The Melons were an

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 ...

band formed in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1993, by Helen Melon (vocals) and Shelly Melon (songs, instruments), aka: Vanessa and Sheggi, Nottingham music scene veterans. For their first live appearance they were joined by guitarist Noel Melon and bassist Tim Melon, but for all subsequent appearances they were joined by Colin Altuccini (guitar) and Nigel Turner (bass). Drums were provided by a drum machine until late 1995, when drummer Rob Scott joined and took over those duties. For a number of live appearances they were joined by Roger Melon on

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. Katy and Vanessa appeared on all the

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

by The Melons. Altuccini and Turner appeared on all recordings after "Strictly Melonhead" and Rob Melon appeared on the "Fast Lane"

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. The track "Fire Engine Girl", from the "Show Me Wishes More Than These EP"

flexidisc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntabl ...

, was played by Mark Radcliffe on his evening 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, ...

. This led to The Melons playing two live sessions on his show, on 18 May 1995 and 6 March 1996. The Melons appeared live on stage only fifteen times, but managed to play with Heavenly, Prolapse, Bis, Modesty Blaise,

The Television Personalities The Television Personalities are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 by London singer-songwriter Dan Treacy.Earp, Joseph.The Missing Man Of Music: A Search For The Elusive Dan Treacy Of Television Personalities. ''The Brag'', 26 July 2016 ...

Helen Love Helen Love are an indie band from Wales whose music is a combination of punk rock, bubblegum pop and disco dance music. The band was formed in 1992 by Helen Love (vocals, guitar) with Sheena (guitar, keyboards), Roxy (bass, drum machine), an ...

and Super Furry Animals. Altuccini and Helen Melon appeared as Mr and Mrs Cantaloup, and Turner as Mr Honeydew, in a number of episodes of ''Chez Lester'', a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

on Leicester's Cable 7 community TV channel. In episode 63, they performed The Melons track, "Little Death Wishes".

Discography

Singles / EPs

*"Show Me Wishes More Than These EP" (7" flexi, 1993,

Heaven Records Fat Tulips were an indie pop band from Nottingham, England who released one album, on the Vinyl Japan label, and over 10 singles on the band's own Heaven Records and others. History The Fat Tulips were formed in the late 1980s in Peterborough ...

, HV07) *"Strictly Melonhead" (7”, 1994, Sunday Records, Sunday 034) *"From Hell to Helsinki" (7”, 1995,

Damaged Goods Damaged goods or Damaged Goods may refer to: * Goods that have been damaged, where goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility * A person considered to be less than perfect psychologically, as a result of a traumatic experience ...

, Damgood 79) *"Fast Lane" (7”, 1996, Damaged Goods, Damgood 91) *"Black and Blue" / "Eskimo" (7”, 1997,

Pickled Egg Records Pickled Egg Records is a UK independent record label founded in Leicester in 1998 by Nigel Turner. Distribution is through Cargo. Artists on Pickled Egg * a.P.A.t.T. * Bablicon * Big Eyes * Butchy Fuego * Chandeliers * The Doozer * The Ev ...

, Egg1)

Tracks on compilation albums

* "Eskimo" on ''Casablanca'' (1997,

Elefant Records Elefant Records is an independent record label based in Madrid, Spain. History Elefant Records was founded in 1989 by Luis Calvo as an offshoot of a fanzine he produced called "La Línea del Arco". In 2014, the label's 25th anniversary was celeb ...

, ER-1056) * "Big Freeze" on ''Suction Prints'' (1998, Sorted Records, SRLP4)

External links

The Melons on TweeNetThe Melons on last.fm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melons, The English indie pop groups Musical groups from Nottingham