The Cudgels

The Cudgels have created a myriad of classic pop moments such as ’Big Pink’ - the tale of a suicidal teenaged femme fatale girlfriend of Andy P. Davies. Then there was ’Red Nosed Man Takes Walk’ - a sardonic take on a slice of life in post-modernist Midlands England with overt references to Brewers Droop, New Romantics, 'Mothers Pride', Steve Ovett, Val Doonican and Uncle Ron. Also, ’Friday Needs a Funeral’ - a Tom Waits inspired spiky pop look at the collapse of working class solidarity in Thatcher’s Britain. Since 1980 Andy P. Davies has been determined to use the fine art of 'Hit and Run Pop Music' as a form of political resistance. The Cudgels were originally a Jam inspired 3 piece band (later taking inspiration from a plethora of musical and literary influences) - with very basic instrumentation! Andy P. Davies on Guitar and vocals, Stevie P. Davies on Bass Guitar/Drums and Francis ‘Carlos’ Land on Snare Drum. But from the start everyone knew something special was happening. Early fans and champions of the band included Shane MacGowan of The Pogues, Paul Weller, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mark E. Smith, Billy Bragg, Miles Hunt of The Wonderstuff and BBC Radio's legendary alternative DJ's John Peel and Mark Radcliffe. Seven inch singles and flexi-discs were released on several independent labels including the American based Sunday Records, Bring on Bull!, Waaaaah!, Rutland, Aquamarine, the German Blam-a-Bit and many more. The Cudgels line up gradually expanded and they were joined by vocalist and organ player Tracey Eastwood who featured most notably on the 1992 album release 'God's Children' which Andy P. describes as... "just a lot of psychedelic pop I wrote in my sleep." The Guardian's music critic Alexis Petridis rates it amongst his top 10 albums of all time. The Cudgels have spawned several spin-off bands and projects including Oporto, The Proctors and most recently The Winnebago Orchestra. The group have performed some amazingly energetic live shows over the years and released some classic indie pop records. Check out www.bubbyworld.com for more of The Cudgels...