Grab Grab the Haddock was an English

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

group that was formed in 1984.

History

When the

Marine Girls Marine Girls were an English post-punk group from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The group was formed in 1980, by two sixth form schoolfriends; Tracey Thorn and Gina Hartman. Originally, Thorn just played guitar and Hartman was the lead voca ...

disbanded in 1983, the band members Jane Fox (bass) and Alice Fox (vocals and percussion) formed Grab Grab the Haddock with Lester Noel (guitar and vocals), Steve Galloway (guitar) and Tim Hall (saxophone and clarinet). The name of the band came from the title of a painting by the artist

Bruce McLean Bruce McLean (born 1944) is a Scottish sculptor, performance artist and painter. McLean was born in Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1961 to 1963, and at Saint Martin's School of Art, London, from 1963 to 1966. At Saint Martin ...

. In 2003, the band came top in a listeners poll on the

Mark and Lard Mark and Lard was the stage name of Mark Radcliffe (Mark) and Marc Riley (Lard), who presented various weekday shows on BBC Radio 1 from 1991 to March 2004. Career Radcliffe, then a Radio 1 producer, began presenting specialist shows on the ne ...

show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

to find the "worst band name of all time". The single "I’m Used Now" was released in 1984 on

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

, along with the EP ''Three Songs By Grab Grab the Haddock''. In 1985, A second single "The Last Fond Goodbye" was included in the EP ''Four More Songs By Grab Grab the Haddock''. Tracks from both EPs have subsequently appeared on many Cherry Red compilation albums. Lester Noel and Steve Galloway went on to form the band North of Cornwallis, while Noel later joined

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

in the electronic music group,

Beats International Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective, formed in the late 1980s by Norman Cook (later in his career known as Fatboy Slim) based in Brighton, East Sussex, England, after his departure from the Housemartins. A ...

Discography

; Singles * "I’m Used Now" (1984) * "The Last Fond Goodbye" (1985) ; EPs * ''Three Songs By Grab Grab the Haddock'' (1984) * ''Four More Songs By Grab Grab the Haddock'' (1985) ; Various artists compilation albums * '' Pillows & Prayers 2'' (1984) * ''And Suddenly It's Evening'' (1986, Cherry Red) * ''Cherry Red For Café Après-Midi'' (2002, Cherry Red) * ''A Fine Day & A Brilliant Evening'' (2003, CDM RED 230) * ''Ambition - Volumes 1 & 2 - The History Of Cherry Red Records 1978 – 1988'' (2005, Cherry Red) * ''Scared To Get Happy (A Story Of Indie-Pop 1980-1989)'' (2013, Cherry Red) * ''Sharon Signs To Cherry Red'' (2016, Cherry Red)

References

External links

Grab Grab the Haddock at Last.fm
* * {{Discogs artist, Grab Grab the Haddock English rock music groups English post-punk music groups Cherry Red Records artists