| Screaming Dead | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Cheltenham, England |
| Genres | Punk rock, horror punk, Deathrock, Gothic rock, Post-punk |
| Years active | 1980–1985, 1997–1999 |
| Labels | Skull Records, No Future Records, Angel |
| Associated acts | Inkubus Sukkubus |
| Past members | |
| Tony McCormack Hugh Fairlie Sam Bignall Mal Page Mark Ogilvie Nick Upton |
|
Screaming Dead were a punk band from Cheltenham formed in 1980, who have often been characterized as "horror punk". They released several singles and e.p.'s with indie chart success, before splitting up in 1985. They reformed in 1997 and disbanded again in 1999.
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The band was formed by guitarist Tony McCormack (later styling himself McKormack), who recruited former singer with The Waste, Simon ("Sam") Bignall, bass guitarist Mal Page, and drummer Hugh Fairlie. Fairlie emigrated to Australia in the early 1980's and was replaced by Mark Ogilvie. The band built up a strong local following which spread further afield with coverage in fanzines such as Rising Free and sales of their demo tape. They followed their first tape with a more formal release, the Children of the Boneyard Stones cassette, which came with a badge and a copy of the band's own fanzine, Warcry.[1] They then self-financed their debut vinyl release, the "Valley of the Dead" single, initially released on their own Skull Records label, but when it sold out its first pressing within a week it was picked up by No Future records. The band's next release, the "Night Creatures" 12-inch single, saw them break into the UK Indie Chart, reaching number 22 in September 1983.[2] While the band were at times tagged as Goths, the label was rejected by Bignall, who stated "Screaming Dead were a punk rock band, there's no doubt about that! We had a bit of an interest in the horror theme, and that was how we decided to present ourselves."[1] For their next release, the band recorded a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" which was also an indie hit, and was recorded as a tribute of sorts to Brian Jones who is buried in their hometown of Cheltenham.[1] In 1984, taking inspiration from X-Ray Spex, the band recruited saxophonist Nick Upton, the band also signing to Nine Mile Records, who issued their last two releases on the Angel label.[1] The change in sound lost a lot of fans, and with interest in punk rock declining, the band split up in 1985.
McKormack formed pagan gothic rock band Incubus Succubus with his wife Candia Ridley, and in 1997 formed a new version of Screaming Dead, without Ogilvie or Upton, touring Germany twice and recording the album Death Rides Out, before they disbanded again in 1999.[1]
Chart placings from the UK Indie Chart[2]