artists as diverse as Free, Cheap Trick, Iggy Pop, Kraftwerk and 70's teeny-boppers Slik.
Track listing
Disc I - 1992-1994
01 Blackbird (from the 'Thrive' EP 1992)
02 Coming Up (b-side of 'My House' 1992)
03 Psycho Killer (b-side of 'American T.V.' 1993)
04 We Are The Roadcrew (b-side of 'Problem Solved' 1993)
05 Corpse Fly (b-side of 'Problem Solved' 1993)
06 Sailing Home (b-side of 'Problem Solved' 1993)
07 I'll Be Your Sister (b-side of 'Middleman' 1994)
08 Wishing Well (b-side of 'Middleman' 1994)
09 The Passenger (b-side of 'Middleman' 1994)
10 Surrender (b-side of 'Middleman' 1994)
11 What Do You Do That For? (b-side of 'Oblivion' 1994)
12 The Model (b-side of 'Oblivion' 1994)
13 Remember Zelda (b-side of 'Oblivion' 1994)
Disc II - 1994-1996
01 What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor (b-side of 'Alice What's The Matter?' 1994)
02 Suffocation (b-side of 'Alice What's The Matter?' 1994)
03 Blood On My Wheels (b-side of 'Some People Say' 1995)
04 This Drinking Will Kill Me (b-side of 'Some People Say' 1995)
05 Mr. Buskerman (b-side of 'Some People Say' 1995)
06 Wake Up (b-side of 'Perseverance' 1996)
07 What Goes Around Comes Around (b-side of 'Perseverance' 1996)
08 Sick And Tired (b-side of 'Perseverance' 1996)
09 Hard To Feel (b-side of 'Perseverance' 1996)
10 You Really Got A Hold On Me (b-side of 'Celebrity Hit List' 1996)
11 Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt (Remix) (b-side of 'Celebrity Hit List' 1996)
12 Don't Come Here (b-side of 'Celebrity Hit List' 1996)
13 Crossed Line On The Grapevine (b-side of 'Celebrity Hit List' 1996)
Disc III - 1996-2001
01 Fobbed Off (b-side of 'Bad Actress' 1996)
02 Too Stoned To Dance (b-side of 'Bad Actress' 1996)
03 Funny Feels Fine (b-side of 'Bad Actress' 1996)
04 Conspiracy (Hexadecimal Dub) (b-side of 'Conspiracy' 1996)
05 Moonage Daydream (from 'Long Live Tibet' charity album 1997)
06 Forever And Ever (from the 'Come Again' compilation album 1997)
07 Reasons To Deceive (b-side of 'Josephine' 1998)
08 Go Jerry (b-side of 'Josephine' 1998)
09 Falling Down (b-side of 'Josephine' 1998)
10 28 Hours (b-side of 'Josephine' 1998)
11 Risk Worth Taking (b-side of 'Tequila (Mint Royale Shot)' 1999)
12 If That's What It Takes (b-side of 'Ill Wishes' 1999)
13 100 Things (b-side of 'Ill Wishes' 1999)
14 It's The CD's Or Me (b-side of 'D'You Wanna Go Faster' 2000)
15 Business As Usual (b-side of 'Fists Of Fury' 2001)
