SLAUGHTERHOUSE 5 - Biography
At the end of Thatcher's decade of decadence and materialism, Slaughterhouse 5 was born in the gritty, depressed back streets of the Nottinghamshire coalfields. The band was the brainchild of Davy Lawrence (The Donovans Of Trash) and Graham Boffey (b-Movie). These were the two musicians who were to become the core of a fluid and dynamic band that ran through several incarnations - including various bass players, keyboardists and female vocalists - before finally settling on the line-up of Davy Lawrence (vocals, guitar), David Graham (bass, vocals), Steve Foster (guitar) and Graham Boffey (drums).
Fuelled by hope, lager and amphetamine, Slaughterhouse 5 embarked on a frenetic schedule of touring and recording, playing the usual toilet venues up and down the length of Britain and sometimes making it to the continent appearing at an assortment of summer festivals.
It was during this time that the boys appeared in the Warner Bros musical film extravaganza that was 'Bert Rigby, You're a Fool'. This was a cinematic vehicle designed to launch its star, Robert Lindsay, on a Hollywood career. Directed by Carl Reiner (The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains) and featuring, among others, Anne Bancroft, Robbie Coltrane and Bruno Kirby. Bert Rigby was a fantasy about a coal miner becoming famous, touring America and losing himself on the way. Filmed in exotic Barnsley, the 'Slaughts' played a band called Landed Gentry who beat Bert in a talent contest. The song featured was a Davy Lawrence creation entitled The Mansfield Miners Song…very fitting.
Whilst playing one of their numerous gigs in the capital, this time supporting Stiff Little Fingers at the Astoria, the band was spotted by EMI talent scout Gene "Chelsea" October, who appeared in Derek Jarman's seminal Punk film 'Jubilee', and were signed to IRS/EMI.
It was on the day after the last gig of the band's first headlining UK university tour - when they were all exhausted and decidedly over-hung - that Sh5 were quickly bundled into the studio to record the EP single Pathetic Girlfriend and then 3 weeks later the second single Things She Did, which was shortly followed by their debut album Wide Open. Upon its worldwide release, Wide Open quickly gained rave reviews from cult and college radio stations in the USA and Canada, and MTV Europe used the band's song Don't You Know? as the theme music for a ground-breaking fashion series.
Slaughterhouse 5's brand of high octane, hook-laden songs filled with poignancy and angst received wild acclaim form our North-American cousins as well as garnering excellent reviews from the UK music press.
Johnny Cigarettes from the NME brilliantly epitomised the Sh5 sound in a review of a Birmingham University gig saying:
"Think of 'What Do I Get' by the Buzzcocks, 'Here Comes The Summer' by the Undertones, and The Wonder Stuff's 'Unbearable' and you might get the idea."
The band continued to tour the UK supporting the likes of Blur, Orange Juice, Cornershop, Midway Still, Dodgy, Kinky Machine, Slade and a host of other acts whilst picking up national radio play, various glowing press features and all the time building an extensive, devoted fan base as they excitedly pranced around in front of the spangled backdrops of hundreds of English stages.
However, the punishing schedule of playing live, writing and recording songs - along with the infusion of so much speed and booze - couldn't be endured indefinitely and something was bound to give.
So it was on the eve of a US tour, when the band learned that IRS was going bankrupt and would not be supporting the East Coast dates that the boys had booked with Canadian rock band Dada, that Sh5 had to sit down and take stock.
Eventually, due to some ugly corporate backstabbing and a singular lack of funds, the band gradually became completely disillusioned. They hung up their guitars and put their drums in their flight cases and slowly but inevitably fell apart, ultimately going their separate ways.
Capitol Records re-released Wide Open in North America in 1995 and that version was mentioned on the Ultimate Band List website as '5 Gold Stars - a lost classic'.
So it goes.
But it is lost no more! Because in 2005, BigArena Records, an independent record company based in the UK, bought the rights to release the entire Slaughterhouse 5 back catalogue. About 50 songs in all made it to tape over the glorious 3-year period that the band was in existence. As well as re-releasing a brand new re-mastered version of Wide Open and a brand new single, You Only Need Me, a 'best of' compilation album The Ugliest Man In The World will also be available to buy from www.bigarenarecords.com in early 2006.
It is a stunning 38-track, 3 CD album featuring classic Sh5 songs, exclusive never before released material and loads of previously hard-to-find b-sides, covers, acoustic versions and oddities.
Finally, after their tour of duty in Slaughterhouse 5, Davy Lawrence and Graham Boffey went on to form Enormous.
But that's another story...