Lol - guitar
Chris - bass
Alan - drums
Thanks to ex-drummer Alan Harris for his input.
|
| Simon - vocals, guitar Lol - guitar Chris - bass Alan - drums |
| In the period 1989-92, pop kids everywhere were bouncing around to thrashy punky pop produced by the likes of Carter USM, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Mega City 4, Snuff and the Senseless Things, to name but a few. The emergence of these bands came at a time when the live music scene had stagnated and venues were under threat. Who wanted to see live guitar bands anyway, when this was the era of warehouse raves? Happily, bands such as these brought a blast of fresh air that revitalised the live scene and made gigs fun again. They provided an alternative to the flared-trousered brigade and later, the 'Shoegazing' bands that were briefly in vogue. Sales of band t-shirts enjoyed a boom, and specific tour shirts, usually produced in limited editions, became desirable objects. Groups could wear comedy shorts on stage and it seemed perfectly normal behaviour. The Ludicrous Lollipops operated in the same orbit. |
| The Lollies were formed by a group of student friends in Coventry, where they were contemporaries of Adorable (later to be signed by Creation Records). Having released a self-financed single on their own label, they came to the attention of Damaged Goods, with whom they recorded three subsequent singles. |
| Gaining a fan in Radio One's Steve Lamacq, they backed up the exposure on the airwaves by almost constant touring. Gig-goers were handed out lollies (what else?), which became a trademark of the band. Those who attended the Lollies performances may also remember the band members slowly spinning around on the spot during the middle eight waltz of 'Mindgames', Simon playing the New Order-ish mouth keyboard thing on 'Godiva', or the group's 100mph romp through 'Coward of the County'. |
| Sadly, the Lollies split before recording an album. A subsequent mailout stated that some of the members had decided to continue under the name 'Mr Toad' (keeping with the tradition of terrible names). But then it all went horribly quiet. I'm sure they still owe me a couple of stamps that I sent them for future mailouts too... |
| Simon went on to tour-manage Adorable. Thanks to ex-drummer Alan Harris for his input. |
| You can still buy the Ludicrous Lollipops singles from Damaged Goods. |
