Crushed Butler were a British proto-punk/ hard rock band that existed between 1969 and 1971. According to 2008's ''

Pretty Vacant "Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 2 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', released during t ...

: A History of UK Punk'', the band "was, in many ways, Britain's first proto-punk band." Band members went on to form Darryl Read's Beat

Existentialist Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...

s and The Gorillas, as well as pursue solo careers.

History

Crushed Butler formed in 1969 with a line-up of Jesse Hector (guitar, vocals), Alan Butler (bass guitar) and

Darryl Read Darryl Michael Roy Read (19 September 1951 – 23 June 2013) was a British singer, guitarist, drummer, actor, poet and writer. In the late 1960s, Read was a member of Crushed Butler, considered by some to be amongst the forerunners of proto punk ...

(drums).Heibutzki, Ralph " Crushed Butler Biography, ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

'', Macrovision Corporation, retrieved 27 September 2009 They initially played cover versions of other bands' songs, before writing their own original material. They dressed with ripped slash-neck T-shirts, studded belts and straight legged Levi jeans, and their aggressive and energetic live performances, blew many a name top act of the stage, from the Lyceum to the Guildford Civic – they were

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

ic and a group to be reckoned with. The band auditioned and recorded for several

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s including

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

and

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

, but failed to secure a deal. For their 1970 session for EMI, they were only allowed to record their own "Factory Grime" song after recording producer Roger Ferris' choice, "Love Is All Around Me". The label's aversion to "Factory Grime" saw them lose interest in the band.Heibutzki, Ralph " ''Uncrushed'' Review, ''

'', Macrovision Corporation, retrieved 27 September 2009Ankeny, Jason " Jesse Hector Biography, ''

'', Macrovision Corporation, retrieved 27 September 2009 In early 1971, the band changed their name to Tiger, and the line-up also changed to include Barry Mitchell, formerly a member of an early version of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

.Hodkinson, Mark (2004) ''Queen: The Early Years'', Music Sales, , p. 128 As Tiger they were managed by

Neil Christian Neil Christian (born Christopher Tidmarsh, 14 February 1943 – 4 January 2010) Related session musicians *Paul Brett * Jimmy Page *Ritchie Blackmore *Nicky Hopkins *Albert Lee *Mick Abrahams *Carlo Little See also * One-hit wonders in the U ...

of The Crusaders, and Arthur Anderson joined the band on bass guitar. However, they still were unable to secure a record deal and the band split up in late 1971 when Read took up a job as a songwriter at

Track Records Track Record (a.k.a. Track Records) was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the rock group The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the United Kingdom. The most succe ...

. Hector and Butler continued as Helter-Skelter and went on to form The Hammersmith Gorillas (later shortened to The Gorillas), while Read pursued a solo career, as well as working as an actor. Read's works included three albums (Beat

(1991) and Freshly Dug (1999) with Ray Manzarek and ''Bleeding Paradise'' in 2007. Read was killed in a motorcycle accident in June 2013 in Thailand. Crushed Butler's recordings were eventually released in 1998 by Dig The Fuzz Records on the ''Uncrushed'' album.

Discography

Singles

* "It's My Life" b/w "My Son's Alive" (2010) vinyl single Windian Records USA

Albums

* ''Uncrushed'' (1998) 'First Punks from the British Underground 1969–1971', Dig the Fuzz records – (first release on 10 inch vinyl) * ''Uncrushed'' (2005), RPM records – reissued as ''Uncrushed: First Punks from the British Underground 1969–1971'' CD album (bonus track) * ''Uncrushed'' (2005), Madstar Records Germany – reissue CDBABY digital distribution * ''Uncrushed'' (2009) Radio Heart Beat Records (with new bonus track on 12" vinyl) * ''Uncrushed'' (2013) Last Years Youth Records Germany (with poster and extras on 10" vinyl)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1971 English rock music groups Musical groups from London Protopunk groups