The Trudy are an English
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
band formed in
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
in 1979 by former
Cardiacs members
Peter Tagg (drums) and Ralph Cade (vocals and keyboards)
along with Derek Tagg (guitar) and Sue Smallwood (bass).
In 1980 The Trudy, with the above line-up, released an album Volcano Fo Le Ferret, on Binkie Records along with another Kingston band The Magnificent 7, with each band featuring on one side of the record.
In 1981 the band were included on the various artist compilation LP The Snoopies Album, which also included
The Europeans
''The Europeans: A sketch'' is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the "new" world of New England ...
and
Cardiacs among others.
In 1982 the band released the cassette single Air Commodore. By this time Sue Smallwood had been replaced on bass by Jon Bastable Jnr and second guitarist Ian Plummer had been added.
Many releases followed on a variety of different labels. Among these was the 1998 EP given free with House of Dolls, a popular mainstream alternative music magazine, on which The Trudy was included, along with
The Wedding Present
The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...
,
Claytown Troupe
Claytown Troupe are an English alternative rock band from Bristol, England who came to success in 1989.
Early history – 1984 – 1988
The Claytown Troupe were formed in 1984 in Bristol by lead singer Christian Riou, who claimed in an ''NME' ...
&
The Hunters Club
The Hunters Club were a United Kingdom, British Grebo (music), grebo gothic rock band that formed in Leicester, England.
History
The band were named after a short-lived Judge Dredd sub-plot in the sci-fi comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'', and ...
.
A 1986 side-project was released by Peter Tagg/Richard Targett, Victor Champion, Nick Shadow, Minerva Allen and Damien Saxxe-Coburg, all with various links to the band. By the name 'Richard Targett and the Monos', one three-track cassette EP was released under Primitive Records by the name of 'One of Our Satellites is Missing!'.
In 1991, when they released the album Tune-In To The Trudy Love-Ray!, the line-up was Peter Tagg, Derek Tagg, Melisa Jo Heathcote Paul Crook and Arturo Bassick (of The Lurkers, Pinpoint and 999)
In 2010 the band covered the Cardiacs song "
Day Is Gone" on the album ''
Leader of the Starry Skies: A Tribute to Tim Smith, Songbook 1'' on the Believers Roast label.
In 2012 the singles Dirt Cheap Melody and Bucolics Anonymous were released.
The Trudy has performed extensively around the UK and headlined venues such as the Marquee and University of London Union. A flyer for a Marquee gig that The Trudy headlined is in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection.
As of 2016 the line up was Melissa Jo Heathcote (formerly of The Pukes), Del Tagg, Paul Crook, Peter Tagg & Eugene Bezodis (of
Patrick & Eugene).
On 26 February 2016 the single "Rocket Heart" was released and was followed by the album ''Always Never Beautiful Forever'' on 15 April.
On 5 March 2021 they released the digital single Dear Sancho, which was accompanied by a promotional video.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trudy
English post-punk music groups
English new wave musical groups
Musical groups established in 1979
Musical groups from London