Darren Belk is an English

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, bassist and guitarist best known for his tenures in the bands Beachbuggy and

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

. Belk was roadie for the bands

Cud Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the phy ...

and The Wedding Present whilst playing guitar and writing songs for his own band Bungalow in the late 1980s/early 1990s. After Bungalow split Belk formed Beachbuggy and assumed the pseudonym Jack Straker. Beachbuggy released a number of self-funded singles showcasing Belk/Straker's obsessions with hot rods and

classic cars A classic car is an older car, typically 25 years or older, though definitions vary.While other languages, such as German and Dutch, may refer to classic cars as "oldtimers", this usage is unknown in English, where "old-timer" refers to an elder ...

. These attained modest success before Belk was asked to join The Wedding Present in 1994 after the departure of band's bass player. Belk played bass on the album '' Watusi'' before switching to guitar after the departure of

Paul Dorrington Paul Dorrington is an English guitarist and bassist best known for his 1991-1995 tenure in The Wedding Present. Dorrington joined Sheffield group AC Temple in 1985,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 193 ...

. Belk's influence then showed on ''

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

'', the band's car-themed mini-album released in 1995 which proved to be his final recording with The Wedding Present. Belk had continued to work sporadically with Beachbuggy during his tenure with The Wedding Present and he now returned to the band with a renewed vigour. They eventually released a US-only CD ''Unsafe.. At Any Speed'' (1998) before signing to UK label

Poptones Poptones was a record label launched by Alan McGee after the demise of Creation Records in 1999. Its roster included The Hives, January, Arnold, Cherrystones, King Biscuit Time, Thee Unstrung, The Boxer Rebellion, Beachbuggy, Pure Reason Re ...

and recording two albums in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States with producer

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

. ''Sport Fury'' (2001) and ''Killer-B'' (2003), along with a string of further singles met with critical acclaim that was not matched by sales and the band's contract with Poptones was allowed to lapse. Beachbuggy continued to play live sporadically but by now Belk had begun to concentrate on new band Walker, which includes former Beachbuggy and Wedding Present bandmate

. After a handful of gigs with a lineup that saw the return of original drummer Jim VeVee, Beachbuggy finally ceased to exist in April 2006. Belk has since concentrated on playing bass and singing with Walker.

Discography: albums

* The Wedding Present: ''Watusi'' (Island, 1994) * The Wedding Present: ''Mini'' (Cooking Vinyl, 1995) * Beachbuggy: ''Unsafe.. At Any Speed'' (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1998) * The Wedding Present: ''John Peel Sessions 1992-1995'' (compilation, Cooking Vinyl 1998) * The Wedding Present: ''Singles 1995-1997'' (compilation, Cooking Vinyl 1999 * Beachbuggy: ''Sport Fury'' (Poptones, 2001) * Beachbuggy: ''Killer-B'' (Poptones, 2003) * The Wedding Present: ''The Complete Peel Sessions 1986-2004'' (6-CD Box Set, Sanctuary, 2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belk, Darren English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists The Wedding Present members Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)