Formed in at the Univeristy of
East Anglia,
Norwich in 1980, the Higsons are probably best known less for their music, and more for their ex-lead singer,
Charlie Higson aka Switch, who went on to co-write
The Fast Show and much of
Harry Enfield and
Vic Reeves' material.
The original line-up was as follows:
Charlie 'Switch' Higson (vocals, harmonica, piano)
Terry Edwards (guitar, saxophone, trumpet)
Stuart McGeachin (guitar)
Simon Charterton (drums)
Colin Williams (bass)
Dave Cummings (guitar) - although he left early on
The band orignally played under several different names, including the Higson 5, the Higson Brothers and the Higson Experience, but settled on the The Higsons in 1981, shortly before they were signed to Roman Records and released their debut single 'I Don't Want To Live With Monkeys' which appeared on an album called 'Norwich - A Fine City'. After heavy promotion after their discovery ot the Norwich Gala Rooms by champion of the bizarre Radio One DJ, John Peel invited them to record a session for him, and the airplay on his show caused their first release to peak at No. 2 in the indie record charts.
After being resigned to WAAP, the band released two more singles, 'The Lost And The Lonely' followed a year later by 'Conspiracy', before jumping ship to Chrysalis records where they released 'Tear The Whole Thing Down' and 'Run Me Down' before returning to WAAP to release 'Push Out the Boat'.
Yet another switch of labels occurred in 1983, when the band were signed by Uptight. Their first single for the new label was a cover of the Andy Williams song 'Music to Watch Girls By' which was followed by 'The Curse Of The Higsons'. The band signed to yet another label, EMI, to release their last single 'Take It' in 1985 before performing a farewell gig and splitting up in March, 1986.
A posthumous release by was made by WAAP, entitled 'Attack Of The Cannibal Zombie Businessmen' and in 1998 recently a compilation of their BBC sessions was relased on Hux records, called 'It's a Wonderful Life'
Nice...
Sources include:
music.excite.com/artist/-207966
http://micksinclair.com/sounds/higs.html
www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/h.htm