Leslie George Carter, known as Fruitbat (born 12 December 1958) is an English musician who was a member of

Carter USM Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style o ...

Career

Carter played in a number of bands during the late 1970s, before meeting

Jim Bob James Robert Morrison, known as Jim Bob, is a British musician and author. He was the singer of indie punk band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. Biography Jim Bob played in various bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including Jami ...

(James Neil Morrison) at The Orchestra Pit in Streatham, where their bands The Ballpoints and Dead Clergy used to rehearse. When The Ballpoints' bassist quit at the end of 1980, Les joined the band, who went on to change their name to Peter Pan's Playground. When Peter Pan's Playground split, Carter and Morrison continued to write together and formed the band

Jamie Wednesday Jamie Wednesday were a British 1980s jangle pop band, formed in Streatham, South London in 1984,Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, that released eight songs on two records between 1985 and 1986. Pre ...

. Jamie Wednesday broke up in 1987 after limited success. Jim Bob and Fruitbat stuck together and formed Carter USM, a band in which the two both played guitars and sang while a sequencer and drum machine played backing music. Carter USM had 14

Top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, one

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

album and played over 800 gigs all over the world. A cycling enthusiast, he wore a cycling hat on stage in the early years which became a strong visual trademark for the band. He would often take his

bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

with him on Carter tours, much to the annoyance of Jim Bob, as detailed in the book, ''Goodnight Jim Bob''. One of Carter USM's most talked-about moments was when Fruitbat rugby tackled presenter

Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holly ...

on live TV, in front of millions of viewers at the

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

music awards. Schofield made some remarks about the band's performance and Fruitbat has said he was "severely hammered" after drinking a crate of beer supplied by The Farm. The incident made the front pages of many national UK tabloids, and generated infamy for the band. Carter USM split in 1997, but continued to play semi-regular gigs until bringing the band to a close in 2014. Carter still runs the

website and fan club and sells band merchandise. He currently lives in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

, and has two current bands: his own,

Abdoujaparov Abdoujaparov are a punk band formed on 19 October 1998 by ex-Carter USM guitarist Les Carter (aka Fruitbat). Abdoujaparov's musical foundation is in 1977 punk rock. Eight EPs, two singles and four albums have been released so far. A compilati ...

, and Nottinghamshire folk/punk band

Ferocious Dog Ferocious Dog are an English folk punk band from Warsop, Nottinghamshire, England. The band has headlined tours of the UK and Europe, performed in Dubai, festivals such as Bearded Theory, Alchemy, Deerstock, Farmer Phil's Festival, Splendour an ...

, for which he plays guitar. He plays bass in

Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band Keith Top of the Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band is a London-based indie rock band led by singer-songwriter Keith Top of the Pops (born Keith Mahony). The band was formed at an Art Brut gig in New York City in 2006, aft ...

. He also performs as Leslie George Carter, singing and playing acoustic guitar. In 2018 he formed Smokin' Donuts with long-time friend Doozer McDooze (Paul Short) after a solo slot turned into a duo slot and they alternately accompanied each other's songs. Carter presented a weekly music show on Brentwood

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Phoenix FM Phoenix FM is a community radio station serving the areas of Brentwood and Billericay, England on 98.0FM and online, covering an area of over 140,000 people. History The station was formed in 1996 and has been broadcasting full-time on FM since ...

between 2001 and 2011, and again in 2021.

References

External links

Carter USM familyAbdoujaparov homepage
{{authority control Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine 1958 births Living people English male singers English rock guitarists English male guitarists Musicians from London