Screaming Dead are a punk rock band from

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

formed in 1980, who have often been characterized as "

horror punk Horror punk is a music genre that mixes punk rock and 1950s-influenced doo-wop and rockabilly sounds with morbid and violent imagery and lyrics which are often influenced by horror films and science fiction B-movies. The genre was pioneered b ...

". They released several singles and EPs with indie chart success, before splitting up in 1985. They reformed in 1997; disbanded again in 1999; and reformed in 2014.

History

The band - named after the English title of ''

Drácula contra Frankenstein ''Drácula contra Frankenstein'' (translation: ''Dracula against Frankenstein''), also known as ''Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein'' (US title) is 1972 horror film co-written and directed by Jesús Franco. It stars Dennis Price, Howard Vernon, P ...

'', the 1972 horror film directed by

Jesús Franco Jesús Franco Manera (12 May 1930 – 2 April 2013) was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a prolific director of low-budget exploitation film, exploitation and B-movies. In a career spanning from 1959 to 2013, he wrote, directe ...

- was formed by guitarist Tony McCormack (later McKormack), who recruited former singer with The Waste, Sam Missile (Simon Bignall), bass guitarist Mal Page, and drummer Mark Ogilvie.Glasper, Ian (2004) ''Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980 - 1984'', Cherry Red Books, , p.40-43 The band built up a strong local following which spread farther afield with coverage in fanzines such as Gez Lowery's ''Rising Free'' and through sales of their

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

. They followed their first tape with a more formal release, the ''Children of the Boneyard Stones'' cassette, which came with a badge and a copy of the band's own fanzine, ''Warcry''. They then self-financed their debut vinyl release, the "Valley of the Dead" single, initially released on their own Skull Records label, but when it sold out of its first pressing within a week it was picked up by No Future records. The band's next release, the "Night Creatures" 12-inch single, saw them break into the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

, reaching number 22 in September 1983.Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p.198 While the band were at times tagged as

Goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

s, the label was rejected by Bignall, who in a posthumous interview stated "Screaming Dead were a punk rock band, there's no doubt about that! We had a bit of an interest in the horror theme, and that was how we decided to present ourselves." For their next release, the band recorded a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' "

Paint It Black "Paint It Black" is a song recorded in 1966 by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European infl ...

" which was also an indie hit, and was recorded as a tribute of sorts to

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...

who is buried in their home town of Cheltenham. In 1984, taking inspiration from

X-Ray Spex X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London. During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album '' Germfree Adol ...

, the band recruited

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Nick Upton, the band also signing to Nine Mile Records, who issued their last two releases on the Angel label. The change in sound lost a lot of fans, and with interest in punk rock declining, the band split up in 1985. In 1989, McKormack formed pagan

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

band Incubus Succubus with Candia Ridley and Adam Henderson, and in 1997 formed a new version of Screaming Dead, without Page or Upton, touring Germany twice and recording the album ''Death Rides Out'', released on Resurrection Records, before they disbanded again in 1999. The band reformed in 2014 with a line up of Sam Bignall, Mal Page, Mazzy, and Hugh Fairlie.

Discography

Chart placings from the UK Indie Chart

Singles and EPs

*"Valley of the Dead" 7" (1982), Skull - reissued by No Future *"Night Creatures" 12" (1983), No Future (no. 22) *"Paint It Black" 7" (1984), No Future (no. 38) *''The Danse Macabre Collection'' 12" (1984), Angel (no. 31) *"A Dream of Yesterday" (1985), Angel (no. 42)

Albums

*''Children of the Boneyard Stones'' (cassette-only) (1982), Recreational Tapes *''Bring Out Yer Dead'' (1993), Angel *''Death Rides Out'' (1997), Resurrection

References

{{Authority control English punk rock groups Horror punk groups