THE ACADEMIC HAMILTONS
Formed 1980 by Dave Finney and a group of school friends.
Original line up was Dave Finney (vox), Tony Billings (gtr and keys), Rob Kenton (bass), Martin Samuels (drums). I'd known Dave for may years - we edited The Outsider fanzine together - and I joined in 1981.
The band got into recording demos and building up a local following. About a year later Martin Samuels left to pursue a highly-succesful sports journalist career. His replacement was Paul Oscar Ross, of psychedelic-legends Treatment
We bagged a publishing deal and were soon hitting the London circuit - Dingwalls, the Moonlight Club, the Clarendon, Rock Garden, The Marquee and all the other places on what was a thriving live music scene. We got some good support slots - including Jools Holland, Time UK and The Blow Monkeys - and started getting record company and music press interest. However, like so many bands "musical differences" were to split the band in two.
The core band mutated into The Company She Keeps and went on to have a minor hit (featuing Rik Mayall in the video) and Tony and I formed The Festival, which showed some promise but never made it to gigging stage
TAH were variously described as post-punk, New Wave and "edgy suburban paranoia". They brought together influences diverse as 60s garage, The Fall, psychedelia, classic British pop, Motown, existentialism, The Residents and Matt Monroe....
Today not much remains except for some live recordings, a few demos and some photos - if anyone has any more I'd love to know!
GEAR:
GODWIN ORGAN
ROLAND STRING MACHINE
CARLSBRO COBRA 90 AMP
VARIOUS EFFECTS
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