Cud

Cud came crashing out of Leeds with Carl Puttnam singing, Mike Dunphy on guitar and keyboards, William Potter on bass and Steve Goodwin on drums, a bunch of indie oddballs with a jangly, loose-limbed swing and a sense of humor to match. They cut a Peel Session in June 1987, put out their first single, "Mind the Gap", on Reception Records, and followed it with two 12" EPs in 1988 on Nightshift and Ediesta.

"You Sexy Thing" dates from that year too, and by 1989, after a lot of touring and a lot of good press, they had signed to Imaginary Records. "Only a Prawn in Whitby" came the same year, a title that shows off the daft, pun-happy wit that made them such a treat. Imaginary put out three albums, including the singles collection Elvis Belt, before A&M signed them in 1991; three singles made the UK top 40 and two more LPs followed, but their fortunes faded and they called it a day in early 1995.

They came back in 2006 around a greatest hits release, with Felix Frey filling in for Dunphy until he returned. They're still at it: a co-headlining tour with the Boo Radleys in October 2023, and an all-day mini festival in Whitby called Only a Day in Whitby, which is just the kind of joke Cud would build a whole day around.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.