Mud are an English

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band, formed in February 1966. Their earlier success came in a pop and then glam rock style, while later hits were influenced by 1950s

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

, and they are best remembered for their hit singles "

Dyna-mite Dagger Dagoth Dagoth is a demon who has clashed with Doctor Strange. Daken Dakimh the Enchanter Damballah Daniel Whitehall Daniel Whitehall is a British intelligence agent also known as the Kraken. An elite assassin and member of the t ...

" , "

Tiger Feet Tiger Feet is a popular song by the English glam rock band Mud, released in January 1974. Written and produced by the songwriting team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, it was the first of three number No. 1 singles for the band, in the UK Single ...

", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974, and "

Lonely This Christmas "Lonely This Christmas" is a Christmas song by the English glam rock band Mud, that topped the UK Singles Chart in 1974, selling over 750,000 copies and reaching Christmas number one. Song Written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, ...

" which reached Christmas number 1 in December 1974. After signing to Rak Records and teaming up with songwriters/

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Nicky Chinn Nicholas Barry Chinn (born 16 May 1945) is an English-American songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number- ...

and

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suz ...

, the band had fourteen UK Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1976, including three number ones.

History

Mud I

1966–1972: the early years

The band was founded by lead guitarist Rob Davis, lead vocalist Les Gray, drummer Dave Mount (born 3 March 1947, Carshalton; died 2 December 2006, St Helier Hospital, Carshalton) and bassist Ray Stiles (born 20 November 1946, Guildford, Surrey). The band released their debut single "Flower Power" on CBS in 1967, but were not immediately successful. Three further singles in 1967/68, "Up the Airy Mountain"/"The Latter Days", "Shangri-La"/"House on the Hill" and "Jumping Jehosophat"/"Won't Let It Go", made no impression on the UK Singles Chart. The band appeared on ''The

Basil Brush Basil Brush is a fictional red fox, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips. The character has ...

Show'' on

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

, and toured as support for Jack Jones.

1973–1976: the golden years

After years of unsuccessful singles, they were signed to Mickie Most's Rak

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

, and had three

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

successes in 1973 with "Crazy" (No. 12), "Hypnosis" (No. 16) and "

" (No. 4). At the peak of their career, they also enjoyed British

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

singles with "

"; and "

" (1974), an affectionate

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

pastiche; plus " Oh Boy" (1975), a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of the Buddy Holly

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, which also featured on their album ''Mud Rock Volume 2''. "Tiger Feet" sold over 500,000 copies in the UK and a million copies globally. Like contemporaries

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketone ...

, their most successful period came when their

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

were

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman: in 1975 they had seven singles in the UK Top 40 totalling over 45 weeks on the chart, the most by any artist in 1975. "Oh Boy" was the only number one single produced by Chinn and Chapman that they did not also write. "

" gets seasonal airplay on British

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and television, (along with

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

's "

Merry Xmas Everybody "Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth an ...

" and

Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartne ...

's "

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly ...

"). The band also embraced the burgeoning disco craze, as exemplified on their 1976 single "Shake It Down" which reached No. 12 in the UK chart. After "Tiger Feet" they released "The Cat Crept In" which reached No. 2 in April 1974, which was written to exploit Les Gray's vocal impression of Presley. Their next single "Rocket" reached No. 6 in the UK, after which they released another track from their album ''Mud Rock'', a cover of "

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition " Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was released by ...

". This was released under the name of "Dum" ("Mud" spelt backwards), but it failed to chart. After the success with "Lonely This Christmas", they cracked the

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

market with "The Secrets That You Keep", which reached No. 3 in February 1975. Around this time Mud wound up their contract with Rak releasing three further singles, " Oh Boy" (their third and final UK No. 1), "Moonshine Sally" (No. 10) and "One Night" (No. 32). Mud also split from Chinn and Chapman in mid-1975 and signed to Private Stock (licensed to

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

in Continental Europe). There they enjoyed three more British Top 20 hits within seven months: "L'L'Lucy" (No. 10), the ballad "Show Me You're a Woman" (No. 8) and the disco-influenced track "Shake It Down" (No. 12). The latter two singles saw them gradually moving away from glam rock, which was now unfashionable. Keyboardist Andy Ball, formerly of

Candlewick Green Candlewick Green were a five piece English pop group, formed in the 1970s. It is best known for its song, "Who Do You Think You Are" (1974), also recorded by artists such as Jigsaw and Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The group's name is an all ...

, joined the band briefly during this period, to be replaced in early 1978 by Brian Tatum. Their last single to reach the British charts was a cover of the

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

song " Lean on Me" which reached No. 7 in the UK in December 1976.

1977–1979: downfall to disbanding

"Lean on me" was followed by in 1977 Gray's solo version of " Groovy Kind of Love" on

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, which peaked at No. 32 in the UK. Also in 1977, with Private Stock in financial difficulties, the band moved to

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. Their first single on RCA was "Slow Talking Boy", a

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

song composed by

John Kongos John Theodore Kongos (born 6 August 1945) is a South African-born singer and songwriter of Greek ancestry, best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "He's Gonna Step on You Again", on which Happy Mondays based their hit " Step On". His other big ...

, and featuring Davis playing a Vox 12-string guitar-mandolin; they performed this song on BBC TV's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'', but without reaping any chart success. Mud's next single, "(Just Try) A Little Tenderness", was their final appearance on any major national chart, stalling at No. 98 in Australia. Three more singles, all cover versions, followed in 1978 before

dropped the band and Gray quit for a solo career. The original band continued for a short while with female vocalist Margo Buchanan in Gray's place, releasing an unsuccessful single for

Carrere Carrere or Carrère may refer to: As a name * Georges Carrère (1897–1986), French classical violinist * Edward Carrere (1906–1984), Mexican art director * Emmanuel Carrère (1957–), French author, screenwriter, and director * Fernando Car ...

, before finally disbanding in 1979.

Aftermath

Following the band's dissolution, Stiles joined the

Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...

; whilst Davis went on to co-write several highly successful dance hits for Kylie Minogue and Spiller featuring

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

. Drummer Mount went into the insurance business. Mount appeared on an episode of ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hos ...

'' on BBC Two in November 2005, and featured in the "spot the pop star of the past" identity parade segment. Mount died on 2 December 2006. He had been married twice and worked as a salesman latterly. His obituary appeared in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' newspaper. The last performance by the four original members was on 3 March 1990 at Dave Mount's wedding; a

video recording Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems ...

of which was made by Mount.

1980–2004: Les Gray's Mud

After the original band broke up in 1979, Gray reformed the band as 'Les Gray's Mud'. The initial lineup featured Stuart Amesbury (rhythm guitar) and Cherie Beck (backing vocals) of the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

-based Cherie Beck Band; together with Dale Fry (bass), Nick Richie (lead guitar) and Rob John (drums); with the latter two being replaced in 1983 by guitarist Tim Fish and drummer Mark Hatwood respectively. In 1985, a further lineup change saw Amesbury, Beck, and Fry depart the band; with the new lineup being rounded out by Kevin Fairburn on bass. In 1987, all members with the exception of Gray departed the band, and Gray brought in bassist John Berry, drummer Wole Rothe, and guitarist Syd Twynham as replacements. Rothe and Twynham had both been members of

Liquid Gold Liquid Gold was an English disco group, from Brackley in Northamptonshire. Their biggest success came in 1980 with " Dance Yourself Dizzy", which peaked at number two on the UK chart. Career Liquid Gold was formed by Ray Knott and Ellie Hope, w ...

prior to joining Mud. This lineup lasted until 1998 when Rothe was replaced by Phil Wilson, and the band underwent no further changes until Gray died in 2004.

2005–present: Mud II

Following Gray's death, the three remaining members were given permission by the other founding members of Mud, plus that of Gray's family, to continue using the band's name. Berry, Twynham, and Wilson then rechristened the band 'Mud II' and recruited keyboardist and longterm Mud collaborator Chris Savage. The following year, Berry left and was replaced by Marc Michalski, creating the lineup of the band which still continues to this day. A short version of "Tiger Feet" was played at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Personnel

Members

;Current members * Rob Davis- lead guitar, vocals (1966 –present) * Ray Stiles - bass guitar, lead vocals (1966 –present) * Keith Read - guitar (2015 –present) * Pete Phipps - drums (2015 –present) ;Former members * Les Gray - lead vocals, keyboards (1966–1978, 1980–2004; his death) * Dave Mount - drums, percussion (1966–1979; died 2006) * Andy Ball - keyboards (1974–1976) * Margo Buchanan - lead vocals (1978–1979) ;Mud II former members * Stuart Amesbury - rhythm guitar (1980–1985) * Cherie Beck - backing vocals (1980–1985) * Dale Fry - bass guitar (1980–1985) * Rob John - drums, percussion (1980–1983) * Nick Richie - lead guitar (1980–1983) * Tim Fish - lead guitar (1983–1987) * Mark Hatwood - drums, percussion (1983–1987) * Kevin Fairburn - bass guitar (1985–1987) * John Berry - bass guitar (1987–2005) * Wole Rother - drums, percussion (1987–1998)

Lineups

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:500 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:130 top:0 right:05 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Alignbars = justify Period = from:01/01/1966 till:21/06/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1970 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1966 Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 Colors = id:v value:red legend:Lead_Vocals id:g value:green legend:Lead_Guitar id:r value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_Guitar id:k value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass_Guitar id:d value:orange legend:Drums,_Percussion id:bv value:pink legend:Backing_Vocals LineData = layer:back width: 1 PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left bar:Les Gray from:start till:01/01/1978 color:v bar:Les Gray from:start till:01/01/1978 color:k width:3 bar:Les Gray from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2004 color:v bar:Les Gray from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2004 color:k width:3 bar:Margo Buchanan from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/1979 color:v bar:Rob Davis from:start till:01/01/1979 color:g bar:Nick Richie from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1983 color:g bar:Tim Fish from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1987 color:g bar:Syd Twynham from:01/01/1987 till:end color:g bar:Syd Twynham from:01/01/2004 till:end color:v width:3 bar:Stuart Amesbury from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:r bar:Andy Ball from:01/01/1974 till:01/01/1976 color:k bar:Chris Savage from:01/01/2004 till:end color:k bar:Ray Stiles from:start till:01/01/1979 color:b bar:Ray Stiles from:start till:01/01/1979 color:v width:3 bar:Dale Fry from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:b bar:Kevin Fairburn from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1987 color:b bar:John Berry from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/2005 color:b bar:Marc Michalski from:01/01/2005 till:end color:b bar:Dave Mount from:start till:01/01/1979 color:d bar:Rob John from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1983 color:d bar:Mark Hatwood from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1987 color:d bar:Wole Rother from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1998 color:d bar:Phil Wilson from:01/01/1998 till:end color:d bar:Cherie Beck from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:bv bar: width:15 align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 shift:(0,-5) from:start till:01/01/1979 text:Mud color:tan1 from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2004 text:"Les Gray's Mud" color:tan2 textcolor:white from:01/01/2004 till:end text:"Mud II" color:tan1 textcolor:black

Discography

*''Mud Rock'' (1974) *''Mud Rock Vol. 2'' (1975) *''Use Your Imagination'' (1975) *''It's Better Than Working'' (1976) *''Rock On'' (1978) *''As You Like It'' (1979) *''Mud Featuring Les Gray'' (1982)

References

External links

Mud biography at the Allmusic website

BBC Top of the Pops Mud section

Mud's discography, chart positions

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mud Musical groups established in 1968 English glam rock groups Musical quartets Rak Records artists