Mega City Four
Encyclopedia
Mega City Four were an English
indie/pop punk
band
who were popular in the UK
in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mega City Four consisted of guitarist
/vocalist Wiz, his brother and rhythm guitar
ist/vocalist Danny Brown, bassist
/vocalist Gerry Bryant and drummer
Chris Jones. According to Uncut
magazine, the group "earned a reputation across the globe as an exciting live band".
Mega City Four were formed in 1987 and the band's career started with performing gigs around their local town of Farnborough
before making their vinyl
debut in September 1987 with "Miles Apart"/"Running In Darkness". The single
led to a round of gigs
with fellow punk
-influenced bands like Senseless Things
and Snuff
.
"Miles Apart" and "Running" were reissued (separately) in 1988 on the independent label
Decoy, along with the more melodic "Distant Relatives" and "Less Than Senseless". A healthy following latched on to them, and supported the band's 1989 debut album
, Tranzophobia.
The band continued to tour extensively around the UK, across Europe
and over to North America
, working with bands including Les Thugs
, Ned's Atomic Dustbin
, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Doughboys
, amongst many others. The band's second studio album, Who Cares Wins (1990), was followed by a compilation album
of their early 7" singles, called Terribly Sorry Bob (1991). The band subsequently moved to a major record label to record
two further studio albums, Sebastopol Rd. (1992) (recorded by Jessica Corcoran at London's Greenhouse Recording Studios) and Magic Bullets (1993). After falling out with their record label, they moved to Fire Records to record their final studio album, Soulscraper (1996). In addition to their studio albums, the band also released a live album
, a Peel Sessions disc, and a number of singles. The British music journalist
, Martin Roach, wrote a biography of the band, "Mega City Four: Tall Stories and Creepy Crawlies", published in 1993.
The band had been together for over a decade when they broke up in early 1996. Wiz moved to Montreal
and joined Canadian
alternative rock
band, Doughboys
.
Wiz and Bryant continued playing together in Serpico after the demise of Mega City Four. After Serpico, Wiz went on to form Ipanema
, who were still playing and recording until late 2006.
Having just returned from a tour of the United States
, Wiz collapsed at a band rehearsal. It was announced on 7 December 2006 that Wiz had died at St. George's Hospital, Tooting
, South London
from a blood clot
on the brain
on 6 December.
The Forward 4 Wiz trust was set up in April 2007, in memory of Wiz’s approach to music and life.
British band Muse
released a cover
of the Mega City Four song "Prague", as a b-side
to their single "Resistance" on 22 February 2010. This was dedicated to Wiz, as Muse had been inspired by Mega City Four's music.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
indie/pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
who were popular in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mega City Four consisted of guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
/vocalist Wiz, his brother and rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist/vocalist Danny Brown, bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
/vocalist Gerry Bryant and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Chris Jones. According to Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
magazine, the group "earned a reputation across the globe as an exciting live band".
History
Wiz and Bryant were in a band together at school called 'Stallion', who performed two shows together (one at Cove Secondary School, where "Stallion will come for you" stickers were handed out, and the show was ended when the school cut the power) before Wiz decided he wanted to form a new band with Bryant and Danny Brown, named 'Capricorn', after the brothers' shared star sign.Mega City Four were formed in 1987 and the band's career started with performing gigs around their local town of Farnborough
Farnborough, Hampshire
-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...
before making their vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
debut in September 1987 with "Miles Apart"/"Running In Darkness". The single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
led to a round of gigs
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
with fellow punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
-influenced bands like Senseless Things
Senseless Things
Senseless Things were a British indie punk band, who were active on the UK festival circuit in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Career:Senseless Things formed around the musical partnership of songwriter Mark Keds and Morgan Nicholls , who as eleven year old schoolboys in Twickenham, Middlesex put...
and Snuff
Snuff (band)
Snuff are a British punk rock band formed in Hendon in 1986. Their name reportedly came about after a long discussion about names ended up with one of them claiming "That's Enough", which was then shortened to Snuff...
.
"Miles Apart" and "Running" were reissued (separately) in 1988 on the independent label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Decoy, along with the more melodic "Distant Relatives" and "Less Than Senseless". A healthy following latched on to them, and supported the band's 1989 debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Tranzophobia.
The band continued to tour extensively around the UK, across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and over to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, working with bands including Les Thugs
Les Thugs
Les Thugs are a punk band from France. The band were formed in 1983 with five members and were soon reduced to four in the same year: Eric Sourice on guitar and lead vocals, Thierry Meanard on guitar, Christophe Sourice on drums, and Gerald Chabaud on bass up until 1983. Chabaud was replaced by...
, Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge in West Midlands in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show. The band were unusual for using two bass players in their lineup: Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin...
, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Doughboys
Doughboys (band)
Doughboys were a Canadian alternative rock band that were active in the late 1980s and early/mid 1990s. The band was renowned for its musical blend of punk and pop-style melodies.-Early Years:...
, amongst many others. The band's second studio album, Who Cares Wins (1990), was followed by a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of their early 7" singles, called Terribly Sorry Bob (1991). The band subsequently moved to a major record label to record
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
two further studio albums, Sebastopol Rd. (1992) (recorded by Jessica Corcoran at London's Greenhouse Recording Studios) and Magic Bullets (1993). After falling out with their record label, they moved to Fire Records to record their final studio album, Soulscraper (1996). In addition to their studio albums, the band also released a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, a Peel Sessions disc, and a number of singles. The British music journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, Martin Roach, wrote a biography of the band, "Mega City Four: Tall Stories and Creepy Crawlies", published in 1993.
The band had been together for over a decade when they broke up in early 1996. Wiz moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and joined Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band, Doughboys
Doughboys (band)
Doughboys were a Canadian alternative rock band that were active in the late 1980s and early/mid 1990s. The band was renowned for its musical blend of punk and pop-style melodies.-Early Years:...
.
Wiz and Bryant continued playing together in Serpico after the demise of Mega City Four. After Serpico, Wiz went on to form Ipanema
Ipanema (band)
Ipanema were a British three piece rock band from Farnborough, Hampshire. They released two singles, one mini album and one full length album. The band finished and released its final recording in January 2008.-Early days:...
, who were still playing and recording until late 2006.
Having just returned from a tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Wiz collapsed at a band rehearsal. It was announced on 7 December 2006 that Wiz had died at St. George's Hospital, Tooting
Tooting
Tooting is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
from a blood clot
Thrombus
A thrombus , or blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. It is achieved via the aggregation of platelets that form a platelet plug, and the activation of the humoral coagulation system...
on the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
on 6 December.
The Forward 4 Wiz trust was set up in April 2007, in memory of Wiz’s approach to music and life.
British band Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
released a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Mega City Four song "Prague", as a b-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to their single "Resistance" on 22 February 2010. This was dedicated to Wiz, as Muse had been inspired by Mega City Four's music.
Singles and EPs
- "Miles Apart" / "Running in Darkness" (March 1988)
- "Clear Blue Sky" (November 1988)
- "Less Than Senseless" (March 1989)
- "Awkward Kid" (October 1989)
- "Finish EP" (1989)
- "There Goes My Happy Marriage EP" (1990)
- "Words That Say" (September 1991) (UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#66) - "Stop EP" (January 1992) (UK #36)
- "Stop" - Live Single (January 1992)
- "Shivering Sand" (May 1992) (UK #35)
- "Shivering Sand" - Live Single (May 1992)
- "Iron Sky" (May 1993) (UK #48)
- "Wallflower" (July 1993) (UK #69)
- "Wallflower" - Live Single (July 1993)
- "Skidding" (September 1995)
- "Superstar" / "Chrysanth" (1995)
- "Android Dreams" (February 1996)
Albums
- TranzophobiaTranzophobia (album)Tranzophobia was the first album recorded by Mega City Four. This was a post-punk indie band from Farnborough, England and the album was released in 1989 on Decoy Records, c/o Vinyl Solution.-Side 1:# "Start"# "Pride and Prejudice"...
(June 1989) (UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#67) - Who Cares WinsWho Cares Wins (album)Released in 1990. Who Cares Wins was Mega City Four's second studio album.- Track Listing :# "Who Cares?"# "Static Interference?"# "Rose Coloured"# "Grudge"# "Me Not You"# "Messenger"# "Violet"# "Rail"# "Mistook"# "Open"# "Revolution"...
(October 1990) - Terribly Sorry Bob (April 1991)
- Sebastopol Rd.Sebastopol Rd. (album)Released in 1992 on Big Life Records Sebastopol Rd was Mega City Four's third studio album.-Side 1:# "Ticket Collector"# "Scared Of Cats"# "Callous"# "Peripheral"# "Anne Bancroft"# "Prague"-Side 2:# "Clown"# "Props"# "Whats Up"# "Vague"# "Stop"...
(February 1992) (UK #41) - Inspiringly Titled - The Live Album (Spring 1992)
- Magic BulletsMagic Bullets (album)Released in 1994 on Big Life Records Magic Bullets was Mega City Four's forth studio album. The album was recorded at Metropolis Studios near Hammersmith, London.-Side 2:# "Enemy Skies"# "Wallflower"# "President"# "Shadow"# "Underdog"# "Greener"...
(1993) (UK #57) - Peel Sessions (1993)
- SoulscraperSoulscraper (album)Released in 1996. Soulscraper was Mega City Four's sixth and last studio album.- Track Listing :# "Android Dreams"# "The Dog Lady"# "Skidding"# "I Stop Breathing"# "Creepy Crawlies"# "Circles of One"# "I Know Where You Live"# "Superstar"...
(1996)