Catherine Wheel

Catherine Wheel were an English alternative rock band from Great Yarmouth. The band was active from 1990 to 2000, experiencing fluctuating levels of commercial success, and embarking on many lengthy tours. Catherine Wheel formed in 1990, comprising singer/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson), guitarist Brian Futter, bassist Dave Hawes, and drummer Neil Sims. Hawes had previously played in a Joy Division-influenced band called Eternal. They took their moniker from the firework known as the Catherine wheel, which in turn had taken its name from the medieval torture device of the same name. The band was sometimes included in the shoegazing scene, characterized by bands that made extensive use of guitar feedback and droning washes of noise, as well as their continuous interaction with extensive amounts of effects pedals on the stage floor. However, Catherine Wheel had a more song-oriented style than their peers.

Links To Peel
Peel heard the band through a small indie label named Wilde Club Records, who the group were signed to. After inviting them to perform a session for his show in 1991, the band triggered a record label feeding frenzy following their appearance, but although the likes of Brian Eno's Opal and Alan McGee's Creation were clamouring for their signatures, the band elected to join the recently resuscitated major Fontana.

The band were predominately played by Peel between 1991 and 1992, but by the time the shoegazing music genre melted away, the group rarely got played by the DJ and the band's music started to change into a more metallic hard rock sound until they split in 2000.

Festive Fifty Entries

 * 1991 Festive Fifty: Black Metallic #15

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1991-04-09. Broadcast: 04 May 1991
 * She's Me Friend / Shallow / Black Metallic / Painful Thing

Other Shows Played

 * 1991
 * 1992
 * 1992