| Poisoned Electrick Head | |
|---|---|
| Origin | St Helens, Merseyside |
| Genres | Psychedelic rock Space rock New Wave Post Punk Indie rock |
| Years active | 1986 - 1998 2009 - present |
| Labels | Dead Fly Records, Probe Plus, Abstract Sounds, Voiceprint Records |
| Associated acts | Hawkwind, Cardiacs, Gong, Senser, Back to the Planet, Arthur Brown |
| Website | http://www.poisonedelectrickhead.com |
| Members | |
| Emerald Greenshade Jefferson Jesu Devil Victor Davros Vibeskin Moose Mother Captain O’Ship |
|
| Past members | |
| Katmandu Tjunca B Low Professor Bubblekeys Phil ZaPeep |
|
Poisoned Electrick Head (PEH) is an English psychedelic indie rock/punk band formed in 1986 in St Helens, Merseyside, England.[1] The band is best known for the 1994 independent chart hit "Out of Order" and for its fantasy-costumed stage act. Poisoned Electrick Head split up in 1998 and formally reformed in 2009. The band's name is taken from the final words sung by Vivian Stanshall in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band track, "My Pink Half of the Drainpipe".
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The Poisoned Electrick Head sound could be described as a combination of space rock and angular post-punk, with heavy, distorted guitars and analog synthesizers providing an idiosyncratic backing to the two lead vocalists' unconventional scattergun delivery. An early review in the popular music magazine NME described them as sounding like "UK Subs playing early Genesis".[2] and the band drew frequent comparisons to Hawkwind, Devo and Cardiacs. Many Poisoned Electrick Head tracks also experimented with ambient electronic passages, dropped-in samples and dub techniques.
Poisoned Electrick Head formed when seven musicians in the St Helens area opted to join forces. From the start, the band displayed a theatrical flair, with each member operating under a pseudonym - singers Peter "Emerald Greenshade" Atherton and Andy "Katmandu" Ford, rhythm guitarist Billy "Jefferson Jesu(s) Devil" Jones, lead guitarist Phil "Philippe ZaPeep" Nicol, keyboard player Brian "Professor Bubblekeys" Carney, bass guitarist Paul "Tjunca B Low" Bunyan and drummer Bill "Victor Davros Vibeskin" Jennion.
The band members had previously played together in different permutations since the late 1970s. Atherton, Jennion and Nicol had been in a punk band called Subversion in 1979, and both Jennion and Atherton had been part of The Aristocrats (along with Jones and Ford) in 1982. Carney and Bunyan - along with another pseudonymous musician, "Flimb" (drums) and Doug Eglin (vocal/guitar) - had worked together as the Academy Of Unrest (who released the Sheol Hex/Rise of Doubt/Hope 12" EP in 1986 and the track 'Sensitive' on compilation album 'Elegance, Charm and Deadly Danger').[2][3] By 1985, Jones, Atherton and Jennion were in a band called Moon, to which they recruited Bunyan, initially as keyboard player - he would subsequently move to bass guitar on the arrival of Carney. Nicol was the next addition to the band, in early 1986: later in the same year Ford was recruited (initially as a proposed replacement for Greenshade, but subsequently as his singing partner).[4] An unofficial eighth member, Brian Carney's brother Alan (also known as "Burt Sliders"), served as sound man and sound designer.
The band's first release was the 1986 cassette-only mini-album Drink Me, followed three years later by the "Trickeroo/Cap of Flies" single. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Poisoned Electrick Head built up a fiercely devoted live following in their hometown and in other parts of the UK. By the start of the 1990s, the band had taken their onstage theatricality a step further, with the singers dressing in boiler-suits and wearing latex "death masks" and other bizarre stage costumes while the remaining band members wore ornate H. R. Giger-esque "alien domeheads" and robes. The band's album sleeves were adorned with similarly Giger-esque artwork, designed (as were the costumes) by Phil Nicol.
Behind the scenes, Poisoned Electrick Head continued to be self-producing and self-releasing, putting out many of their releases on their own Dead Fly label while licensing others to various independent labels. The band played numerous tours, concerts, festivals and underground gatherings including the Stonehenge Free Festival, Glastonbury Festival and the legendary Castlemorton Common Festival of 1992.[5] Poisoned Electrick Head also played with numerous underground bands and artists of the time including Hawkwind, Cardiacs, Gong, Senser, Back to the Planet and Arthur Brown. In 1991, the band contributed a song (their popular live favourite Snobs) to the Delerium Records compilation album A Psychedelic Psauna (In Four Parts).
In 1992, the band licensed their first full-length album, Poisoned Electrick Head to the independent label Probe Plus Records. This was followed later in the same year by another cassette album, Unmistakeably Rainbow Trout, released on Dead Fly. Two years after that, the band licensed and released a second full-release album The Big Eye Am on another independent label, Abstract Sounds. The tracks on the record included "Out of Order" which was released as a single: this became an independent chart hit, accompanied by a video made by the band themselves.
By 1997 the band had around 800 gigs to their credit, but eleven years of hard underground gigging had taken its toll and the band was beginning to fracture. Ford had left the band during the 1996 recording sessions for their third album, The Hanged Man, leaving Atherton as sole lead vocalist (with occasional backup from Brian Carney). Around this time the band also dispensed with their stage costumes, as it was considered that these were holding the band back. The Hanged Man was released on the Blueprint label (a subdivision of Voiceprint) but during the promotional tour Bunyan also departed. The band continued to play live, using taped basslines, and subsequently went through a period with greater vocal input from Carney, a harder and more metallic sound and the inclusion of rapping. In 1998, Carney also left the band and Poisoned Electrick Head was put on hold for a decade.
In the mid-2000s (decade), the remaining four members - Jones, Atherton, Nicol and Jennion - regrouped with Alan Carney under the "PEH" name to record new music. Although the band was briefly referred to as "Purified Electrick Heart", they reverted back to their original name when they played at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool in the summer of 2009, a concert which also saw the band returning to wearing stage costumes (although different ones from those worn in the 1990s). The band played at the same event in 2010 with a lineup of Jones, Atherton and Jennion (assisted by Alan Carney), joined by a previously unmentioned member called "Bigshed George" and two guest performers - Nik Turner (of Hawkwind) and Arthur Brown as event narrator. By this point, Nicol had left the band.
In 2011, Poisoned Electrick Head played the Rebellion Festival again, unveiling a new album called Where the Power Is (which apparently featured guest contributions from Arthur Brown and Brian Carney) and subsequently joined the Wreck'n'Roll Circus tour. A forum posting from Poisoned Electrick Head on the Ozric Tentacles discussion forum on March 6, 2011 listed the current band as Atherton, Jones and Jennion (under their usual pseudonyms) with new recruits "Captain O’Ship" (keyboards, backing vocals, samples) and "Moose Mother" (bass guitar).[6]
Various former band members are now active with other projects. Brian Carney is now based in Belgium and performs as a solo act called Briandroid: in 2010, he published an autobiography called "Take Your Protein Pills: The Poisoned Electrick Head Story" which detailed his life with the band. Andy Ford is working with a new band called Green Forest. Paul Bunyan now teaches music technology but also occasionally plays bass and has a project called Bunfly. Phil Nicol now works as a tattooist in Wallasey.[4]
Several dozen bootleg live performances also remain in circulation.