The Barracudas are an English

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

band formed in late 1978. The band's original line-up consisted of Jeremy Gluck (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Robin Wills (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and vocals), Starkie Phillips ( bass and vocals) and Adam Phillips (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

). Before the band recorded its first single, Starkie and Adam Phillips left the band. The band is notable for their 1980

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

"Summer Fun", which started with an excerpt from a 1960s spoof advertisement for the

Plymouth Barracuda The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door pony car that was manufactured by Plymouth (automobile), Plymouth from 1964 to 1974. The first-generation Barracuda was based on the Chrysler A platform, Chrysler A-body and was offered from 1964 to 1966. A ...

campaign. The song included dialogue where announcers had difficulty pronouncing the word ''barracuda''. The single reached number 37 on 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 ...

. The band officially lasted until 1981 with a final performance in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. There have been few occasional performances since.

Early history

The beginnings of the band can be traced back to the year of 1978 when Canadian-born Gluck met Wills at a Dead Fingers Talk concert. Here the pair bonded over a shared passion for "60's garage and psychedelic music ". They started off calling themselves the "R.A.F.", but eventually settled on the name of The Barracudas. The name was inspired by a song they both liked by

The Standells The Standells are an American garage rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in the 1960s, who have been referred to as a "punk band of the 1960s", and said to have inspired such groups as the Sex Pistols and Ramones. They are best known ...

Recent activity

Initially perceived as a novelty surf act due to their first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, subsequent recordings showed them to be a fierce garage rock and roll band in the mould of

the 13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, a ...

and

The Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single " Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savag ...

. The band split in 1984, but reformed in 1989 to record "Wait For Everything," and then again in 2003. In 2005 they recorded the self-titled album on NDN. Throughout their career, their live performances have been energetic and frenetic. After the first attempt at their second album, the group lost drummer Nick Turner to the group Lords of the New Church. Afterwards, Jeremy Gluck and guitarist Robin Wills assembled a new The Barracudas group, that went on to record their second album ''Mean Time''. The Barracudas disbanded in 1984, after making their third and final album ''Endeavour to Persevere''. However, in 2005, there became a growing interest regarding the reissue of their back catalogue. This resulted in Gluck and Wills reconnecting, and the two of them began composing again. In 2014, the band reissued their ''Meantime'' album as a limited edition picture disc, under the reborn "Closer French" label.

Discography

7" Singles

* "I Want My Woody Back" / "Subway Surfin" Cells CELLOUT 1 (February 1979) * "Summer Fun" / "Chevy Baby" Zonophone Z5 (July 1980) * "His Last Summer" / "Barracuda Waver" / "Surfers Are Back" Zonophone Z8 (September 1980) * "(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again" / "Rendezvous" Zonophone Z11 (November 1980) * "I Can't Pretend" / "K.G.B. (Made a Man Out of Me)" Zonophone Z17 (January 1981) * "Inside Mind" / "Hour Of Degradation" Flicknife FLS027 (February 1982) * "I Can't Pretend EP" Voxx/Bomp EP3303 (June 1982) * "The Way We've Changed" / "Laughin At You" Closer CL0006 (March 1984) * "Stolen Heart" / "See Her Eyes Again" Closer CL7-15 (September 1984) * "Live EP" Record Runner RRR-002 (1984) * "Very Last Day" / "There's A World Out There" ''

Bucketfull of Brains ''Bucketfull of Brains'' (also known as ''BoB'') was a London-based music magazine, founded in 1979 and published until 2015 . An associated record label was launched in 2010. History ''Bucketfull of Brains'' was founded by Nigel Cross in 1979, a ...

'' #7 (June 1985) Free with magazine * "Hear Me" / "She Knows" Dog Meat Records Dog022 (1989) * "Next Time Around" / "Takes What He Wants" Sympathy for The Record Industry SFTRI49 (July 1990) * "I Thought You Sounded That Way Yesterday" Shake SAL202 (January 1991) * "Don't Ever Say It Can't Be So" / "Not That Kind" Munster 7183 (2003) * "What You Want is What You Get" / "Somebody '05" NDN NDN040 (2005) * "Two Headed Dog" / "Teenage Head" Pop The Balloon Bang26 (2010) * "God Bless The 45" / "Festival Pop" / "East European Girls" Purepop PP 1965 (2013)

12" singles and EPs

* "House Of Kicks" Flicknife FLEP103 (May 1983) * "Live In Madrid" El Piso K9EP13 (July 1984) * "Stolen Heart" Closer CL12-15 (September 1984) * "Grammar Of Misery" Shakin' Street YEAHUP015 (October 1990)

Albums

* '' Drop Out with The Barracudas'' LP Zonophone ZONO103 (February 1981)/ Voxx 200.009 (1982) * ''Drop Out with The Barracudas'' CD EMI Gold 8757582 (May 2005) remaster with bonus tracks/ Voxx VCD2009 (June 1994) different bonus tracks * '' Mean Time'' LP Closer CL001 (February 1983)French/CD Mau Mau (June1995) inc bonus tracks/CD Airmail (November 2006) remaster with more bonus tracks * ''Live '83'' LP Coyote COR021 (October 1983) * ''Endeavour To Persevere'' LP Closer CL009 (April 1984)/CD Mau Mau (June 1995) inc bonus tracks/CD Airmail (November 2006) remaster with more bonus tracks * ''The Big Gap'' LP Coyote COR022 (July 1984) * ''Los Angeles and Vicinity Vol 1 (Live in Le Havre 1982/09/18)'' LP 66 Records MP1002 (1985) Bootleg * ''(I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again'' LP GMG 75003 (January 1985) * ''The World's A Burn'' LP Trust Minitrust1 (April 1985) * ''Live In Madrid'' LP Impossible A4-25 (July 1985) * ''Surf and Destroy'' LP/CD GMG 270 (June 1987) * ''The Garbage Dump Tapes'' LP/CD Shakin' Street YEAH HUP 006 (January 1990) * ''The Complete EMI Recordings'' CD EMI C2-95 185 (January 1991) * ''Wait For Everything'' LP/CD Shake 203 (February 1992) * ''Two Sides of a Coin 1979-84'' CD Flicknife/Anagram CDM M GRAM 62 (March 1993) * ''Through The Mysts Of Time: Rarities 1979-81'' CD Voxx VCD2072 (October 1999) * ''This Ain't My Time: Anthology '79-'90'' CD Castle (2001) * ''The Barracudas'' LP/CD NDN NDN41 (October 2005) * "Nothing Ever Happens In The Suburbs, Baby!" 10" Mini-LP NDN45 (2006) * ''Mean Time'' LP Closer CL001 Limited Edition PIC-DISC (2014)

References

External links

The Barracudas
at TrouserPress.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Barracudas, The English new wave musical groups English rock music groups English pop music groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups from London Surf music groups Garage punk groups Jangle pop groups British garage rock groups