A while back I signed up to British Sea Power's periodic e-mail newsletter, 
which is worthwhile just for the deliberately purple prose and hilarious 
content.  Then did a tribute to the member of Mud who recently passed away:

"Shakin’ Stevens’s guileless rock’n’roll puritanism can’t help but take us 
to the equally artless glam rock
of Mud, whose singer Les Gray has just died.

Mud laid waste to 1970s UK chartland with the likes of Tiger Feet. This was 
a
different era, when pop stars hadn’t been to school let alone stage school. 
They
were siphoned directly onto the three-shows-a-night club circuit from a 
previous
career as child-labourers in sunless blacking factories. The almost 
inevitable
rickets helped these showbiz beginners acquire potent novelty dance steps. 
It
was a milieu of bracing simplicity in all respects. As Les said in 1994 in
explanation of his band’s name:

“I don’t know why we called ourselves Mud, but I know we wanted a short name
like The Who as it would look good on posters. If you’re on at festivals 
with a
lot of acts, you want big lettering. You don’t stand a chance if you’re 
called
The Incredible String Band.”

Presumably no one explained this to Smokey Robinson And The Miracles or
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, or indeed British Sea Power. What chance 
our
boys? Not only do they suffer from far too many syllables, but now they are
working with a band called The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa. What hope for this
pairing at the summer festival season?"

Speaking of BSP, the band put on a nice show last night -- their songs 
aren't always consistent, but they play so well together and the last 20 
minutes of the show they blew the roof off the place.

Mike Bennett


Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com

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