The Photos album.. (Laugh? I actually bought one)

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Back in 1980 (swirl swirl)...

Unknown band sees the debut album straight into number four...

Suspicion: The free cameras for chart return ticks may have had something to do with it...

The band: DJM punk band "Satan's Rats" of "You make me sick" fame (not bandwagon jumpers at all, no) get teamed up with Wendy Wu, a girl singer (think debbie harry with brunette) and Boom, they hit big.

And die an immediate death.

Now, the album itself is mostly corporate new wave. But the free album "The Blackmail tapes" is a fine piece of "Recorded in a garage" lowfiness.

Did anyone else actually get one? or am I the only legitimate purchaser? I didn't even get a free camera!

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

I have had this since its release. I recall some of the melodies and Wendy's voice being quite good, but most of the lyrics were naff. As this type of stuff goes, it's not as good as Holly and the Italians, but better than Sue Saad and the Next. I only have the standard American release without blackmail tapes, and have never heard this.

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 13:41 (twenty years ago)

I bought a single by them but not the album

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 13:41 (twenty years ago)

My sister's fiancee used to work with the singer from Satan's Rats at some kind of Driving License authority near Worcester. Satan's Rats were from Evesham I think, so I guess he stayed local.

Never heard of this band though.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 13:48 (twenty years ago)

Popping back to amend my opinion of Wendy's voice from "quite good" to "interesting" -- IIRC, she had kind of a pinched, Clare Grogan thing goin' on, but I liked it. Thanks to ILX, I shall be spinning this tonight for the first time in well over a decade!

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

One of the tracks was "Do you wanna dance" done in a Carole King way, until halfway they broke into a more ramonesy version...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

There was (maybe still is?) a gang of bikers called Satans Rats, who I remember particularly used to hang out 'round the Greyhound Fulham in the early '80's.

Never knew if there was any link between them and the band of the same name....

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

If any of them are called "Steve Eagles" or "Ollie Beak" then yes.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

I never asked.

I do remember that one of them had a glass eye which he used to hold over his head supposedly so he could see the band while he was at the bar; and another one had a huge metal contraption sticking out of his arm in two or three places which I assumed was holding bits of fractured bone together while they set; and they all looked extremely ferocious and smelled of stale sweat, stale lager, stale puke and stale piss; and Lemmy obviously knew them pretty well, if that's any help?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/satans.rats.html

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

"Satan's Rats formed in Evesham, Worcestershire in January 1977, with an average age of just seventeen...."

Definitely not the bikers then - they were a lot older than that.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

I saw The Photos supporting either The Undertones or The Damned (can't remember which) at Cambridge Corn Exchange in Autumn 79. They were OK, but then I hadn't been going to gigs for long and so was excited about seeing anyone. "I'm So Attractive" was the single that I remember; I had it on the same Peel cassette as the early previews of Metal Box and a rather good Specials session, and so it got played rather a lot...

But really, #4 in the charts... I ask you. Can't believe they all got away with it!

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

They did not get away with it.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

Perhaps they suffered from overexposure.

My favourite track off the album was the epic, vaguely Spectoresque 'Now You Tell Me That We're Through', but everyone else seemed to hate it so perhaps it was just me.

Wendy Wu had a fine, distinctive voice but too many of the songs were Blondie-by-numbers and they were never gonna have a second album in them.

― Dead Kenny (Dead Kenny), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

They did record a second album, produced by Tony Visconti.
Here's a live version of one of the songs:

http://s51.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2WYPKHIT2K6N914I5DKTJ8LA0L

― Oliver C (...Oliver), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

I saw The Photos support Squeeze at Malvern Winter Gardens, so it was a pretty local gig for them. The Photos seemed a lot more interested in playing than Squeeze did; maybe it was the local support, though if my memory serves me, there was a bomb scare at the interval. I had a copy of the album & The Blackmail Tapes; played them a lot.

Mike Read used to champion The Photos on his Radio One evening session; think he had a thing about Ms Wu.

If you're really interested...http://lostbands.blogspot.com/2005/06/photos.html gives some info.

― PB, Saturday, 20 August 2005 18:43 (twenty years ago)

I was a big fan of the Photo's when I was at school. I bought I'm so Attractive, then the Irene/Barbarrella's EP, then the album - I got the Blackmail tapes, but no free camera.

There were a couple of other singles released after the album; A Life In a Day (which unlike all the other stuff sounds dated now) and We'll win.

I just came across a tape I made off the radio of them live at Aston Uni. I played it last night (hence finding this board) and it sounded pretty good. Their set started with that Final Scene song.

I saw them live a few times, I even got to meet a few of them, but that was after even Wendy was dropped by Epic - they got back together and played at the Marquee (though Olly had gone to Art Collage by then).

I loved all the flanger guitaring, the wandering basslines and Wendy's nasally vocals....take me back to 1979!

― tim starns, Monday, 22 August 2005 13:27 (twenty years ago)

Nice that even after the Photos got dropped in favour of Wendy solo, they still friends...

Art Collage? Did Olly Beak blend in, then?

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 22 August 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago)

Okay, listened to the LP again over the weekend, twice! Wendy's nasally vocals OTM, lyrics as weird as I remember. (Attractalene? Stonene?) My biggest surprise after not hearing this for maybe 15 years was that they sound much less like Blondie than they do The Police. The reggae verses going into the repetitive, three chord rave-up chorus are totally Outlandos d'Amour. TS: Irene vs. Roxanne.

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 22 August 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

eight months pass...

Belated adder

Wendy made one last record with Steve Visage Strage - Strange Cruise

Steve Eagles went on to form Bang Bang Machine (another female singer) and had a Peel Festive 50 No 1 with the amazing Geek Love, 2 albums and a number of singles released.

Any live tapes/CDR's greatly apreciated

― Tim Brooks, Thursday, 4 May 2006 01:02 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

Having just moved house and prised open a box that had been locked for 15 years, hey waddya know - it's all the vinyl i locked away when i got into CD in the late 80s. Amongst the pile of new wave loveliness was this album by the Photos (with the very rough bonus Blackmail tapes but no camera). Did a quick google to see whatever happened to them and found this thread - like Tim, this is a late posting from the original. The Photos as Blondie? Nah, and I really liked early Blondie. Stuck it on my new hi-fi and turned back the years. 1979 ruled! All the current guitar bands should be forced to listen the new wave greats from 78-80 to see how it should be done. Still, the current sounds are a thankful return to decent music after the years of Stock, Aitken, Waterman and boy band crap that followed new wave.

― Duncan Evans, Saturday, 20 May 2006 17:33 (twenty years ago)

Oh, Crystal Tips

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v439/OOO/wendywu.jpg

― Oliver C (...Oliver), Saturday, 20 May 2006 20:32 (twenty years ago)

Crystal Tips & Mighty Mice is slskable in some godawfully fusty poor quality form, I downloaded this (for the title) before I knew anything about the band and the first album and the 'number 4' thing. what actually happened re. this? Was the nefarious aspect of their chart success acknowledged at the time? and so forth.

― Alex in Doncaster (Alex in Doncaster), Saturday, 20 May 2006 20:56 (twenty years ago)

The free cameras were given to shops as a 'promotional device' to push the first LP.
NME hated The Photos and detailed this 'abnormal marketing' by CBS at the time, labeling the band 'pure product'.

Steve Eagles told me he would like the 2nd album to be released officially. I prefer it to the debut.

― Oliver C (...Oliver), Saturday, 20 May 2006 21:27 (twenty years ago)

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