The Hamsters
Encyclopedia
The Hamsters are a band from Southend-on-Sea
, Essex
, England
.
They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion
, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987. They initially played in local pubs with no ambitions to take themselves seriously or to turn professional. As the band ethos is to combine humour with music two members of the original band (now all three) use light-hearted and parodying pseudonym
s as stage name
s. The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on vocals
and guitar
, Rev Otis Elevator on drum
s and Andy Farrell on bass
. Andy Billups, aka Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, replaced Farrell on bass in 1988.
The band's name was based on a pseudonym used by the Sex Pistols
.
" as a parody of the Hendrix "Electric Ladyland
" album. There was also a limited run of vinyl LPs of the album.
and ZZ Top
. and thus they are called a blues rock band. These covers only make up a small part of their playlist, the majority being Americana
.
. In 1991 they performed a small tour in the US. The group has been described as "the hardest working band in the UK". In 2000, the Hamsters were runners-up
in the best blues rock band category, voted on by the readers of Blueprint. They contributed a track for the BBC Radio 2
series "Bright Lights, Big City" documenting the story of British Rhythm and Blues from the fifties to the modern day and presented by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman
, and was broadcast in late 2001. They performed at the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 London Guitar Shows at the Wembley
entertainment complex.
In 2003 the Hamsters performed two live sessions on Paul Jones'
BBC Radio 2
blues show. The track "Taxi Driver" from their Open All Hours
album was included in Classic Rock magazine's
(August 2006 issue) '100 Blues Anthems'.
They have supported such artists as Albert Collins
and Status Quo. During 2006 and 2007 they joined Wilko Johnson
and John Otway
to perform The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous
tour.
The band have been Whispering Bob Harris'
featured band on his BBC Radio 2
radio show on several occasions.
In October 2008 the band announced that their track "Route 666" (from the Route 666 album) was selected by producer/director Neil Jones to be played over the end credits
of a low budget British horror film
titled Stag Night of the Dead.
, the band announced that on their 25th anniversary they would be splitting the band so the individual members could retire from the music business. They also announced that their last show would be performed on 31 March 2012. The venue for the last show was not announced.
music scene for many years. He formerly played in various Essex
-based bands including Dr Feelgood
, the Kursaal Flyers
and the Old Pals Act (with bassist Dave Bronze
and Robin Trower
's brother Brad). He was voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC
.
Slim also contributes technical articles to guitar magazines, and was featured in the September 1994 edition of Guitar Techniques. Slim was asked by the magazine to contribute a monthly recorded lesson on how to play the blues for inclusion on the CD which accompanied every issue. He was also included in the Guitarist Magazine Book of Guitar Players, published in 1994. In 2007 Slim was interviewed as part of a 3-hour video documentary about the Fender Stratocaster
titled Stratmasters, and in August 2008 he was interviewed by Guitarist
for their October 2008 issue.
as a musician. Before joining the Hamsters, worked with various Top 40 bands, as well as playing radio and TV jingles.
He also provides back-up vocals and plays bass during the traditional Hamsters' finale.
, affecting his right hand. He was replaced by Dave Bronze
. In 1994, after having re-learned the bass using a custom-designed thumb-pick, he rejoined the band when Bronze left to join Eric Clapton
's band.
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England
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...
.
They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion
Cliffs Pavilion
Cliffs Pavilion is a live theatre in Station Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, which seats 1,630 and offers an assortment of variety acts....
, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987. They initially played in local pubs with no ambitions to take themselves seriously or to turn professional. As the band ethos is to combine humour with music two members of the original band (now all three) use light-hearted and parodying pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s as stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
s. The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, Rev Otis Elevator on drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s and Andy Farrell on bass
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...
. Andy Billups, aka Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, replaced Farrell on bass in 1988.
The band's name was based on a pseudonym used by the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
.
History
Their first performances were in local pubs in and around Southend as a part of the area's well-known R&B scene which had begun in the 1960s; they initially formed for their own amusement and didn't take themselves too seriously. Their bookings quickly started to increase as an increasing number of local music fans requested venues to book them. Eventually it was decided to turn pro and slowly they started getting bookings from venues further afield. During 1988-1990 they released a limited run of four cassette releases of their music until they released their first CD in 1990, titled "Electric HamsterlandElectric Hamsterland
Electric Hamsterland was The Hamsters first CD release and consists entirely of Jimi Hendrix covers. This was the only time they recorded an album of totally non-original material...
" as a parody of the Hendrix "Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland
Electric Ladyland is the third and final album of new material by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in October 1968 on Reprise Records, catalogue 2RS 6307. It is the only Hendrix studio album professionally produced under his supervision. It topped the Billboard 200 album chart for two weeks in...
" album. There was also a limited run of vinyl LPs of the album.
Influences
The Hamsters have been called Britain's leading interpreters of the music of Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
. and thus they are called a blues rock band. These covers only make up a small part of their playlist, the majority being Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
.
Work schedule
As of March 2009, the Hamsters are in their 21st year and claim to have performed more than 4,000 shows. They have constantly toured throughout UK and occasionally mainland EuropeContinental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. In 1991 they performed a small tour in the US. The group has been described as "the hardest working band in the UK". In 2000, the Hamsters were runners-up
Runner-up
Runner-up is a term used to denote a participant which finishes in second place in any of a variety of competitive endeavors, most notably sporting events and beauty pageants; in the latter instance, the term is applied to more than one of the highest-ranked non-winning contestants, the...
in the best blues rock band category, voted on by the readers of Blueprint. They contributed a track for the BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
series "Bright Lights, Big City" documenting the story of British Rhythm and Blues from the fifties to the modern day and presented by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
, and was broadcast in late 2001. They performed at the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 London Guitar Shows at the Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
entertainment complex.
In 2003 the Hamsters performed two live sessions on Paul Jones'
Paul Jones (singer)
Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
blues show. The track "Taxi Driver" from their Open All Hours
Open All Hours (album)
Open All Hours is The Hamsters ninth album. It was recorded during a hectic touring schedule June/July 2003.The band's notorious self-deprecating humour came to the fore with the artwork for this particular album...
album was included in Classic Rock magazine's
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
(August 2006 issue) '100 Blues Anthems'.
They have supported such artists as Albert Collins
Albert Collins
Albert Collins was an American electric blues guitarist and singer whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across the US, Europe, Japan and Australia...
and Status Quo. During 2006 and 2007 they joined Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
and John Otway
John Otway
John Otway, is an English singer-songwriter, who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.-Biography:...
to perform The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous
The Mad, the Bad & the Dangerous
The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous Tour was a national UK tour by The Hamsters, The Wilko Johnson Band, and John Otway with his guitarist Richard Holgarth. It is also the name of the DVD recording of the tour.-The tour:...
tour.
The band have been Whispering Bob Harris'
Bob Harris (radio)
Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
featured band on his BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
radio show on several occasions.
In October 2008 the band announced that their track "Route 666" (from the Route 666 album) was selected by producer/director Neil Jones to be played over the end credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
of a low budget British horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
titled Stag Night of the Dead.
Retirement
On 13 March 2011, via their website and FacebookFacebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, the band announced that on their 25th anniversary they would be splitting the band so the individual members could retire from the music business. They also announced that their last show would be performed on 31 March 2012. The venue for the last show was not announced.
Snail's-Pace Slim
The Hamsters' lead singer and guitar player, Snail's-Pace Slim (Barry Martin) has been part of the SouthendSouthend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
music scene for many years. He formerly played in various Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
-based bands including Dr Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood (band)
Dr. Feelgood are a British pub rock band formed in 1971. The band's name derives from a slang term for heroin or for a doctor who is willing to overprescribe drugs. It is also a reference to a 1962 record by the American blues pianist and singer Willie Perryman called "Dr Feel-Good", which...
, the Kursaal Flyers
The Kursaal Flyers
The Kursaal Flyers were a British pop and country music band, formed in Southend-on-Sea in 1973, who "bridged the gap between pub rock and power pop".-Original members:*Paul Shuttleworth , vocals...
and the Old Pals Act (with bassist Dave Bronze
Dave Bronze
Dave Bronze is an English bass guitarist. The musicians he has worked with include Robin Trower, Dr...
and Robin Trower
Robin Trower
Robin Leonard Trower , known professionally as Robin Trower, is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum during the 1960s, and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio.-Biography:...
's brother Brad). He was voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC
LBC
LBC Radio operates two London-based radio stations, with news and talk formats. LBC was Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, providing a service of news and information to London. It began broadcasting on 8 October 1973, a week ahead of Capital Radio...
.
Slim also contributes technical articles to guitar magazines, and was featured in the September 1994 edition of Guitar Techniques. Slim was asked by the magazine to contribute a monthly recorded lesson on how to play the blues for inclusion on the CD which accompanied every issue. He was also included in the Guitarist Magazine Book of Guitar Players, published in 1994. In 2007 Slim was interviewed as part of a 3-hour video documentary about the Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
titled Stratmasters, and in August 2008 he was interviewed by Guitarist
Guitarist (magazine)
Guitarist is a monthly music making magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The magazine features reviews of newly released guitars, amplifiers and other equipment, plus interviews with guitar players, features on the guitar industry, news articles, and features on playing...
for their October 2008 issue.
Rev Otis Elevator
Rev Otis Elevator is the drummer of the Hamsters. He was born in Edmonton in 1951 and is largely self-taughtAutodidacticism
Autodidacticism is self-education or self-directed learning. In a sense, autodidacticism is "learning on your own" or "by yourself", and an autodidact is a person who teaches him or herself something. The term has its roots in the Ancient Greek words αὐτός and διδακτικός...
as a musician. Before joining the Hamsters, worked with various Top 40 bands, as well as playing radio and TV jingles.
He also provides back-up vocals and plays bass during the traditional Hamsters' finale.
Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist
Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist (Andy Billups) is the current bass player. He replaced original member Andy Farrell in 1988. In 1992 he left the band, after he was diagnosed with focal dystoniaDystonia
Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder, in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. The disorder may be hereditary or caused by other factors such as birth-related or other physical trauma, infection, poisoning or reaction to...
, affecting his right hand. He was replaced by Dave Bronze
Dave Bronze
Dave Bronze is an English bass guitarist. The musicians he has worked with include Robin Trower, Dr...
. In 1994, after having re-learned the bass using a custom-designed thumb-pick, he rejoined the band when Bronze left to join Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's band.
Pseudonyms
As the band always intended to combine humour and music and wanted to remain relatively anonymous, they decided to adopt light-hearted stage names:- Snail's-Pace Slim's stage name was selected as a parody of old time blues players such as Lightnin' SlimLightnin' SlimLightnin' Slim was an African-American Louisiana blues musician, who recorded for Excello Records and played in a style similar to its other Louisiana artists.-Career:...
. - Otis Elevator's came about after seeing a manufacturer'sOtis Elevator CompanyThe Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators...
name plate at the base of an escalator in a local shopping mallShopping mallA shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
. - Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist's is based on the name of an incidental character from the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio comedyRadio comedyRadio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some...
show Round The HorneRound the HorneRound the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
.
Discography
Cassette
- Live At Kent Custom Bike Show (1988)
- Revenge of the Killer Hamsters (1989)
- The Night of the Rocking Rodents (1989)
- Flasher Hamsters From Hell (1990)
- Rodent Rock (1990)
- Condensed Hamsters (1990)
Albums
- Electric HamsterlandElectric HamsterlandElectric Hamsterland was The Hamsters first CD release and consists entirely of Jimi Hendrix covers. This was the only time they recorded an album of totally non-original material...
(1990) - Hamster JamHamster JamHamster Jam was The Hamsters second CD but first live CD only release. It was recorded live with no overdubs.-Track listing:# "Only Rock 'n' Roll" – 3:33# "The Gangster Of Love" – 5:49# "Manic Depression" – 3:29# "Cadillac Walk" – 4:47...
(1991) - The Hamsters (1993)
- Route 666 (1995)
- The Jimi Hendrix Memorial Concerts: 1995The Jimi Hendrix Memorial ConcertsThe Jimi Hendrix Memorial Concerts: 1995 is a live, double CD composed entirely of Jimi Hendrix covers. It is The Hamsters fifth CD release....
(1996) - Pet Sounds: 10 Years Of Rodent RockPet Sounds - 10 Years of Rodent RockPet Sounds: 10 Years of Rodent Rock is a double CD compilation that contains 34 tracks and is a combination of a 'greatest hits' type collection along with songs from the archives that have never been released on CD before.-Disk 1 :...
(1998) - Condensed HamstersCondensed HamstersCondensed Hamsters is a Hamsters album that was originally released only as an audio cassette compilation of the four original cassette only albums that were only available from the band's gigs. They never received a national distribution...
(2000) - They Live By NightThey Live By Night (album)They Live By Night is The Hamsters eighth album. It was recorded live at several different venues during the UK summer of 2001.-Track listing:# "Show Me" – 4:02# "Trigger Man" – 3:55# "Lonesome Blues" – 5:09...
(2002) - Open All HoursOpen All Hours (album)Open All Hours is The Hamsters ninth album. It was recorded during a hectic touring schedule June/July 2003.The band's notorious self-deprecating humour came to the fore with the artwork for this particular album...
(2004)
Videos
- Burnin Vermin' (1991)
- Band of GerbilsBand of GerbilsBand of Gerbils was a video of a night's performance during a special Hamsters tour which was to celebrate the 25th year of Jimi Hendrix's death in 1970. It was recorded onto S-VHS master tapes at The Square Club, Harlow, Essex on the evening of 22 October 1995 in front of a live audience...
(1996) - Verminator!Verminator!Verminator . The Hamsters are well known on the UK band circuit for their tributes to Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top but up until 1996 they had released two CDs and one DVD solely containing Hendrix covers, so far they had released nothing paying homage to ZZ Top. It was decided that they would do a ZZ...
(1997) - Rodents Rock The Reich!Rodents Rock the Reich!Rodents Rock The Reich! . In May 1997 The Hamsters played an hour set at the Leverkusen Blues Festival. This festival was filmed and shown on Germany's WDR TV station...
(1998) - To Infirmity, And Beyond!To Infirmity, And Beyond!To Infirmity, And Beyond! . This is The Hamsters' fifth concert video. It is the first one that was recorded totally in digital . It was recorded in front of a live audience at The Woughton Centre, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, UK on 28th February 2003...
(2004) - The Mad, The Bad & The DangerousThe Mad, the Bad & the DangerousThe Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous Tour was a national UK tour by The Hamsters, The Wilko Johnson Band, and John Otway with his guitarist Richard Holgarth. It is also the name of the DVD recording of the tour.-The tour:...
(2007) with Wilko JohnsonWilko JohnsonWilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
and John OtwayJohn OtwayJohn Otway, is an English singer-songwriter, who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.-Biography:...
) - Curse of the Killer Hamsters! (2008)