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Mighty Mighty are a British
indie band
Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...
formed in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, in the mid-1980s.
History
Showing influences from
Postcard Records
Postcard Records is a British, Glasgow-based, independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for releases by Orange Juice and Josef K. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown mot ...
bands such as
Orange Juice
Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As well as vari ...
,
they came to prominence when featured on the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
s ''
C86
''C86'' is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine '' NME'' in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music g ...
'' compilation, at around the same time that they released their debut single "Everybody Knows the Monkey". This was soon followed by a 12" single, "Is There Anyone Out There?", before the band signed to Chapter 22 Records, releasing a string of well-received singles and the album ''Sharks'' in 1988. With their brand of indie pop giving way to American influenced rock and
shoegazing
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
, they split in 1988.
Continuing interest in the band saw the reissue of ''Sharks'' in 2000, the release of a
compilation album of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
session tracks in 2001, and two compilations of singles and unreleased tracks in 2000 and 2001.
They reformed for the
Indietracks
Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, UK. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on ...
music festival in 2009.
They played Popfest Berlin in 2010, followed by Firestation Records of Berlin issuing their 'lost second album', ''The Betamax Tapes'', on vinyl and CD, 25 years after it was recorded, in 2012.
In 2013, Cherry Red Records released a major double CD compilation entitled ''Pop Can - the Definitive Collection 1986-88'' which collects most of the band's released material, namely all their singles, B-sides and EP tracks, alongside several tracks from their only album released during their career, ''Sharks'', and tracks from ''The Betamax Tapes''.
During 1986-87, they recorded three sessions for
John Peel and one for
Janice Long
Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, ...
, all broadcast on BBC Radio One - these are collected on the Vinyl Japan compilation ''Mighty Mighty... At the BBC'' and continue to be broadcast by
BBC Radio 6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
.
In July 2019, Mighty Mighty released their third album ''Misheard Love Songs'' recorded at Muthers in
Digbeth, Birmingham.
Discography
Chart placings are from the UK independent chart.
Albums
* ''Sharks'' (1988, Chapter 22, CHAPLP24) reissued (2000), Vinyl Japan
* ''A Band from Birmingham'' (2000), Vinyl Japan
* ''The Girlie Years'' (2001), Vinyl Japan
* ''At the BBC'' (2001), Vinyl Japan
* ''The Betamax Tapes'' (2012), Firestation Records
* ''Pop Can - The Definitive Collection 1986-88'' (2013), Cherry Red Records
* ''Misheard Love Songs'' (2019), Firestation Records
Singles
* "Everybody Knows the Monkey" (7", 1986, Girlie Records, GAY001) No. 34
* "Is There Anyone Out There?" (12", 1986, Girlie Records, XGAY2) No. 14
* "Throwaway" (7"/12", 1986, Chapter 22, CHAP10/12CHAP10) No. 7
* "Built Like a Car" (7"/12", 1987, Chapter 22, CHAP12/12CHAP12) No. 6
* "One Way" (7"/12", 1987, Chapter 22, CHAP19/12CHAP19) No. 10
* "Maisonette" (7"/12", 1988, Chapter 22, CHAP21/12CHAP21) No. 8
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mighty, Mighty
Musical groups established in 1983
British indie pop groups
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands