Splodgenessabounds are an English punk rock band formed in Peckham, London. The band is associated with the Oi! and punk pathetique genres. Their frontman is Max Splodge (born Martin Everest). They have scored three UK singles chart entries, including one Top 10 hit and a second Top 30 hit.

Career

The band was formed over a cab office called Baron Cars in Queens Road, Peckham. The group members are from Orpington.

The band were originally fronted by Max Splodge (formerly drummer in punk bands The Tarts and The Mistakes) and his girlfriend of the time, who was known as Baby Greensleeves. The band won a recording contract with Deram Records after finishing runner-up in the 1979 Battle of the Bands contest, even though Deram was planning to cease all activities in the music markets outside of classical music. The band's first release for Deram in 1980 was "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please". The song consists of a man attempting to order two pints of lager and a packet of crisps from a pub, but he is repeatedly ignored. He becomes increasingly impatient, and time is called before his request is fulfilled.

The group often made humorously grandiose press release claims, such as that their debut album would be a triple, including a side of "old material transcribed from their own cassettes, coupled with their 'Pathetic Movements Manifesto', and including a free Christmas tree with every copy."

Splodge got back into the studio – having lost the rest of his band in 1980 – with help from the Heavy Metal Kids, whose lead singer and guitarist Gary Holton was a friend of Splodge and sometime member of Splodgenessabounds. Their single "Cowpunk Medlum" (a medley of the theme song of the Western film High Noon, a section of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and the TV series Bonanza) reached No. 69 in June 1981, but after this, Deram terminated the band's recording contract.

Studio albums

  • Splodgenessabounds (Deram, Cat no. SML1121) – 1981
  • In Search of the Seven Golden Gussets (Razor Records, Cat no. RAZ1) – 1982 (as Splodge)
  • Nightmare on Rude Street (Receiver) – 1991
  • I Don't Know – 2000
  • The Artful Splodger – 2001
  • Best of Live recorded at Brighton Concorde 2, 15th December 2003 (Secret Records) – 2021

DVDs

  • Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please (Secret Records) – 2005

Band members

Original line-up

  • Max Splodge – Vocals
  • Christine Miller (Chrissie aka Baby Greensleeves) – Backing vocals
  • Desert Island Joe Slythe – Coconuts
  • Miles Flat – Guitar
  • Pat Thetic Noble – Guitar
  • Roger Rodent – Bass guitar
  • Wiffy Archer – Comb and paper
  • Winston Forbes – Keyboards
  • Squint – Windows
  • Keith Boyce – Drums

Later line-ups

On I Don't Know

  • Max Splodge – Vocals, trombone
  • Richard Stone – Guitars
  • Mat Sargent (Chelsea, ex Sham 69) – Bass
  • Min Johnson – Saxophone
  • Harry Monk – Drums

On The Artful Splodger

  • Max Splodge – Vocals, trombone, arranger
  • Darrell Bath (ex Dogs D'Amour) / Würzel (Motörhead) / Garrie Lammin (ex Cock Sparrer) – Guest guitars
  • Micky Fitz (The Business) – Guest vocals
  • Steve Whale – Vocals

See also

  • List of punk bands from the United Kingdom
  • List of 1970s punk rock musicians
  • List of Peel Sessions
  • Timeline of punk rock

References

  • SplodgeWeb
  • BBC – Keeping It Peel – biographical webpage