Those Naughty Lumps

Where did it all begin. A bunch of students from Liverpool University. All obsessed with music although with wildly diverse tastes. After a particularly enjoyable gig featuring the awesome three-axe attack of Lynyrd Sknyrd they resolved to form their own band. It was the summer of 1976. They had all just passed – by a miracle – their finals at Liverpool University and thought that they could be the next rock sensation despite never having played any musical instruments. The original line-up was Pete ‘Kid’ Younger, Pete Hart, Pete Brown, Steve Nelson and Tony Bayliss. They played a couple of gigs at parties and slowly began to master the instruments they had randomly bought from various junk shops. Soon Pete Hart wisely gave up the guitar, Tony Bayliss and Pete Brown even more sensibly left the band and the first steady line-up appeared. Tony Mitchell – known to himself but few others as Max Facktor - a local Scouser they met in the pub, came in first on drums and then switched to guitar. The band was complete when they were joined by Kev Wilkinson on drums. First Line-Up Pete Hart (vocals), Pete Younger (Lead Guitar), Tony Mitchell (Rhythm Guitar), Steve Nelson (Bass) & Kev Wilkinson (Drums) The band were managed by Frances Crook, a strong-minded individual, who more than compensated for the dilettante and drunken elements lurking within the band. In retrospect it is evident that without her input the band would have got even less far than they did. Frances booked them gigs here, there and everywhere, insisted that they rehearse and placated irate promoters. The band played over 100 gigs including a residency at The Havana, the Masonic and even the legendary Eric’s – although they were never much appreciated by Roger Eagle. Tours were organised with forays to London, York, Leeds and Manchester. Gradually they got better, even learning their instruments, although a tendency to erratic behaviour within the band was never quite eradicated. What the band had in their favour was a surprising ability to write decent melodic songs: Hart, Mitchell and Younger were churning out catchy poppy/punk songs of which the stand-outs were Iggy Pop’s Jacket, New Wave and I’m Gonna Die. Hart’s lyrics were really funny or really nasty – it all depended on your perspective. In the end time caught up with them – they had too much to learn and simply lacked the dedication to throw in the towel on real life to take the plunge as ‘pop stars’. Perversely as the band were breaking up the remnants went into the recording studio with Bill Drummond of Big in Japan who wanted the ‘Lumps’ to record on the new Zoo label he was setting up with Dave Balfe. In 1978 they recorded Iggy Pop’s Jacket and Pure and Innocent with Julian Cope playing bass, Bill Drummond on lead guitar and Gerry Culligan on sax. Iggy Pop’s Jacket was a minor cult hit, but all of Zoo’s energies were devoted to Teardrop Explodes – and who can argue with that? Second Line-Up Pete Hart (Vocals), Kev Wilkinson (Drums), Bobby Carr (Lead Guitar), Gordon Anderson (Rhythm & Lead Guitar), Martin Cooper (Bass) The first band split as Pete Younger left to play bass with Pete Wylie in Wah-Heat, Tony Mitchell reluctantly accepted his responsibilities as a new father and ‘sensible’ Steve Nelson finally came to his senses – so the band were looking for new blood. Despite their famous local advert ‘Time Wasters Only’, the three new recruits were all competent musicians. The new line-up hit the ground running and it was apparent that Gordon and Martin were both excellent songwriters – new ‘classic’ Lumps material spurted out continuously. Down at the Zoo, Love is a Reflex, I’m so Shy, Confusing You and many more. A recording of their first gig at the Masonic exists and the band were clearly working up to something good. But Frances Crook moved to London and without her leadership the band began to slip back into drunkenness and regret. They recorded an EP at Open Eye Studios in 1979 (Down at the Zoo, Ice Cream, I’m Gonna Die and Love is a Reflex, but it sank without trace. There was simply no-one to promote it – although it did gather good reviews from those who managed to hear it. Tensions increased in the band and Martin, who had a fine bass profundo voice was keen to promote his own singing career. In the end both Martin and Bobby left – they would go on to form the rather wonderful ‘Moderates’ with John Brady. Third Line-up Pete Hart (Vocals), Kev Wilkinson (Drums), Gordon Anderson (Rhythm & Lead Guitar), Dave Hoatson (Lead Guitar) and Dave Cadwallader (Bass) This was perhaps the great ‘lost’ Liverpool band. Gordon had got the bit between his teeth and songs poured out of his every orifice. Hart’s lyrics had slightly matured, becoming more complex although still rooted in comedy and deep personal insecurity. One of the most popular was the majestic Hero, a strange song that mingled wistful longing with barely suppressed erections on the local omnibus. The songs were great, the musicianship was fine, the stage performances were lively, but they still had no management. It was soon evident that they were once again drifting and in the winter of 1980 after a brief change of name to ‘The Clerical Error’ they broke up. Pete went off to work at the Imperial War Museum in that there London, Kev into academia at the University of East Anglia, Gordon eventually went to far-off Australia while the two Daves seemed to just vanish from human ken!

And there the story might have ended.

Fourth Line-Up Pete Hart (Vocals), Kev Wilkinson (Drums), Tony Mitchell (Rhythm Guitar), Dave Toller (Sax), Andy Reeves (Lead Guitar), Lewis McWIlliam (Bass), Bobby Moore (Vocals), Julia Cadman (Sax) and Martin Papier (Keyboards) In 2010 Pete Hart began to get frustrated with his jazz/rock/punk London band known as ‘The Fabulous Applelips Brothers’. The band were great instrumentally, but had lacked a songwriter with the ability to churn out new pop classics in the fashion of Tony Mitchell, Pete Younger or Gordon Anderson. In November 2010, Pete put together a pick-up version of Those Naughty Lumps to play a one-off gig at Maddens Bar in sunny East Finchley in North London. So it was that after a couple of hours of rehearsal Pete Hart, Gordon Anderson (fortuitously on a visit from Down Under), Pete Younger (Bass) and Tony Mitchell, all aided and abetted by Pet’s chums Martin Papier and Andy Reeves from the Applelips Brothers. What was it like? A rough recording betrays much fun and laughter – most obviously emanating from the older, but not that much wiser, Frances Crook! But there was something there still! The corpse of the Lumps was still twitching! Soon Pete had left the Applelips Brothers and was working towards a full scale Lumps reunion. Starting with just Pete Hart and Tony Mitchell, they recruited another vocalist in Bobby Moore to help boost Pete’s ever-frail voice, then Dave Toller – once a ‘roadie’ but now a ‘proper’ saxophone player. Kev, recently retired and free from the demands of ‘the Man’, was delighted to climb aboard the drums again. What was needed was musical expertise and the band chose wisely in selecting local Scouser Lewis McWilliam to play bass and brought in the wonderful Andy Reeves from the Applelips Brothers. Andy brought a mingled subtlety and scary violence to the guitar parts, while additional input on sax from Julia Cadman (for Liverpool gigs) and Martin Papier on keyboards when in London brought further musical class. They gigged whenever they could gaining a considerable new following and reawakening the interest of many of their former ‘fans’. New songs poured out with two solid gold classics attracting much attention in Heart Attack and Backdoor Banging. When they noticed they were drifting – the ‘Lumps Disease’ - they this time went into the studio to record an album NOT QUITE TEN. What resulted amazed everyone. Thirteen tracks mixing the old and the new songs. Brand new versions of Iggy Pop’s Jacket, Ice Cream and New Wave appear alongside a couple of Tony’s masterpieces – My Kinds Woman and These are the Days now sung by Tony himself as Pete at last moved to a new collegiate approach for the ‘Lumps’. Then there is Pete singing both Heart Attack and Backdoor Banging, alongside the more disciplined catchy pop of I got You. Another new classic bursts out of the speakers with Park My Bike sung by newcomer Bobby Moore. Sitting seamlessly alongside them are old favourites that had never been recorded like Invisible Man, Hero, New Wave and Omelette Love all now made flesh. Perhaps most touching of all is Lumps Lament a truly heartstring tugging composition by Mitchell/Hart which sums ups the pathos and pride of having been a Naughty Lump ‘back in the day’. Where now – onwards and upwards, bringing chaos, laughs and irritation to a whole new generation.