Eater are an early British punk rock band from North London who took their name from a Marc Bolan lyric.
In October 2001, the band's second single, "Thinking of the USA" (originally released in June 1977), was included in Mojo magazine's list of the best punk rock singles of all time. In 1999, the track also appeared on the five-CD Universal Records box set 1-2-3-4 Punk & New Wave 1976-1979.
Their sound has been characterized as "run-of-the-mill dole queue punk rock"and "basic boy-ish punk rock".
In 2022, Andy Blade collaborated with rock'n'roll band JoJo & The Teeth in a new incarnation of Eater. Starting with warm up gigs under the alias Ant.
The band was formed in 1976 by four high school friends from Finchley, North London: Anglo-Egyptian singer and guitarist Andy Blade (real name: Ashruf Radwan), guitarist Brian Chevette (real name: Brian Haddock) and Blade's brother, drummer Social Demise (real name: Lutfi Radwan).
The band's name came from a line in the 1970 T. Rex song "Suneye"; Eater later recorded a cover version of T-Rex's "Jeepster."
Eater were known for being one of the youngest bands, if not the youngest band, in the punk scene. They were 14–17 years old when they formed the group. "They were basically young kids, striving to master their instruments and out to shock", according to Up Yours! A Guide to UK Punk, New Wave & Early Post Punk.
Links to Peel[]
Peel praised the band on his Sounds column, published on 7th May 1977 and went to Dingwalls in London to see them perform. In the same column, he also mentioned looking forward to hearing their second single after playing their debut single on his show. He also had a copy of their debut album, The Album, in his Record Collection: E.
Shows Played[]
- 07 March 1977: Outside View (7") The Label (JP: 'Those are the Eater and none of them are more than 7 years old or whatever it is I forget exactly, and that's their debut single, on The Label')
- 08 March 1977: unknown
- 29 June 1977: Don't Need It (v/a album - The Roxy London WC2 (Jan - Apr 77)) Harvest
- 29 June 1977: Fifteen (v/a album - The Roxy London WC2 (Jan - Apr 77)) Harvest
- 30 September 1977: Jeepster (7" - Lock It Up) The Label TLR004
- 30 September 1977: Lock It Up (7") The Label TLR004
- 29 November 1977: You (album - The Album) The Label
- 29 November 1977: Lock It Up (album - The Album) The Label
- 29 November 1977: My Business (album - The Album) The Label
- 29 November 1977: Luv And Piece (album - The Album) The Label
- 1978
- 19 June 1978: Thinking Of The USA (7" - Get Your Yo Yo's Out (Eater Live E.P.)) Label
- 22 June 1978: Holland (7" EP - Get Your Yo Yo's Out (Eater Live E.P.)) The Label