The Bleach Boys are an English punk rock band, originally from

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, England, who have been together since 1976. Originally known as the Fur Coughs, the group's first gig was on 9 April 1977 supporting

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

at Hitchin College (now known as North Herts College). Their new name was given to them by the philosopher

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, and is a play on

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

. Over the years, the band have released a series of records including in 1978 their 7-inch single "Chloroform", which was featured in ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' as one of the most collectable punk singles. Recent releases have been all on CD, the latest being ''We've Got the Bomb'' released on their own Zombie International label. The most recent change in line up saw Rob Hague ex of

S*M*A*S*H Smash (normally typeset as S*M*A*S*H) are an English punk rock trio, who enjoyed brief notoriety in the early 1990s in the UK. S*M*A*S*H was formed by Ed Borrie (vocals, guitar), Salvatore Alessi (credited as Salv) (bass), and Rob Hague (drum ...

leaving to be replaced by Mark who became the ninth drummer to be used by the Bleach Boys. The band played the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, England, in 2010 and 2011 and earlier in 2011, recorded a new two track CD single with Andy Davis, who was responsible for their first CD. This was released in December 2011 and features the new songs "Guantanamo Baby" and "Deathlist 2". The band returned to Rebellion in 2016; the festival's 20th year. On 9 July 2010, the band played the ROTW festival in their hometown of Hitchin. The irony being that after 34 years of existence, they were on the "BBC Introducing" stage. Subsequently, a live recording of "Gauntanamo Baby" from the event was broadcast on

BBC Three Counties Radio BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Grove Park in Dunstable. According t ...

. The band's latest recording is a split vinyl single on No Front Teeth Records, featuring "Guantanamo Baby" and "Deathlist 2". In 2015, Frankenstein, the band's original founder and vocalist died after a long battle with leukaemia. The band organised a charity gig in Hitchin and raised thousands of pounds in favour of

Bloodwise Blood Cancer UK, (formerly Bloodwise, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research and the Leukaemia Research Fund) is a UK-based charity dedicated to funding research into all blood cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma, as well as offering informat ...

, the charity which provided support to his family. With the help of Rave Up Records from Rome, the band released a 12 vinyl single of old songs entitled ''Fur Cough from the Grave'', some of which were previously unreleased, specifically in Frankenstein's memory. September 2018 saw the band in Sound Savers Studio in Homerton, recording three tracks; "Tapeworm", "Plastic Sex" and "No Moral Fibre". These were released on vinyl and as downloads in December 201
No Moral Fibre
with a limited edition versio
limited edition

Discography

* "Chloroform" / "You've Got Nothing" – 7 inch single (1978) * "Stocking Clad" – 12 inch single (1982) * "Children of Wallyworld Go Wild for Kicks" – cassette (1983) * ''4 Cyclists of the Apocalypse'' – CD (1987) * "The Bicycle Song" – 7 inch single (1992) * ''Taking the O out of Country'' – CD (2002) * ''Brain Plug Ins Spaghetti'' – CD compilation (2004) * ''We've Got the Bomb'' – CD (2009) * "Guantanamo Baby" / "Deathlist 2" – CD single (2011) * "Guantanamo Baby" / "Deathlist 2" – split vinyl single (2014) * ''Fur Cough from the Grave'' – 12" inch vinyl album (2016) * "No Moral Fibre" / "Tapeworm" / "Plastic Sex" – 7" inch vinyl single (2018)

References

External links

Official website

A history of British Punk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleach Boys, The English punk rock groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom