Monkey Steals The Drum was an English indie band from Ormskirk, West Lancashire, formed in the late 90's by lead singer/guitarist Christian Ashcroft, vocals/guitarist Philip Lee, vocals/bass Adrian Cunliffe, and drummer Angela Walker. The group were named after an African folk tale and only produced 2 singles, before disappearing in the 00's. In 2001, a debut album released on the Shifty Disco label was supposed to be coming, but failed to materialise and in 2006, singer/guitarist Christian Ashcroft tragically committed suicide.
In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, published in April 2000, singer Christian Ashcroft mentioned how Peel first heard his band's record:
"We did a demo on our own little eight-track, and sent it off to John Peel. Then, to be honest, I just forgot about it. The next thing I knew, I was lying in bed one morning and the phone went. It was him, saying how much he loved the demo. And it's not the kind of voice that you don't recognise, is it? He's played it a lot, we've done a session for him, and he also included us in his Peelennium - his end-of-the century best band round up. It has been really amazing recently, especially as we have only been together for about a year."[1]
Later in October 2000, the band did a second session, but after 2002, no music from the group ever got played by Peel.
