Cud

Cud are a British indie rock band formed in Leeds, England in 1987, consisting of vocalist Carl Puttnam (born Ilford, Essex), guitarist/keyboardist Mike Dunphy (b. Northumberland), bassist William Potter (b. Derby), and drummer Steve Goodwin (b. Croydon, Surrey).

Though an indie rock band, their music incorporated elements of funk.^{[citation needed]} They were critically acclaimed throughout their career, but never broke through to a mainstream UK record-buying audience.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

The four-piece formed in Leeds in 1987, reportedly when they discovered a discarded drum kit in a skip.^{[citation needed]} They recorded a Peel Session on the 16 June 1987 before they had released any records, John Peel being sufficiently impressed by the demo tape that they had sent him. The band signed to The Wedding Present's Reception label for their first single "You're The Boss", with their second release being the "Peel Sessions" EP , released on Strange Fruit Records in February 1988 - this was notable for a cover version of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" which had already featured in the Festive 50 at number 20.

After building up a strong local fanbase, their popularity grew more widely, and they were signed by Imaginary Records in 1989, who would release their first two albums, When in Rome, Kill Me and Leggy Mambo. 1991 saw Cud beginning to make an impact on the UK Singles Chart, and they signed to the major label A&M. They subsequently reached the Top 40 in 1992, with "Rich and Strange" (#24) and "Purple Love Balloon" (#27), as well as reaching number 30 in the UK Albums Chart with fourth album Asquarius.^[1] A further Top 40 hit single followed in 1994 with "Neurotica". However, their moderate success and cult status was short lived, after they failed to overcome musical differences, as well as major label A&M having a problem with the band's attitude.^[2] As a consequence of this, 1994's Showbiz would be their last album. Potter was replaced by Mick Dale, who would later join Embrace, shortly before the band split entirely in early 1995. Mike Dunphy now teaches design technology (DT) at Tadcaster Grammar school.

On 21 November 2001 Puttnam returned to the music scene with Donkey With a Fez On, an album of previously unreleased demo material originally intended for release after the Showbiz album. This was followed by a live performance at the 12 Bar Club in London. Puttnam was accompanied by Alaric Neville and David Lazenby on guitars, and Michael Hurst on melodion and percussion. The performance was subsequently released on CD in 2002 as Chateau de Carles. Both Donkey With a Fez On and Chateau de Carles were not on general release, and could only be obtained by mail order from the mysterious Gabriel Tonka (almost universally believed to be Puttnam).^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Cud reformed to support the release of a double album of their greatest hits entitled Rich and Strange - The Anthology which was released in August 2006 on Universal Records, alongside a brief UK tour to promote it. Dunphy was replaced by Felix Frey on guitar for the tour. The same line-up again reformed for a short tour early in 2008 to support the expanded re-releases of Elvis Belt (now a double album entitled Elvis Belt/Elvis Handbag), Leggy Mambo and Showbiz. At Cud's gig at the Barfly in Liverpool on 6 March 2008 Puttnam suggested, contrary to suggestions on Cud's homepage, that the latest tour would be Cud's last. On 27 April 2008, Cud announced that their final ever gig (entitled "No more Cud!") would take place in Rios Leeds on 3 May 2008. To commemorate the event, a limited-edition CD single was sold, which was supposed to feature a new recording of "Punishment-Reward Relationship", along with live versions of "Now!", "Only", "Living in the Past" and "Strange Kind of Love". This was distributed as a blank printed CDR with the tracks to follow shortly afterwards. To date the songs have not been forthcoming.

2010 gigs

Cud are scheduled to reform (with Puttnam, Goodwin, Potter & Frey once again) for a series of three gigs (on separate Saturdays) in March, 2010, to be held at the Hootananny Club in Brixton, London.^[3]

Discography

UK singles

1. "Mind the Gap" (Reception 1987)
2. "The Peel Sessions: Cud" (UK Strange Fruit 1988)
3. "Under My Hat" (UK Ediesta 1988)
4. "Slack Time" (UK Dug/Nightshift 1988)
5. "Lola" (UK Imaginary MIRAGE 1989)
6. "Only (A Prawn in Whitby)" (Imaginary MIRAGE 1989)
7. "Hey! Wire" (UK Imaginary MIRAGE 1990)
8. "Robinson Crusoe" (UK Imaginary MIRAGE 1990)
9. "Backdoor Santa" (fanclub flexi-disc 1990)
10. "Magic" (UK Imaginary MIRAGE 1991)
11. "Oh No Won't Do" (UK A&M 1991) UK #49
12. "Through the Roof" (UK A&M 1992) UK #44
13. "Rich and Strange" (UK A&M 1992) UK #24
14. "Purple Love Balloon" (UK A&M 1992) UK #27
15. "Once Again" (UK A&M 1992) UK #45
16. "Cud's Ode to Christmas Joy" (fanclub flexi-disc 1992)
17. "Neurotica" (UK A&M 1994) UK #37
18. "Sticks and Stones" (UK A&M (1994) UK #68
19. "One Giant Love" (UK A&M 1994) UK #52

^[1]

UK albums

1. When in Rome, Kill Me (1989)
2. Elvis Belt (1990)
3. Leggy Mambo (1990)
4. Asquarius (1992) UK #30
5. Showbiz (1994) UK #46
6. Rich and Strange - The Anthology (2006)

^[1]

References

External links

• The Official Cud website
• The Unofficial Cud Arkhive
• Space-CUDets (the website not the fan club)
• Idiot Dog Discography
• BBC h2g2 Biography
• Rios Leeds Website