The Siddeleys were a
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 ...
-based
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 su ...
band, active during the late 1980s. Although they were relatively short-lived, they were influential.
The band formed in 1986, comprising female singer Johnny Johnson, Andrew Brown (bass), Allan Kingdom (guitar), and Phil Goodman (drums). Andy Wake signed the band to his
Medium Cool
''Medium Cool'' is a 1969 American drama film written and directed by Haskell Wexler and starring Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill and Harold Blankenship. It takes place in Chicago in the summer of 1968. It was notab ...
label on the strength of one of their three demo tapes, releasing their first single, "What Went Wrong This Time?" in 1987, described by The Legend in ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' as "A gentle teasing lament with cool female vocals and a lilting backing which trickles around the back of the nervous system with deceptive charm". Goodman left in 1987, to be replaced by former
Jamie Wednesday and
Bob
Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to:
Places
* Mount Bob, New York, United States
*Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica
People, fictional characters, and named animals
*Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Bob (surname ...
drummer Dean Leggett, who was himself replaced by David Clynch. They moved to Sombrero Records for the follow-up, the
John Parish
John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer.
Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapm ...
-produced ''Sunshine Thuggery'' EP (1988), which caught the ear of
John Peel who invited the band to record a session for his
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, ...
programme. Peel commented "the woman who's in charge of the band has a terrific way with words in almost the manner of
Morrissey. There are lines in here which make me laugh out loud".
After a second Peel session, they had planned to release "You Get What You Deserve" as a third single, but this fell through when Sombrero ran out of money. The band remained popular with fans of indie pop, and a collection of all of their recordings, ''Slum Clearance'' was released in 2001. "What Went Wrong This Time?" was included on the ''
CD86
Cluster of Differentiation 86 (also known as CD86 and B7-2) is a protein constitutively expressed on dendritic cells, Langerhans cells, macrophages, B-cells (including memory B-cells), and on other antigen-presenting cells. Along with CD80, CD8 ...
'' album, a collection of definitive indie pop compiled by
Bob Stanley.
In 2017 Optic nerve records re-released "What Went Wrong This Time" in a limited edition single, on colored vinyl.
Discography
Singles
*"What Went Wrong This Time?" (1987, Medium Cool)
*''Sunshine Thuggery'' 12" EP (1988, Sombrero)
*''Wherever You Go'' (flexi) (1987, Shalala)
*''Sunshine Thuggery'' 7" EP (2000, Unknown Japanese label)
Albums
*''Slum Clearance'' (2001, Clarendon/Matinee)
Compilation appearances
*"Bedlam On The Mezzanine" on ''Hoopla'' (1987, La Di Da)
*"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" on ''
Alvin Lives (In Leeds) - Anti Poll Tax Trax'' (1990, Spasm/Midnight Music)
*"Sunshine Thuggery" on ''The Sound of Leamington Spa'' (2000, Firestation Towers/TweeNet/Bilberry)
*"What Went Wrong This Time?" on ''CD86'' (2007, Castle)
*"My Favourite Wet Wednesday Afternoon" on ''Scared to Get Happy: A Story of Indie-Pop 1980-1989'' (2013, Cherry Red Records)
References
External links
Official siteDetails of the band's John Peel sessions
English indie pop groups
English rock music groups
{{UK-band-stub