Scarfo were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

, formed in

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in 1994, by former art college students Jamie Hince (vocals, guitar), Nick Prior (bass), and Al Saunders (drums). Scarfo was the culmination of several other bands and lineups involving Hince and Saunders including Remember The Rabbits (a reference to medical trials on animals), and Electric Turkey Land. The line up for both these bands included long term friend of Hince, and fellow resident of the Newbury area, Wob Williams. Wob went on to play, like Hince, with the punk-folk ensemble

Blyth Power Blyth Power are a British rock band formed in 1983 by singer and drummer Joseph Porter, formerly of anarcho-punk bands Zounds and The Mob. The band's music shows strong influences from punk rock and folk music and Porter's lyrics often centr ...

Career

Scarfo moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

where they played many gigs, attracting the attention of

Fierce Panda Records Fierce Panda Records is a London-based independent record label, with its first release in February 1994. It also produced a small number of releases that year by now famous artists such as Ash, The Bluetones, Baby Bird and Supergrass. Fierc ...

, who issued their debut single, "Skinny" in 1995. They then signed to

Deceptive Records Deceptive Records was a British independent record label formed in 1993 by Steve Lamacq, Tony Smith and Alan James, which concentrated on rock and alternative rock. The most famous group signed to the label were Elastica. Steve Lamacq left ...

and their self-titled debut album produced by Philip Thomas was released in November of that year to critical acclaim. They released several singles over the following three years (two of these - "Alkaline" and "Cosmonaut No. 7" - making it into the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

),Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Scarfo", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, and the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, ''Luxury Plane Crash'' (1997). "Alkaline" and a cover of Elvis Costello's "I Want You" (as a bonus track), were included on ''Deceptive 50'' (January 1998, Deceptive, Bluff050cd D, a compilation album released by

to celebrate their 50th release. Jamie Hince went on to release "The Glue Hotel Tapes" mini album as Fiji on Impresario Records (February 2004, Impresario Records, Impcd003) and a single, "Pillshop", also on Impresario (November 99, Impresario, IMP004 ". He is now the guitarist in

The Kills The Kills are an English-American rock duo formed by American singer Alison "VV" Mosshart and English guitarist Jamie "Hotel" Hince. They are signed to Domino Records. Their first four albums, '' Keep On Your Mean Side'', '' No Wow'', ''Mid ...

. During the height of Scarfo's early success, progress ground to a halt after Al Saunders was badly injured after being run down by a car in London. This incident caused the momentum of the band to falter and led directly to the band folding.

Discography

Singles

*"Skinny" (May 1995, Fierce Panda, NING08 " *"Tunnel Of Love" (December 1995, Deceptive, BLUFF022 " *"Bingo England" (April 1996, Deceptive, BLUFF028 "BLUFF028CD DS *"ELO" (May 1997, Deceptive, BLUFF041 "BLUFF041CD DS( UK #134) *"Alkaline" (July 1997, Deceptive, BLUFF044 "BLUFF044X "BLUFF044CD DS - ( UK #61) *"Cosmonaut No. 7" (October 1997, Deceptive, BLUFF053 "BLUFF053X "BLUFF053CD DS (UK #67) *"A Year From Monday" (September 1998, Deceptive, BLUFF064 "BLUFF064CD DS( UK #163)

Albums

*''Scarfo'' (November 1995, Deceptive, LP/CD) *''Luxury Plane Crash'' (July 1997, Deceptive, LP/CD)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1994