Half Man Half Biscuit are an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band, formed in 1984 in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

. Known for their

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

sardonic To be sardonic is to be disdainfully or cynically humorous, or scornfully mocking. A form of wit or humour, being sardonic often involves expressing an uncomfortable truth in a clever and not necessarily malicious way, often with a degree of sk ...

, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil Crossley, drummer Carl Henry, and guitarist Karl Benson.

History

Half Man Half Biscuit were formed by two friends from

, Neil Crossley and singer, guitarist and songwriter Nigel Blackwell who was (in his own words) at the time "still robbing cars and playing football like normal people do". In 1979, Blackwell was editing a football fanzine (''Left For

Wakeley Gage Wakeley Alexander John Gage (born 5 May 1958) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played in the Football League for four clubs, with the majority of his appearances coming for hometown club Northampton Tow ...

''); he met Crossley when he went to see the latter's band play.Kendal, Mark (2004) "Britain's Greatest Living Rock And Roll Satirist", '' The Word'', Unknown Issue, p. 42-46 In 1984, when Half Man Half Biscuit were formed, Crossley moved to bass and the two were joined by Nigel's brother Simon Blackwell (lead

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

) and his friend Paul Wright (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), both previously with a group called Attempted Moustache, presumably named after the album by

Loudon Wainwright III Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...

.Strong, Martin C. (1999) ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', Canongate, The quartet started to rehearse in the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

-based Vulcan Studios, where they soon turned a five-piece, with David Lloyd now on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. Their debut album, 1985's ''

Back in the DHSS ''Back in the DHSS'' is the first album released by the UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit (HMHB), in 1985. The album's title puns on that of the 1968 song " Back in the U.S.S.R." by The Beatles: referring to the high unemployment levels at th ...

'', topped the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

and reached number 60 in the

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

.Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980–1989'', Cherry Red Books, Its title was a play on

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " Back in the U.S.S.R." and also a reference to the

DHSS The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. His ...

, the government department that dealt with the unemployed, Nigel Blackwell having been on

unemployment benefits Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployment, unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are fun ...

since 1979.McCready, John (1985) "Tough Cookies", ''

New Musical Express ''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 ...

'', 14 December 1985, p. 11 The band's first single, "The

Trumpton ''Trumpton'' is a British stop-motion children's television series from the producers of ''Camberwick Green''. First shown on the BBC from January to March 1967, it was the second series in the Trumptonshire, ''Trumptonshire'' trilogy, which com ...

Riots", topped the British independent chart in 1986, and they went on to perform at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

. The second single, "Dickie Davies Eyes", also topped the indie chart. In late 1986, the band split up, giving as reason "musical similarities". The album ''Back Again in the DHSS'', containing previously issued, unreleased and live tracks, followed. The band reformed in 1990, with a performance at the

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

following, and a new single, "Let's Not", issued before the year was out, followed in 1991 by a collaboration with

Margi Clarke Margi Clarke (born 25 May 1954) is an English actress and radio and television presenter. She had a leading role in the film ''Letter to Brezhnev'' (1985), a low-budget film which had an international release. Later, Clarke played Jackie Dobbs ...

on a version of

Edith Piaf Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and vari ...

's " No Regrets". The third album was ''McIntyre, Treadmore And Davitt'', released in October 1991. By the time ''This Leaden Pall'' was released in 1993, Wright and Lloyd had left the band, with Carl Alty joining on drums. Simon Blackwell left the following year, with Ian S Jackson joining. Jackson (who later joined

Rooney Rooney may refer to: People *Wayne Rooney, English football manager and former player *Rooney family, of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise *Rooney (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Rooney (given nam ...

) and Alty (who joined Joyrider) departed in 1996, to be replaced by Ken Hancock (guitar) and Carl Henry (drums). Since reforming, the band have produced an album every three to four years. Half Man Half Biscuit were championed by DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, linked from for whom they recorded twelve sessions, and it was on his programme in 1990 that the band announced their return. Half Man Half Biscuit turned down the chance to appear on '' The Tube'', as

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

were playing that night, even though

Channel Four 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 i ...

offered to fly them by

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

to the game. Blackwell has been a fan of the team since "sometime after the

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

cup win in 1968". The band's styles parody popular genres, while their lyrics allude to UK

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

. Blackwell often refers to Wirral and to North

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, often in the context of

hillwalking Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much unculti ...

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

; he also appears fond of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

The West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

, and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. British or international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

, and the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

are referenced in his lyrics. As the 1990s progressed, Blackwell's love of blues and folk became more apparent. Bassist Crossley's tastes include late 1970s and early 1980s new wave or

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

bands, and during live sets HMHB have performed covers of acts as diverse as

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

Tommy James and the Shondells Tommy James and the Shondells are an American pop rock/psychedelic rock band, formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1964. They had two No. 1 singles in the U.S. – " Hanky Panky" (July 1966, their only RIAA Certified Gold record) and "Crimson and Clov ...

, and

Ike and Tina Turner Ike or IKE may refer to: People * Ike (given name), a list of people with the name or nickname * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States Surname ...

. In 2001, Blackwell provided the

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

for a BP television advert. HMHBNigel

In April 2010, the band's song "Joy Division Oven Gloves" from their 2005 album ''Achtung Bono'' was the subject of a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

campaign to get it to No. 6 on the chart for 12 April 2010, in response to the rumoured closure of the

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

-supporting radio station BBC 6 Music. The song reached No. 56 on 11 April 2010: this was their first

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

appearance. It also reached No. 3 in the Official Independent Singles chart the same week, and was No. 1 in the HMV UK Digital Downloads Top 40 Tracks on 16 April, knocking

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 ...

's song "

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

" off the top spot – itself part of a separate Facebook campaign the previous week. Victoria Loop has played live several times with the band on

tenor horn The tenor horn (British English; alto horn in American English, Althorn in Germany; occasionally referred to as E horn) is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family and is usually pitched in E. It has a bore that is mostly conical, like the flug ...

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, and bass guitar. She is affectionately known as 'The 5th Biscuit'. Ken Hancock played his last gig with the band in summer 2017, and was replaced at the end of the year by Karl Benson.

Reception

Andy Kershaw Andrew J. G. Kershaw (born 9 November 1959) is a broadcaster and disc jockey, predominantly on radio, and known for his interest in world music. Kershaw's shows feature a mix of country, blues, reggae, folk music, African music, spoken word ...

has described Half Man Half Biscuit as "England's greatest folk band" and "the most authentic British folk band since

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

". James Dodd on ''Bido Lito!'' praised (as many others did) Blackwell's "uncanny way of chronicling two of his greatest passions in life: television and small-town England".Dodd, James
Half Man Half Biscuit
''Bidi Lito!''. Issue No. 8. February 2011. p. 14.

Eliza Carthy Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson. Life and ca ...

praised the band for their "pathos disguised with wit and sarcasm", describing Blackwell as a "genius". Journalist

Ben Myers Benjamin Myers (born January 1976) is an English writer and journalist. Early life Myers grew up in Belmont, County Durham, and was a pupil at the estate's local comprehensive school where he become interested in reading and skateboarding. M ...

has described Blackwell's lyrics as "the antithesis of most rock songs, and iconoclastic in their total avoidance of cliche". Geoff Davies of Probe Plus recalled that after hearing a test pressing of ''Back in the D.H.S.S'', John Peel said "Geoff, what's this, I've just played the first side of this, what is it, tell me, it's just fantastic and all". Other famous Peel quotes about the band include "I've said it before, a national treasure, there's no question about it. When I die, I want them to be buried with me." (14 August 1996) and "In a decently ordered society, members of Half Man Half Biscuit would be routinely carried shoulder high through the streets of every city they visited" (10 July 1997). According to music writer

Paul Du Noyer Paul Du Noyer (born Paul Anthony Du Noyer; 21 May 1954) is an English rock journalist and author. He was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and educated at the London School of Economics. He has written and edited for the music magazines '' NME'', ' ...

: :"The genius of Half Man Half Biscuit is that they took just enough of Scouse culture to give themselves an edge, but kept their distance too. From their Wirral bastion they issue occasional dispatches of wry hilarity and downbeat, satirical bite. The songs of their leader, Nigel Blackwell, suggest a very real world of people too educated to be on the dole but too luckless or lazy to be anywhere else. They take a witty revenge on the drivel of popular culture, without denying their fascination with it. They seem flintily incorruptible, and scan the London music media with a mocking eye for cant." English writer

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill (born 3 July 1959) is an English writer. Beginning as a staff writer at the ''New Musical Express'' at the age of 17, she has since contributed to newspapers such as ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Guardia ...

has praised their "supremely clever and funny lyrics", and described the band as "punk with a sense of humour and a sense of perspective". References to Half Man Half Biscuit can be found on episodes of ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'', ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' and ''

Byker Grove Byker is a district in the east of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series '' Byker Grove'', Byker’s population was recorded at 12,206 in the 2011 census. Byker is borde ...

'', as well as an episode of ''

Football Focus ''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974 covering football, normally broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. From the 2009–10 season to the 2020–21 season Football Focus ...

'' and the BBC serial ''Elidor''. The cricket commentator David 'Bumble' Lloyd often makes reference to songs and lyrics in commentaries, often completely lost on other commentators working with him.

Discography

*''

'' (1985) *''

Back Again in the DHSS ''Back Again in the DHSS'' is the second album by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 1987. The album was released after the band had split up, and comprised Peel Sessions along with some new songs. " Dickie Davies Eyes" b/w "I L ...

'' (1987) *''

McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt ''McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt'' was released in 1991 by British rock band Half Man Half Biscuit as their third original album (their preceding album having been a compilation). It was the first album released after the band had reformed in ...

'' (1991) *''

This Leaden Pall ''This Leaden Pall'' is the fourth album by the English rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 1993. The album cover features a bleak overdeveloped picture of the now demolished Hale Wood pub in Halewood, Merseyside. In 2001 it was v ...

'' (1993) *''

Some Call It Godcore ''Some Call It Godcore'' is the fifth album released by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit in 1995. Track listing # "Sensitive Outsider" # "Fretwork Homework" # "Faithlift" # "Song for Europe" # "Even Men with Steel Hearts" # "£24.99 from Ar ...

'' (1995) *'' Voyage to the Bottom of the Road'' (1997) *''

Four Lads Who Shook the Wirral ''Four Lads Who Shook the Wirral'' is the seventh album by Wirral-based UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit (HMHB), released in June 1998. Critical reception * Stewart Mason, AllMusic: "Half Man Half Biscuit released this album within one c ...

'' (1998) *''

Trouble over Bridgwater Trouble may refer to: Film and television * Trouble (1922 film), ''Trouble'' (1922 film), an American silent comedy-drama film directed by Albert Austin * Trouble (1933 film), ''Trouble'' (1933 film), a British comedy film * Trouble (1977 film), ...

'' (2000) *''

Cammell Laird Social Club ''Cammell Laird Social Club'' is the ninth album released by Birkenhead-based UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, in September 2002. Critical reception * Stewart Mason, AllMusic: "''Cammell Laird Social Club'' is proof that for all their ...

'' (2002) *''

Achtung Bono ''Achtung Bono'' is the tenth album by UK indie rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 2005. In 2010, a Facebook campaign was mounted with the aim of saving BBC 6 Music from threatened closure and, as a sign of protest, to get "Joy Div ...

'' (2005) *'' CSI:Ambleside'' (2008) *''

90 Bisodol (Crimond) ''90 Bisodol (Crimond)'' is the twelfth studio album by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit. It was released on 26 September 2011 by Probe Plus. The inner sleeve includes a modified version of the painting ''Christ's Entry into Jerusalem'' by ...

'' (2011) *''

Urge for Offal ''Urge for Offal'' is the thirteenth album by UK Wirral-based rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released 20 October 2014 on Probe Plus Records. The album reached #68 on the UK album chart. Nigel Blackwell of Half Man Half Biscuit has discussed ...

'' (2014) *''

No-One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin' Hedge Cut ''No-One Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin' Hedge Cut'' is the fourteenth album by Wirral-based rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released on 18 May 2018 on Probe Plus Records. It is the highest-charting album in the band's hist ...

'' (2018) *''

The Voltarol Years ''The Voltarol Years'' is the fifteenth album by Wirral-based rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released on 25 February 2022 on the band's own R. M. Qualtrough label. It is their first album release since Probe Plus Probe Plus was a record ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

Official websiteThe Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics ProjectHalf Man Half Biscuit at the BBC
* {{Authority control English indie rock groups Musical groups from Merseyside Musical groups established in 1984 Comedy rock musical groups Musical groups disestablished in 1986 Musical groups reestablished in 1990 People from Birkenhead English post-punk music groups