Ned's Atomic Dustbin
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| Ned's Atomic Dustbin | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Stourbridge |
| Country | England |
| Years active | 1987-current |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Labels | spitfirepink |
| Members | Jonn Penney (vocals) Alex Griffin (bass/ vocals) Dan Warton (drums) Andy King (bass) 2000- Martin Warlow (guitar) 2000- |
| Past members | Rat (guitar) 1987-94 Matt Cheslin (bass) 1987-95 Wiz (guitar) 1995 tour Floyd (guitar) 1995 tour Tracy (vocals) 1988-89 |
| Website(s) | www.nedsatomicdustbin.com |
Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English Grebo rock band formed in Stourbridge in West Midlands in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show. The band were noted for an extremely unusual two bass player line up. Bass player Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Matt played the regular basslines on the other. This gave the band a tense and highly driven sub-hardcore sound with distorted indie guitars and complicated Baggy drum beats.
The band were noted for their youth. Formed while at sixth form college, they recorded their first album while still teenagers. This led to a strong teenage fanbase with a reputation for enjoying stage diving and moshing at their gigs. The band were also noted (and sometimes ridiculed) for their early image which consisted of uniformly crimped hair, short trousers and t shirts. The Neds (as their fans referred to them) were well known for their T shirts and produced over 80 different designs within three years. Towards the end they also branched out into shorts, hats and other merchandise items.
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[edit] History
Ned's Atomic Dustbin quickly gathered a strong fanbase after being noticed by local superstars The Wonder Stuff and offered a support slot on a UK tour. A top 50 hit "Kill Your Television" followed. They recorded their debut album Godfodder shortly afterwards and had top ten hits with "Until You Find Out" and "Happy" in 1991. Several years of hard working touring followed, playing with, amongst others Mega City Four, Senseless Things and Jesus Jones. During this period they recorded their second album Are You Normal in 1992, which was promoted by the singles "Not Sleeping Around" and "Intact".
The band spent the next few years on a worldwide tour before recording their final album Brainbloodvolume. The album had a more adult sound than before (because they were, after all, no longer teenagers), together with a more diverse sound including samplers and keyboards. Their record label released the album in America before the UK, so most fans bought in on import leading to a poor UK chart position when it was eventually released leading to tensions within the band and with the label. The poor chart showing may have also been to do with a changed music scene now fully in the swing of Britpop. The band had one last UK top 40 single with "All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together" in 1995 following an appearance on The Word. The band split in 1995. Singer Jonn Penney formed a new band, Groundswell who had little success.
Ned's Atomic Dustbin reformed with a different line up in 2000, for a show in Dudley. The show was a success and the band have done a Christmas show every year since then, including a four date tour in 2004 where the band performed several new songs. In 2005 they again played a few late-December gigs, and on June 5, 2006, their first new single in 11 years, "Hibernation", was released, it was supported with a weekend concert series being called "Ned-Fest". The Single was not available at regular retailers. It was an online-only single, available as both an online CD purchase as well as downloadable.
"Hibernation" sales far surpassed expectation and the single has been a very worthwhile and exciting exercise for the band.
The video game NCAA Football 2006 for Playstation 2 and Xbox features the song "Kill Your Television". Their song "Grey Cell Green" is featured in the video game Saints Row for the Xbox 360 platform, on "The Rock" radio station. The song "Saturday Night" featured in the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer.
The band is currently in rehearsals and in the studio working on more new material.
[edit] Members - Classic line up 1989-1995
- Jonn Penney - Vocals
- Rat - Guitarist
- Matt Cheslin - Bass
- Alex Griffin - Bass
- Dan Warton - Drums
[edit] Discography
Furtive was the band's own label distributed under Sony, which allowed the band to retain a level of independence and control (although which subsidiary of Sony distributed each release depended on which one and where it was bought. In the UK it was Sony Soho Square, Japan Epic, and in the US they were shifted about - first Columbia, then Chaos, then Work.)
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | Label | Other information | |
| 1990 | Bite | Chapter 22 | Collection of the first two singles plus two other tracks | |
| 1991 | God Fodder | Furtive | Debut album | |
| 1992 | And Besides... | Furtive | Japanese only b-side collection | |
| 1992 | Are You Normal? | Furtive | Ned's 2nd studio Album | |
| 1994 | 0.522 | Furtive | B-side collection | |
| 1995 | Brainbloodvolume | Furtive | Ned's last studio album | |
| 1998 | Intact | Sony | Compilation | |
| 2001 | One More, No More | Gig | Live, June 29, 2000 | |
| 2003 | Terminally Groovy | Castle | "Best of" compilation | |
| 2004 | Session | Shakedown | Re-recordings, Live |
[edit] Singles and EP's
| Year | Title | Label | Other information |
| 1990 | The Ingredients ep | Chapter 22 | First release |
| 1990 | Kill Your Television | Chapter 22 | |
| 1990 | Until You Find Out | Chapter 22 | |
| 1991 | Happy | Furtive | First release on Sony |
| 1991 | Trust | Furtive | EP |
| 1991 | Grey Cell Green | Furtive | US Release |
| 1992 | Kill Your Television | Furtive | US Release |
| 1992 | Not Sleeping Around | Furtive | |
| 1992 | Intact | Furtive | |
| 1993 | Walking Through Syrup | Furtive | European/Australian Release |
| 1993 | Saturday Night | Columbia | Cover of the Bay City Rollers track |
| 1995 | All I Ask Of Myself Is That i Hold Together | Furtive | |
| 1995 | Stuck | Furtive | |
| 2006 | Hibernation | spitfirepink |
[edit] Video and DVD
| Year | Title | Label | Other information |
| 1991 | Nothing Is Cool | SMV Entertainment | Live and on tour footage |
| 1993 | Lunatic Magnets | SMV Entertainment | Mock interview and music videos |
| 2003 | Shoot The Neds! in concert | Secret | Live, June 1, 2002 |
