Bad News are a spoof rock band, created for the Channel 4 television series The Comic Strip Presents....
Its members are Vim Fuego (aka Alan Metcalfe), vocals and lead guitar (played by Adrian Edmondson);
Den Dennis, rhythm guitar (Nigel Planer);
Colin Grigson, bass (Rik Mayall);
and Spider Webb, drums (Peter Richardson).
Their first appearance was in 1983, in the first series of The Comic Strip Presents... (written by Edmondson, and produced by Michael White/Comic Strip Productions).
The episode, Bad News Tour, took the form of a spoof rockumentary, in which the incompetent band is followed on tour by an almost equally incompetent documentary crew.
Coincidentally, it was in production at the same time as the similar film This Is Spinal Tap, which was released the following year to much greater acclaim.
The band also guested on some TV music shows and released a self-titled album, consisting of thrashy rock songs interspersed with arguments amongst the band. Brian May of Queen produced the album, which included a cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".
They also played a tour of universities and polytechnics as well as playing Reading Festival in 1987. They also played a suitably bad set at the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. This performance was featured in a second Comic Strip film, More Bad News, broadcast in 1988.
A feature of the band's performance that day which did not appear on film was an interesting method of dealing with the audience's (plastic) bottle barrage, which was a traditional and awkward welcome for some bands at the Donington festival in those days. Before the performance proper started, the band spent some time just running around on stage dodging bottles, and Mayall used his guitar as a bat in an attempt to return some.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_News
Bad News (October 1987)
1. Bad Dreams Rehearsal
2. A.G.M.
3. Introducing the Band
4. Bad News
5. Hey Mr. Bassman
6. Hey Mr. Drummer
7. Masturbike
8. Trousers
9. Drink Till I Die
10. Vim Is Angry
11. Hey Hey Bad News
12. Warriors of Ghengis Khan
13. Excaliber Rehearsal
14. Bohemian Rhapsody
15. Double Entendre
16. Cashing in on Christmas
17. Dividing up the Spoils
The Cash In Compilation (August 1993)
1. Hey hey bad news
2. Bad dreams
3. Warriors of Ghengis Khan
4. AGM
5. Bohemian rhapsody
6. Oh pretty woman
7. O levels
8. Life with Brian
9. Bad news
10. Masturbike
11. Double entendre
12. Drink till I die
13. Cashing in on Christmas (Dub)
OFFICIAL UK SINGLES
Bohemian Rhapsody
In three different flavours:
Bohemian Rhapsody
Life With Brian
(7", EMI EM 24, September 1987)
Bohemian Rhapsody
Pretty Woman
Life With Brian
(12", EMI 12EM 24, September 1987)
Bohemian Rhapsody
Pretty Woman
Life With Brian
(CD, EMI CDEM 24, September 1987)
Cashing In On Christmas
In three different flavours:
Cashing In On Christmas
Bad News
(7", EMI EM 36, November 1987)
Cashing In On Christmas
Bad News
(7" Christmas card / poster pack, EMI EMG 36, November 1987)
Cashing In On Christmas (Let's Bonk Mix)
Bad News
Cashing In On Christmas (7" Version)
(12", EMI 12EM 36, November 1987)
VIDEO RELEASES
The Comic Strip Presents: Bad News & More Bad News
VIDEO SINGLE - Bohemian Rhapsody