Yeah Yeah Noh

Yeah Yeah Noh are an "unpop" group formed in Leicester, England in 1983. Originally a product of the DIY post-punk era, their sound was labelled 'Calor-gas psychedelia' by ''Mojo'' magazine in 2012. They released two albums and five singles while still together in the 1980s, and have had two compilation albums issued since they initially split up in 1986.

The group reformed in 2011, an announcement appearing on the Cherry Red Records website: "STOP PRESS: Yeah Yeah Noh are back together and are playing live as of summer 2012, on the lookout for 'interesting gigs in fields; gardens with expansive lawns considered'."

Biography

Yeah Yeah Noh was formed by Derek Hammond (vocals, guitar) and John Grayland (guitar); Adrian Crossan (bass) joined them for the first single along with Graham Summers (drums). Sue Dorey (drums, vocals) was then recruited to complete the line up, debuting on the second single. Two of the band members, John Grayland and Sue Dorey (along with Damian S), published ''Printhead'', a free magazine focusing on independent music in Leicester and its environs. The magazine released ''Let's Cut a Rug'', a compilation LP of songs from local independent bands.

Signing to In-Tape records, the band debuted in June 1984 with the ''Cottage Industry'' EP, featuring humorous and satirical lyrics and post-punk/jangle-pop music. After a further two ep's, the releases so far were collected on the album ''When I Am A Big Girl''.

After adding Tom Slater on guitar, the band moved towards a more psychedelic sound and introduced more serious songwriting for first album proper, ''Cutting The Heavenly Lawn Of Greatness...Last Rites For The God Of Love'' in 1985, described by ''Sounds'' as "a strange and somehow deeply moving LP" . The band released a further single but split up in 1986. Hammond announced that he was forming two new groups, The New New Seekers and The Time Beings, but neither materialized, and he continued to work as a music journalist under the pseudonym D.J. Fontana.

The band's Peel sessions were collected on the ''Fun On The Lawn Lawn Lawn'' album in 1986, and a retrospective ''Leicester Square'' was issued by Cherry Red Records in 2006, including several tracks recorded after the band had supposedly split.

Hammond later wrote the mythological travelogue ''London, England'' (Mainstream Publishing 1998) and ''Got Not Got: The A-Z of Lost Football Culture, Treasures & Pleasures'' (Pitch Publishing 2011), also compiling the BBC Radio 1 ''John Peel Show'' retrospective ''Perfect Unpop: ''Peel Show Hits and Long-Lost Lo-Fi Favourites'' (Vol. 1, 1976–80) (Cherry Red Records 2008).

The group reformed in 2012 including John, Derek and Tom from the 1980s line-up, Dermot O'Sullivan (bass) who played guitar on various later 1980s sessions, Antony Cook (drums) and Eva Landsberg (keyboards). In October 2013, Eva Landsberg quit due to pressure of work, and Fi Hodgson replaced her.

In January 2014, the group recorded five tracks for the album due for release later that year. ''Automatically Saturday'' was remixed by the DJ Arc Vel: and the digital single, "She Pulls the Petal From the Flower", was released on 2 June 2014 on Cherry Red Records, remixed in one dub version by Score and, in another, by the Birmingham, UK, instrument inventors, The Juneau Brothers. The band re-recorded "Another Side to Mrs. Quill", listed by ''Mojo'' magazine as one of the top fifty greatest English pop songs: the Art Collective 'Swoomptheeng' produced a re-mix of the track. The other two tunes were, "On the Queen's Highway" and "Up on the Downs".

Discography

(chart placings shown are from the UK Independent Chart)

Singles

*"Cottage Industry" (1984, In-Tape, IT008) No. 23
*"Beware The Weakling Lines" (1984, In-Tape, IT010) No. 8
*"Prick Up Your Ears" (1985, In-Tape, IT012) #6 came with ''The Yeah Yeah Noh Bumper Annual'' book
*"(Another Side To) Mrs. Quill" (1985, In-Tape, IT020) No. 10
*"Temple of Convenience" (1985, In-Tape, IT023/ITT023) No. 12
*''The Peel Sessions'' EP (1987, Strange Fruit, SFPS026)

Albums

*''When I Am A Big Girl'' (1985, In-Tape, IT016) (mini-LP, compilation of first three ep's) No. 22
*''Cutting The Heavenly Lawn of Greatness...Last Rites For The God Of Love'' (1985, In-Tape, IT021) No. 4
*''Fun On The Lawn, Lawn, Lawn'' (1986, Vuggum, BAAD2) (compilation of John Peel sessions) No. 13
*''Leicester Square: The Best of Yeah Yeah Noh'' (2001, Cherry Red, CDMRED183)
*''Automatically Saturday'' (2015, Vuggum, BAAD 003)

Current members

*Derek Hammond - vocals
*John Grayland - lead guitar
*Tom Slater - rhythm guitar
*Fi Hodgson - keyboards
*Antony Cook - drums
*Dermot O'Sullivan - bass guitar
*Sian Howarth - backing vocals

Former members

*Eva Landsberg - keyboards
*Adrian Crossan - bass guitar
*Sue Dorey - drums
*Graham Summers - drums
*Alan Jenkins - bass guitar

References

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Musical groups from Leicester