Wavis O'Shave is a surreal English musician and comedian, who regularly appeared on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's music show, '' The Tube'' (1982–1987).

Description

Wavis O'Shave performed many original comedy characters including the cult figure "The Hard", a bizarre character who made brief appearances on ''The Tube'' hitting his hand with a hammer and saying "I felt nowt (nothing)!" O'Shave appears as Foffo Spearjig The Hard on ''The Tube Anthology - The Best of Series 1'' double disc DVD (2006) and in ''Once Upon a Time in the North'', a 2010 documentary about local music in South

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

released on DVD by Northeastern Films. He appears as Wavis O'Shave in the 2011 Northeastern Films DVD ''We Sold our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll''. His video for the remake of his earlier song "Mauve Shoes are Awful" was a nominated at the ''

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 ...

'' Shockwaves Video awards in 2009. O'Shave appeared in ''The Strange world of Wavis O'Shave'' as part of the hour long

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, ...

documentary '' Viz - The Rock 'n' Roll Years'' broadcast in 1997, and in April 2010 had his own one-hour-long special ''An Evening with Wavis and Foffo'' on London's

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...

. 'O'Shave featured heavily in the 1981 book 'Rock Bottom - The Book of Pop Atrocities' by Muck Raker. O'Shave's last TV appearance was on the Granada Television show, ''

Stars In Their Eyes ''Stars in Their Eyes'' is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format ''Soundmixshow''. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. The show premiered on 21 July 1 ...

'', performing

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...

's "

Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1975 by EMI as the lead single from the band's third studio album ''The Best Years of Our Lives''. The song was written b ...

" in 1994. In his 2004 autobiography 'Rude Kids - The Unfeasible story of VIZ', author and ex-British comic adult magazine VIZ COMIC Editor Chris Donald describes Wavis as 'He was a sort of cross between Howard Hughes,Tiny Tim and David Icke. He was never seen at the Gosforth Hotel and I'd only ever caught a glimpse of him once in the Anti-Pop office, when he didn't speak at all. To promote the album he only played one gig - at the Music Machine, Camden, in March 1980 - and he didn't even turn up for that. A heavily disguised Arthur 2 Stroke went on in his place. None of his fans knew what Wavis looked like, so there were no complaints'. The gig Donald refers to was reviewed in the British Music Press by RECORD MIRROR on 5/4/1980 without the magazine realising it wasn't actually the real Wavis. 'O'Shave has often had strained confrontations with other celebrities. In 1980 he chased British radio DJ and TV comedian Kenny Everett around petrol pumps at a garage in South London and in 2016 presented ex-Sex Pistol John Rotten with a letter claiming that Rotten had 'got his job' and that Wavis would have been a better frontman for the Pistols.

Recordings

He recorded the cult hit album ''Anna Ford's Bum'' (1980), named after the ITN newsreader

Anna Ford Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...

. The album had a Studio side and a Kitchen side that was recorded in Fatty Rounds mothers kitchen (Fatty AKA 'James the Rounder' played keyboards, tuba and Hammond organ). The album caught the attention of the British Press and the front page of the British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday People.''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', compiled by Barry Lazell. Cherry Red Books 1997. p. 167 Following ''Anna Ford's Bum'', Wavis recorded a second album entitled ''Texican Raveloni'' (

Falling A Records Falling A Records is a British Essex, England-based independent record label, founded in the late 1970s by Barry Lamb and Peter Ashby.,''Record Collector'', October 2011, no 393, page 54 born out of the D.I.Y cassette movement. It owned a sho ...

) under the name Foffo Spearjig, from which came the single "Tie Your Laces Tight" backed with "You Won't Catch Me on the 503". he 503 was the bus that went from the Market to the Council Estate of Biddick Hall, where Fatty Round lived; Wavis got ripped off for his change by a psychotic bus driver whilst on the way to Fatty's and committed the act to vinyl]. Another of O'Shave's tracks, "Mauve Shoes are Awful", has been included on the Stateside Hyped2death compilation disc ''Messthetics no 4''. The original of 'Mauve Shoes' had Hats Dad (Hat/Fezz - ginger vocalist and human synth), famously threatening to "Chop the Bloody Electricity Off" to stop the racket being made in Hat's house whilst recording the track. Hats Dad claimed to have got the fabled 'Two Stings' whilst trying to pull the fuse out. Hats Dad, (and his fabled 'Two Stings') made it to vinyl. In 2004 he recorded a CD single "Katie Derham's Bum" in adoration of ITN newsreader

Katie Derham Catherine Beatrice Margaret Derham (born 18 June 1970) is a British newscaster and a presenter on television and radio. Early life and education Derham was born on 18 June 1970 in Canterbury, Kent to Margaret, a teacher, and John Derham, a chem ...

. Wavis recorded the "Denis Smokes Tabs" / "John is a Fig Roll" six track EP on Company Records (CR003) in 1979, and a collection of his tracks are on the 2005 compilation ''Potty, Dotty, Ditties of the Deft and Daft (Nursery Rhymes of the Apocalypse)'' released in 2005 by Dynamite Vision/

(FASA3). In 2012, Wavis recorded "Sunspots on the Moon (It's Snowin' Outside and It's June)", and is collaborating with fellow ex- South Shields resident

Barry Lamb Barry Lamb (born 9 May 1963 in South Shields, England) is an English experimental musician. Biography Barry Lamb is an English composer, author and musician. He was born in South Shields, but lived in Holland-on-Sea during his secondary scho ...

and

Peter Ashby Peter Ashby is an English musician and composer, and a founder member of the bands Frenzid Melon, Spasmodic Caress and the insane picnic, as well as co-founder of Falling A Records with Barry Lamb. He was the original bass player and composer i ...

, who most recently have made a song together as Fictional Rage featuring Wavis O'Shave, called "Ballad of the Pokeawillies". In May 2011, O'Shave recorded interviews and songs for four shows for the new SKY TV 201 Channel 'Mindscape TV' to be screened early that summer, also available on the Mindscape TV Channel. O'Shave wrote his autobiography in May 2013, ''Felt Nowt! - The Wavis O'Shave Story'', detailing his many stories involving celebrities including Prince Charles (now King Charles III), Ricky Gervais, and

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

. O'Shave gave an exclusive video interview to Newcastle award winning PEEP Magazine in December 2020. In the same month he gave permission for North east comedy club FELT NOWT to use his famous 'Felt Nowt' catchphrase. In March 2021 Wavis featured in the cult CD album 'Miniatures 2020' with the world's first palindrome song ''Mr Owl Ate My Metal Worm''. On April 1, 2022 Wavis released his digital single ''Puppies' Dinner'' recorded with Two Headed Emperor on the Falling A label. In April 2022 Wavis starred in a podcast highlighting his career in 'JESTERS: Forgotten Stories of North East Comedy,' a 4 part series, about forgotten comedy heroes of the North East presented by the comedy company Felt Nowt in conjunction with Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/04/01/50462/the-forgotten-comedy-heroes-of-the-north-east In September 2022 Wavis was interviewed by trendy cult online magazine WE ARE CULT about his appearances on The Tube that celebrated its 40th birthday in November. The same month Wavis also made a second YouTube appearance in interview for Peep Magazine investigating as to whether be might be the first alternative comedian appearing on British TV, a claim that may be justified. The UK's number one alternative radio station FAB Radio International, based in Manchester, starred Wavis on their December 16 Christmas Classic Rock Hub Show with an exclusive Christmas message for them from his character THE HARD and they also played THE HARD's newly recorded Christmas song ''(I Wish You a) Hard Christmas''. On Christmas day Wavis and THE HARD were special guests in a 30 minute interview on Lincoln City Radio's 'Sunday Underbelly' show who also played the song and another individual Xmas message from THE HARD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshave, Wavis Living people English male comedians English pop singers Year of birth missing (living people)