| Darren Brown | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Darren Mark Brown |
| Born | 18 January 1962 Hampshire, England |
| Origin | Farnborough, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 6 December 2006 (aged 44) Tooting, South London, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, Punk rock |
| Occupations | Musician, Songwriter, Vocalist |
| Instruments | Guitar, Vocals |
| Years active | 1987–2006 |
| Website | http://www.spiny.co.uk/megacityfour/ |
Darren Mark Brown (18 January 1962[1] - 6 December 2006), known as Wiz, was lead-singer and guitarist of English indie punk band Mega City Four in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and later bands Serpico and Ipanema from 2002 to 2006.
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Mega City Four consisted of guitarist/vocalist Wiz, his brother and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Danny Brown, bassist/vocalist Gerry Bryant and drummer Chris Jones.
The group were noted for their hard-working ethics and extensive touring ethos. They performed some gigs around their local town of Farnborough before making their vinyl debut in September 1987 with “Miles Apart”/“Running In Darkness”. The single led to a round of gigs with bands like Senseless Things and Snuff.
“Miles Apart” and “Running In Darkness” were reissued (separately) in 1988 on independent label Decoy Records, along with the more melodic “Distant Relatives”, though it was 1989’s “Less Than Senseless” that made the critics sit up. A healthy following latched on to these, supported the band's 1989 debut album Tranzophobia.
The band continued to tour extensively around the UK, across Europe and over to North America, working with bands including Les Thugs, Midway Still, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Doughboys, amongst many others. The band's second studio album, Who Cares Wins (1990), was followed by a compilation of their early 7" singles, called Terribly Sorry Bob (1991). The band subsequently moved to a major record label, Big Life Records, to record two further studio albums, Sebastopol Rd. (1992) and Magic Bullets (1994). After falling out with their record label, they moved to Fire Records to record their final studio album, Soulscraper (1996). In addition to their studio albums, the band also released a live LP, a Peel Sessions disc, and an impressive number of singles.
Wiz had already played with Ned's Atomic Dustbin in 1995, filling-in for original guitarist Rat for a tour and promo events in the United States of America. Mega City Four had been together for over a decade when they broke up in early 1996. Wiz moved to Montreal and joined Canadian alternative rock band Doughboys, replacing guitarist Jonathan Cummins for the remainder of the band's then tour. He co-wrote two songs each on their albums, Turn Me On (1996) and Crush (1993), including "Shine".
Wiz and Gerry Bryant continued playing together for a short time in Serpico after the demise of Mega City Four. The band existed between 1999 and 2002, although Gerry left in 1999 to be replaced by Simon. In 2000, Serpico released the mini-album "Everyone Versus Everyone" and supported The Wonder Stuff at a gig at The Forum, Kentish Town.
After Serpico, Wiz went on to form Ipanema with the remaining members of Serpico (Simon & Paddy) who, after several line-up changes, were playing and recording until his death. In 2003 the band recorded their double a-side single, Je Suis Un Baseballbat/Skull. After the single was released, the band recorded and released 2 albums, Me Me Me in 2005, and their self-titled Ipanema in 2008, which contained all of the songs the band had recorded plus 9 unreleased songs.
Having just returned from a tour of the United States, Wiz collapsed at a band rehearsal. It was announced on 7 December 2006 that Wiz had died at St. George's Hospital, Tooting, South London from a blood clot on the brain on 6 December 2006.[2]