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Serious Drinking

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Serious drinking

Serious Drinking were a humourous punk rock band from Norwich, England, whose lyrical themes often covered football and drinking.

The band formed in February 1981, taking their name from a Sounds headline to an interview with the Cockney Rejects, with most members having met at the University of East Anglia. Band members were Martin Ling (vocals), Eugene Rodgers (vocals), Andy Hearnshaw (guitar, formerly of the Farmer's Boys), Jem Moore (bass), Pete Saunders (keyboards, also known from Dexys Midnight Runners) and Lance Dunlop (drums).

Their debut EP, 'Love On The Terraces' (produced by Madness's Mark Bedford) reached number 9 on the UK Indie Chart in 1982, with follow-up 'Hangover' reaching number 4 the following year. Debut album 'The Revolution Starts at Closing Time' also reached number 4, and was followed up in 1984 by a second album, 'They May Be Drinkers Robin, But They're Still Human Beings'. After another single, "Country Girl Became Drugs and Sex Punk", Moore and Dunlop left the band. The new line-up continued with sporadic gigs.

A compilation of their finest moments, 'Stranger Than Tannadice - The Hits, Misses and Own Goals' was released in 1990 on the Worker's Playtime label, to coincide with the 1990 World Cup, with a couple of singles also emerging in the 1990s.

(Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel

Serious Drinking emerged from Norwich in the early 1980s as part of a local music scene strongly supported by Peel, who lived in the same East Anglia region. Guitarist Andy Hearnshaw was previously with fellow Norwich outfit the Farmer's Boys, while Terry Edwards of the Higsons also played occasionally with Serious Drinking.[1]

The band became regulars on Peel's show, recording four sessions and reaching #38 in the 1982 Festive Fifty with debut single 'Love On The Terraces', played on release by Peel on successive nights. The first and fourth sessions were repeated as best-of-year Festive Fifty Session Broadcasts in 1982 and 1983.

The DJ no doubt enjoyed the band's humour and football references. The first Peel session included a cover of You'll Never Walk Alone (broadcast as 'Walk Alone') as part of a series of session versions of the Anfield anthem for a proposed (but never realised) compilation album project.

Festive Fifty Entries

Sessions

Four sessions. 'Baby I'm Dying A Death' from #3 released on b-side of Hangover (7”, 1983, Upright Records UP 5)

Serious Drinking - Peel Session 1982

Serious Drinking - Peel Session 1982

1. Recorded 1982-04-26. First broadcast 06 May 1982. Repeated 27 May 1982, 15 July 1982, 20 September 1982, 23 December 1982

  • Spirit Of '66 / Love On The Terraces / Hangover / He's An Angry Bastard But I Like Him / Walk Alone

2. Recorded 1982-09-13. First broadcast 27 September 1982. Repeated 29 November 1982

  • R.G.B / Countdown To Bilko / 12 X U/Bobby Moore Was Innocent / Drugs / Yours Or Mine

3. Recorded 1983-01-10. First broadcast 13 January 1983. Repeated

  • Don't Shoot Me Down / Revolution Starts At Closing Time / Wonderful World Beautiful People / Baby I'm Dying A Death

4. Recorded 1983-09-26. First broadcast 03 October 1983. Repeated 27 December 1983.

  • Closer Closer / Go For The Burn / Weird Son Of Angry Bastard / Our Time

Other Shows Played

1982
1983
1984
  • 02 January 1984: He's An Angry Bastard (But I Like Hime) (7" - Love On The Terraces) Upright
  • 31 January 1984: Countdown To Bilko (LP - The Revolution Starts At Closing Time) Upright
  • 04 February 1984 (BFBS): Countdown To Bilko (LP - The Revolution Starts At Closing Time) Upright
  • 27 February 1984: The Revolution Starts At Closing Time (album - The Revolution Starts At Closing Time) Upright
1985
1986
1988
  • 13 April 1988: 12XU / Bobby Moore Was Innocent (LP - The Revolution Starts At Closing Time) Upright (Peel reveals to listeners and to Andy Kershaw's embarrassment in the studio that Kershaw sang a few bars of Serious Drinking's 'Bobby Moore Was Innocent' when they performed live in Berlin.)
  • 23 April 1988 (BFBS): 12XU / Bobby Moore Was Innocent (LP - The Revolution Starts At Closing Time) Upright
1990s
  • 11 July 1990: Love On The Terraces (LP - Stranger Than Tannadice) Workers Playtime
  • 09 August 1990: Hangover (LP-Stranger Than Tannadice) Workers Playtime
  • 30 July 1994: Blitzkreig Bop (CD - No Fish Is Too Weird For Her Aquarium) Stim
2000s

See Also

External Links

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