The Caretaker Race were an indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 band formed in East London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1986 when singer/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...

 Andy Strickland (also a part-time music journalist) left The Loft

The Loft (band)

The Loft were a British indie band, whose debut single was one of the earliest releases on Creation Records.- History :Formed in 1980 as The Living Room by Peter Astor , Bill Prince , Andy Strickland and Dave Morgan , the band changed its name when they discovered a local music venue also called...

. Strickland recruited Dave Mew (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

), Henry Hersom (bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

), and Sally Ward (keyboards

Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

). The band's name came from a Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 paperback adventure. Gaining comparisons with The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens

The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...

, they initially released a brace of singles on their own Roustabout Records label before signing to the Foundation label in 1989. Hersom left to join Bob

BOB (band)

-History:The initial line-up was Richard Blackborow , Simon Armstrong . Jem Morris , joined the duo in 1986, and, augmented with a drum machine, they recorded the band's first release, a flexi disc, released in 1986 on their own House Of Teeth label, and containing three short songs: "Prune ",...

, his replacement being ex-Flatmates

The Flatmates

The Flatmates, part of the mid 1980s British indie pop boom, were part of The Subway Organization, a Bristol record label formed by Martin Whitehead, who was also guitarist and main songwriter for the band....

 bassist Jackie Carrera, After two more singles on Foundation, the Stephen Street

Stephen Street

Stephen Street is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths in the 1980s, as well as Blur and The Cranberries in the 1990s. Street also collaborated with Morrissey on some of his most popular work after The Smiths broke up, playing instruments and co-writing songs...

-produced album Hangover Square was released in 1990. Sally Ward left to take up teaching, to be replaced by Andrew Deevey. The band split up in 1991.

Strickland also filled in on guitar for The Chesterfields

The Chesterfields

The Chesterfields were an English indie pop band from Yeovil in Somerset. Hardcore fans tended to refer to them as 'The Chesterf!elds', with an exclamation mark replacing the 'i', following the example of the band's logo....

in 1987.

Singles

• "Somewhere on Sea" (1987, Roustabout)
• "Anywhere but Home" (1988, Roustabout)
• "I Wish I'd Said That" (1989, Foundation)
• "Man Overboard" (1990, Foundation)
• "Two Steel Rings" (1990, Foundation)