Thee Headcoats 1989 - 2000, was a band comprising Billy Childish

Billy Childish

Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...

, Bruce Brand, and Johnny Johnson. Childish was featured on guitar and vocals, Brand on drums and backing vocals, and Johnson on bass. The band was the most prolific of Childish's many musical projects, releasing fourteen full length albums. Formed in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, 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...

 in the late 1980s, the band was well known for its garage rock

Garage rock

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 sound, explicitly sticking to this format on almost all of their albums. The band's signature sound as well as their prolific writing has been attributed to Childish's love of simple, direct recording. The band has been on multiple labels including Billy's own Hangman Records

Hangman Records

Hangman Records is a British independent record label founded in 1986 by Billy Childish. It has released over 50 LP Records, including spoken word, experimental works and punk rock....

 and Sub Pop

Sub Pop

Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...

.

The band played their final concert on May 12, 2000 at the Dirty Water Club. Billy Childish

Billy Childish

Billy Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...

 went on to play with The Buff Medways from 1999 to 2006. His latest group is The Musicians of The British Empire.

Lineup

The group originally featured Allan Crockford (credited as Krojack on the first LP, Headcoats Down), John Agnew then Ollie Dolat on bass before Johnson joined.

Thee Headcoatees

Thee Headcoatees

Thee Headcoatees is a band that was formed in the Medway Garage Scene in north Kent, England in 1991. The members of this all girl band were Holly Golightly, Kyra LaRubia, Ludella Black and "Bongo" Debbie Green.-Formation:...

, an all-female vocal group consisting of Holly Golightly

Holly Golightly

Holly Golightly is a British singer-songwriter. Her mother christened her after the protagonist in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. Her musical style ranges from garage rock to R&B.-Musical career:...

, Kyra LaRubia, Ludella Black, and (until leaving in 1999) Bongo Debbie would often perform songs with the band and recorded several LPs.

Repertoire and sound

Described in the New York Times as 'the king of garage rock', Billy and Thee Headcoats actually grew out of the British punk scene of the 1970s (both Billy and Bruce Brand playing in The Pop Rivets. The band recorded songs by The Clash

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

 under the pseudonym Thee Stash. The band also recorded a tribute album to Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...

 called Bo in Thee Garage. On their debut album, the band recorded new versions of songs written by Son House

Son House

Eddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...

 including "John the Revelator" and "Child's Death Letter," both of which were later covered by The White Stripes

The White Stripes

The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

 upon whom Thee Headcoats were a great influence http://www.theebillychildish.com/interviews/confused.htm. These three influences give a good idea of what the band's sound was like; 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...

 mixed with pure rhythmic rock 'n' roll and blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

.

Discography

• Headcoats Down! (1989)
• The Earls of Suavedom (1990)
• The Kids Are All Square- This Is Hip! (1990)
• Beach Bums Must Die (1990)
• Heavens to Murgatroyd, Even! It’s Thee Headcoats! (Already) (1990)
• W.O.AH! Bo in Thee Garage (1991) Bo Diddley tribute album
• Cavern by the Sea (1991)
• Headcaotitude (1991)
• The Wurst is Yet to Come (1993)
• The Good Times Are Killing Me (1993)
• Live at the Wild Western Room (1994) featuring Thee Headcoatees
• Thee Headcoats Conundrum (1994)
• The Sounds of the Baskervilles (1995) featuring Thee Headcoatees
• In Tweed We Trust (1996)
• Deerstalking Men (1996) Thee Headcoats Sect (with members of The Downliners Sect)
• Knights of the Baskervilles (1996)
• The Jimmy Reed Experience (1997) 10”
• The Messerschmitt Pilot's Severed Hand (1998)
• Thee Headcoats Best: Sherlock Holmes Meets the Punkenstein Monster (1998) (Japanese Compilation)
• Brother is Dead…But Fly is Gone! (1998)
• 17% - Hendrix Was Not the Only Musician (1998)
• Thee English Gentlemen of Rock & Roll: Thee Headcoats Best Vol. II (1999) (Japanese Compilation)
• Ready Sect Go! (1999) Thee Headcoats Sect (with members of The Downliners Sect)
• I Am the Object of Your Desire (2000)
• Elementary Headcoats – Thee Singles 1990-1999 (2001)Compilation
• Live at the Dirty Water Club (2001)

External links

• Official Billy Childish website