The Photos were an English new wave band fronted by Wendy Wu, who had a top 5 album in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

in 1980.

History

The Photos were originally a punk band named Satan's Rats that formed in

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

, Worcestershire in 1977, with the first stable line-up of Paul Rencher (vocals), Steve Eagles (guitar/vocals), Roy Wilkes (bass guitar), and Olly Harrison (drums). They released three singles as Satans Rats before Wilkes left, to be replaced by Dave Sparrow; and then Rencher left, after which the others deciding to expand the group with the addition of a female singer. They unsuccessfully tried to get Big in Japan's Jayne Casey to join, but convinced Wendy Wu (born Wendy Cruise, 29 November 1959), the former manager of pub rock band City Youth to join in 1979.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 452-3 The Photos signed to

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

but moved on to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

after one single. They released a self-titled album (Epic, 1980) and number of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. These included "I'm So Attractive" and "Barbarellas" (concerning the closure of a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

). The album was successful, reaching number 4 in the

, and Wu's picture was briefly a regular item in the

music press Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Initial copies of the vinyl release of the album came with a bonus album, ''The Blackmail Tapes'', the additional tracks also included on the cassette release, and the album was supported by the group performing numerous concerts around the UK. The album was later re-released in CD format, although only a limited number of copies were pressed. The CD was re-released in October 2007 by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

, the label originally due to have signed the band before they were contracted to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The re-release includes some additional tracks including "I'm So Attractive". They released several singles in the UK including "I'm So Attractive". which was added to the US album release. "I'm So Attractive" was not included on the CD that was released in 1999, along with eight additional tracks from ''The Blackmail Tapes''. Their scheduled appearance on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' was cancelled due to industrial action. A second album, ''Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice'', was released in promotional form in 1981, but withdrawn before it reached the shops, and reissued by Cherry Red Records in 2008. Wu left the band in 1981, to be replaced by Che, and The Photos split up later that year. Wu went on to release some generally poorly received solo singles during 1982 and 1983, and then joined

Steve Strange Stephen John Harrington (28 May 1959 – 12 February 2015), known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer. From the late 1970s he was a nightclub host and promoter. He became famous as the leader of the new wave synth-pop group ...

to form the duo Strange Cruise in 1986. The Photos reformed without Wu, although this line-up only released one single, "There's Always Work", in 1983. Later, when Harrison had left the band, they reformed briefly with Angus Hines playing drums. They were joined by Wu for a one-off gig at London's

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...

, before finally disbanding. Steve Eagles became guitarist in

Ted Milton Ted Milton (born 1943) is an England, English poet and musician, best known for leading Blurt, an experimental art rock group. Milton grew up in Africa, Canada and Great Britain. He published some early poems in magazines like ''Paris Review'' ...

Blurt Blurt is an English post-punk band, founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Background Blurt was founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire by poet, saxophonist and puppeteer Ted Milton along with Milton's brother Jake, formerly of p ...

, and later formed

Bang Bang Machine Bang Bang Machine were a cult indie band from Evesham, Worcestershire in England. They formed in 1989 and split up in 1996 after record company troubles. After 17 years they re-released their back catalogue on iTunes in 2013. Career The band ex ...

. Oliver Harrison went on to become a filmmaker. In 2022, members of the original Satan's Rats collaborated with

Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons, formerly known as The Johnsons, are an English punk rock band fronted by singer Puss Johnson since 2002 and first formed by guitarist "Dirty" Jake Johnson in Basingstoke. Since 2012, the only other member has b ...

frontwoman Puss Johnson as "Satan's Cats".https://www.thepunksite.com/news/satans-rats-team-up-with-puss-johnson-to-become-satans-cats

Discography

Satan's Rats

Albums

*''What a Bunch of Rodents'' (2005), Overground – compilation of tracks from the singles plus 13 previously-unreleased tracks

Singles

*"In My Love for You" / "Facade" 7" (October 1977), DJM *"Year of the Rats" / "Louise" 7" (December 1977), DJM *"You Make Me Sick" / "Louise" 7" (March 1978), DJM

The Photos

Albums

*''The Photos'' (June 1980), Epic – UK No. 4 *''Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice'' (March 1981), Epic – withdrawn after promotional copies were released, issued by Cherry Red in 2008

Singles

*"I'm So Attractive" / "Guitar Hero" 7" (November 1979), CBS *"Irene" / "Barbarellas" / "Shy" / "Cridsilla" double-7" (April 1980), Epic – UK No. 56 *"Friends" / "Je T'Aime" 7" (July 1980), Epic – withdrawn *"Now You Tell Me That We're Through" / "Je T'Aime" 7" (September 1980), Epic *"Life in a Day" / "More Than a Friend" 7" (February 1981), Epic *"We'll Win" / "You Won't Get to Me" 7" (July 1981), Epic *"There's Always Work" / "Work Phase" 7"/12" (April 1983), Rialto

Wendy Wu

*"For Your Love" / "Charlotte" 7" (March 1982), Epic *"Run Jilly Run" / "Neanderthal Boy" 7" (September 1982), Epic *"Let Me Go" / "Love Tonight" 7" (October 1983), Epic

References

External links

Wendy Wu and The PhotosOliver Harrison official websiteOliver Harrison IMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Photos, The English new wave musical groups Musical groups from the West Midlands (region)