The Wonder Stuff
Origin	Stourbridge
Country	England
Years active	1986-current
Genres	Alternative rock
Members	Miles Hunt (vocals/guitars) Malcolm Treece (guitars/vocals) Andres Karu (drums) Mark McCarthy (bass) Erica Nockalls (fiddle)
Past members	Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones (bass) Martin Gilks (drums) Paul Clifford (bass) Martin Bell (fiddle/ banjo) Stuart Quinell (bass) Luke Johnson (drums)
Website(s)	www.thewonderstuff.co.uk

The Wonder Stuff are a band originally based in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in the Black Country, England. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen (King) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The present is the time that is perceived directly, not as a recollection or a speculation. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Alternative rock (also called alternative music or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. ... Miles Hunt (born 29th July 1966) was the singer / guitarist and songwriter for the Stourbridge (West Midlands UK), based pop band The Wonder Stuff. ... Martin Gilks (2 March 1965–3 April 2006) was a British musician. ... Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. ... The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. ... The Black Country is a loosely-defined area of conurbation to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton in the English West Midlands, around the South Staffordshire coalfield. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen (King) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate...

Career

The original line-up was Miles Hunt vocals, guitar (whose uncle Bill Hunt was keyboard player with Wizzard), Malcolm Treece guitar, vocals, Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones (died July 1993) and Martin Gilks the drums (died April 2006). The group originated from an earlier collaboration with group members of Pop Will Eat Itself (aka PWEI), called From Eden, which had Miles Hunt on the drums. Miles Hunt (born 29th July 1966) was the singer / guitarist and songwriter for the Stourbridge (West Midlands UK), based pop band The Wonder Stuff. ... This article refers to the 1970s rock and roll band. ... Martin Gilks (2 March 1965–3 April 2006) was a British musician. ... Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI, or the Poppies) was formed in Stourbridge, England and consisted of band members from Birmingham to the Black Country. ... A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer. ...

The Wonder Stuff were formed in March 1986, and soon built up a huge following and entering the studio in September that year to record a self financed first ep "A Wonderful Day". After signing with Polydor in 1987, the group released a series of snarling, witty pop singles. "Undearable", "Give Give Give, Me More More More", "A Wish Away" and "It's Yer Money Im After Baby" (their first top 40 entry) all featured on their debut long player "The Eight Legged Groove Machine" in August 1988 (UK #18) and getting a rare 9 out of 10 in the NME. The group then headed off on their first headling 19 date "Groovers On Manouvres" UK tour. By wanting to keep in with the tradition of releasing singles that were not on albums (as the Clash, the Jam & the Smiths did before them) they releasaed "Who Wants To Be The Disco King?" in March 1989, and after apearances at Reading and Glastonbury, and tours of Europe and the States they immediateley got to work on the second album.

"Don't Let Me Down, Gently" became their first top 20 hit in September 1989, which preceded "Hup" released in October (UK #5) another 24 date UK tour followed, and with a new member in Martin Bell, an accomplished fiddle and banjo instrumentalist, joined the band and Paul Clifford replaced Rob Jones on the bass in the Spring of 1990. Martin had contributed the fiddle and banjo on the new album (1989), notably on tracks "Golden Green" (a second single from "Hup"), "Unfaithful" and "Cartoon Boyfriend". The album was heavily influenced by The Waterboys "Fisherman's Blues" which had came out a year previous with the fiddle being prominent throughout. After another successful UK tour with a top 5 album and another top 20 single in "Circlesquare" in March 1990, the band now had two new members and a new approach for the new material that was to become their third album. New songs were road tested with the new members on a tour with The Mission in the summer of 1990. With only one single release in 1990 and no album yet ready they put out "Eleven Appalling Promos", a home video which showed Miles, Malc and Martin doing a commentary between each song. In December after receiving a Brit Award nominee the group opted not to play Wembley Arena, but instead answering a fans letter and playing at a school in Pontefract. The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation) A modern 5-string banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument of African American origin adapted from several African instruments. ... The electric bass guitar (or electric bass) is an electrically-amplified string instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, or using a pick. ...

The third album was started in late 1990 and completed early the following year. The first single from the new album was "The Size Of A Cow" in April 1991 their first top 10 hit reaching number 5 and was swiftly followed by "Caught In My Shadow" (UK #18) in May, before unleashing the third album "Never Loved Elvis" in June 1991. (UK #3) With Martin Bell now a full time member the new album was even more dominated by the fiddle and mandolin than "Hup". After this success came their first headling stadium show at Bescot which attracted 18,000 fans, before the group embarked on a 58 date world tour taking in the UK, Europe and the US. For the tour, the band was now augmented by keyboardist Peter Whittaker.

Just after the third single from the album "Sleep Alone" in September, the group scored a rare, but predictable, commercial success when they covered Tommy Roe's "Dizzy" with Vic Reeves in 1991, reaching the top of the charts for two weeks in November and certainly raising the bands profile. The band carried on touring into 1992 releasing single "Welcome To The Cheap Seats" (UK #8) in February, which was also to be the title of their rockumentary released on video that spring and filmed over eighteen months on the road with the band. Another 33 dates were added in 1992, with a further tour of the States on their own and supporting Siouxsie And The Banshees, plus an appearance on David Letterman, a further UK tour plus a headling slot at the 1992 Reading Festival, the group then settled down to begin work on the fourth album in late 1992 with recording commencing Spring the following year.

After previewing their new material at a few European summer festivals, a new single "On The Ropes" (UK #10) was released in September 1993 followed by the more harder sounding "Construction For The Modern Idiot" appearing in October 1993 (UK #4). Another single "Full Of Life (Happy Now)" came out just before Christmas while the band toured Europe before going to the States in February 1994. A third single "Hot Love Now" (UK #19) was released in time for the mammoth UK tour in March, and by the time the "Idiot Manouvres" tour came to an end it had actually been the longest tour they ever undertook with 78 dates since the albums release! After many discussions it was decided, just previous to a performance at the Gloucester Leisure Centre that the band would split. Everyone felt that the group was pulling into different directions, and although they had demoed new songs in 1994 they did feel that after four albums and eight years in they felt the time was right to do something else. A tour in May of the Far East had been cancelled and there was only one show to go that had been pre-arranged and had to be fulfilled.

The Wonder Stuff - Created March 1986 ~ Terminated July 1994

After four albums and seventeen singles they initially split on July 15th 1994 at a headlining performance at the Phoenix Festival near Stratford-on-Avon in front of over 60,000 fans. In September followed their 18 song "If The Beatles Had Read Hunter....The Singles" (UK #8), a re-issue of the "Unbearble" single (UK #16), and a video of their fairwell performance from July. The "Live In Manchester" album was released in July 1995 (although recorded in November 1991) a year after the split, and that wrapped up the band for the rest of the nineties at least.

During the split between 1994 and 2000, Miles Hunt was involved in several projects including the hosting of MTV's 120 minutes show. He then put together another band Vent 414 who's debut album was released in October 1996 and featuring ex Sensless Things Morgan Nicholls on bass and later Clash drummer Peter Howard. Then appearing as a solo artist with the live acoustic album "By The Time I Got To Jersey" in late 1998 featuring fellow Wonder Stuff member Malc Treece, "Hairy On The Inside" (again featuring Treece and another fellow Wonder Stuff member Martin Bell) in April 1999, and "The Miles Hunt Club" in April 2002. Meanwhile Malc Treece, Paul Clifford and Martin Gilks formed WeKnowWhereYouLive with Ange Dolittle from Eat. They gigged alot throughout 1995/96 releasing two ep's but then split up.

The Wonder Stuff Reform

Then came the announcement in the NME July 2000 that exactly six years after their last performance The Wonder Stuff were reforming. Miles Hunt, Malcolm Treece, Martin Gilks, Martin Bell and Peter Whittaker together with new bassist Stuart Quinell were reforming to undertake a one off concert at London's Forum in December of that year. This soon became five sold out nights as demand to see the band increased. Also during this time their four albums had been reissued with bonus tracks and a compilation of b.sides, demos and live tracks, "Love Bites & Bruises" hit the shelves in November.

More live performances continued into 2001 with the release of a live album "Cursed With Insincerity" in June, and more concerts came in 2002. A dvd release "Construction For The Modern Vidiot" in May 2003 had selected highlights from the 2000 to 2002 shows and then a further tour was announced in December 2003.

The band had been considering putting a new album out which they had talked about on and off since the reformation. However after a December 2003 concert at Birmingham's NIA original members Martin Gilks and Martin Bell left the band due to apparent musical and business reasons. Peter Whittaker and Stuart Quinell too followed suit. Though Miles Hunt and Malc Treece decided to carry on with the name and bring in additional people.

In 2004 it was revealed that The Wonder Stuff's first new album for over a decade, "Escape From Rubbish Island", was to be released in September that year with "Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight" and the title track becoming singles. The new line-up however now included for this album with Hunt and Treece plus Luke Johnson (ex-Amen) and Mark McCarthy (ex-Radical Dance Faction). Andres Karu replaced Luke Johnson on drums for the ensuing Rubbish Island tour in 2004 and 2005

This line-up continued into 2006, with the addition of violinist Erica Nockalls, for the release of their new album "Suspended By Stars" in March and the single "Blah Blah La Di Dah" which was only available either on the album or through most music download services including iTunes or Napster. This article is about about the iTunes application. ... Second version (revised 2001) of Napster logo: Cat wearing headphones. ...

Sadly in April 2006 original Wonder Stuff drummer Martin Gilks was killed from a motorcycle accident in London. A charity was set up and donnations kindly made. An online book of condolence was also set up with fans leaving messages from all over the world, a testament to Martin's talent and the bands enduring appeal. A dedicated fansite also put together a double album by Martin's post Wonder Stuff band WeKnowWhereYouLive featurng unreleased studio and live tracks, that came out in December 2006 with profits going to charity.

Currently a double live Wonder Stuff album is to be released in June 2007 featuring BBC recordings from 1987 and 1989, and also their headling performances at Reading 1992 and Phoenix 1994. Miles Hunt is currently on tour promoting his "Not An Exit" solo album, while the band hopes to release their seventh album in the spring of 2008.

The Wonder Stuff album discography

• The Eight Legged Groove Machine (August 1988, UK #18)
• Hup (October 1989, UK #5)
• Never Loved Elvis (June 1991, UK #3)
• Dizzy (single, with Vic Reeves) (1991, UK #1)
• Construction for the Modern Idiot (October 1993, UK #4)
• If The Beatles Had Read Hunter ... The Singles (compilation, September 1994, UK # 8)
• Live In Manchester (live, July 1995)
• Love Bites and Bruises (compilation of B.sides & unreleased tracks, November 2000)
• Cursed With Insincerity (live June 2001)
• Escape From Rubbish Island (September 2004)
• Suspended By Stars (Feb 2006)
• The BBC Sessions (June 2007)

The Eight Legged Groove Machineis the debut album from The Wonder Stuff from August 1988 Red Berry Joy Town No, For The 13th Time Its Yer Money Im After, Baby Rue The Day Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More Like A Merry Go Round The Animals And... Hup(1989) - The Wonder Stuffs second album Track List 1. ... Never Loved Elvis is a 1991 album by The Wonder Stuff. ... Dizzy is a song originally recorded by Tommy Roe which was a worldwide smash in 1969. ... James Jim Roderick Moir, more commonly known by the pseudonym Vic Reeves, (born January 24, 1959) is an English comedian, best known through his double act with Bob Mortimer (see Vic and Bob). ... Construction For The Modern Idiot is the fourth album from October 1993, and was The Wonder Stuffs last studio album before their split on July 15th 1994. ... If The Beatles Had Read Hunter. ... Love Bites And Bruises(2000) a compilation of B-sides, rare and live tracks from The Wonder Stuff Track List: 1. ...

The Wonder Stuff singles discography

• "It's Not True" (2/1987)
• "Unbearable" (9/1987)
• "Give Give Give Me More More More" (25/4/1988) 72
• "A Wish Away" (11/7/1988) 43
• "It's Yer Money I'm After Baby" (19/9/1988) 40
• "Who Wants To Be The Disco King?" (6/5/1989) 28
• "Don't Let Me Down Gently" (18/9/1989) 19
• "Golden Green" / "Get Together" (6/11/1989) 33
• "Circlesquare" (7/5/90) 20
• "The Size Of A Cow" (8/4/1991) 5
• "Caught In My Shadow" (20/5/1991) 18
• "Sleep Alone" (2/9/1991) 43
• "Dizzy" (Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff) (21/10/1991) 1
• "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" (20/1/1992) 8
• "On The Ropes" (20/9/1993) 10
• "Full Of Life (Happy Now)" (22/11/93) 28
• "Hot Love Now!" (21/3/1994) 19
• "Unbearable" (Re-Release) (5/9/1994) 16
• "Better Get Ready For A Fist Fight" (18/10/2004) 95
• "Bile Chant" / "Escape From Rubbish Island" (21/2/2005) 104
• "Blah Blah, Lah Di Dah" (30/1/2006)
• "The Sun Goes Down On Manor Road" (2006)
• "Last Second Of The Minute" (2006)

James Jim Roderick Moir, more commonly known by the pseudonym Vic Reeves, (born January 24, 1959) is an English comedian, best known through his double act with Bob Mortimer (see Vic and Bob). ... Welcome to the Cheap Seats was a single by The Wonder Stuff, from the 1991 album Never Loved Elvis. ...

Miles Hunt solo albums discography

• Vent 414 (Miles Hunt's post Wonder Stuff bands one & only album, October 1996)
• Miles Across America (an acoustic collection of Wonder Stuff, Vent 414 & new tracks, November 1998)
• By The Time I Got To Jersey - Live Acoustic (also known as "Common Threads", November 1998)
• Hairy On The Inside (April 1999)
• The Miles Hunt Club (May 2002)
• Interloper - Live Acoustic Summer 2006 (October 2006)
• Not An Exit (April 2007)

Solo singles & EP's

• Fixer - Vent 414 (September 1996)
• Life Before You - Vent 414 (November 1996)
• Life's Great (EP May 2000)
• Five Songs (EP December 2000)
• Everything Is Not Ok (April 2002)

External links

• Official Site
• Message Board
• Miles Hunt Interview
• BBC News - Wonder Stuff drummer dies at 41
• Miles Hunt Interview on Badvibes.net