The Hugh Reed Explosion

The first incarnation of what is now known as 'The Hugh Reed Explosion' was called 'Hugh Reed and the Velvet Underpants'.The Panties were formed during the Glasgow City year of culture - 1990 - and broke up on Saint Valentine's Day 1998. From their very inception they were chart toppers - soaring to No.1 in the Sounds Crap Band Name Charts - the paper subsequently folded . After their third gig they were snapped up by Tower Studios in Glasgow , who released the first two singles by the band. Tower Studios subsequently folded. Their first single Six to Wan(621) was used by Radio One as a theme tune for a series of programmes on Scottish Rock, and was distributed by Rough Trade, who quickly went bust, the next single Satellite Baby consolidated the Bands reputation, and subsequently the Band split up, The bass player and guitarist leaving to allegedly pursue a career in music leaving Tom, the drummer and Hugh the major member in the Pants. They were not too perturbed as Pants do have to be changed regularly, a new pair were soon added. Following local T.V. appearances the Band were spotted by Pam Hogg, the fashion designer, and were recommended to her friend Deborah Harry - who invited them to support her on 11 dates throughout the U.K. in the winter of 1993. This culminated in Hugh and Debs doing a live duet of Waiting for the Man which was captured on video. Deborah also faxed Lou to tell him about Hugh. Despite the name and the title of the first album, Take a Walk on the Clydeside , the Panties were definitely not a tribute band and all material was original. Certain influences were apparent, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band from the Seventies, and the lesser known Edith and the Ladies from the Eighties - all of whom , unlike most of their contemporaries, sang about Glasgow street life. After signing to Edinburghs Ecletic label - the first album was made available internationally thru Pinnacle Distribution and should still be able to be ordered. Later in their career the Pants toured with Half Man Half Biscuit , the Fall Charlie Chuck , John Otway and did supports for Simple Minds, Glen Matlock amongst many others. The Supernaturals supported them as did an up and coming band called Glass Onion, who went to London to seek their fortune - changing their name to Travis European tours followed, where the band could get away with pretending to be more famous than they actually were, playing better venues and receiving more money than they did in their homeland. Often leaving Britain for months on end. This created security headaches - social security headaches. They became especially popular in Germany and struck up an alliance with the German punk legends The Lennons - which has continued to this very day. After many drunken escapades in far flung territories involving Hospital Waiting Rooms, Femmes and Fraulines, spilt Guinness, van breakdowns in Alpen tunnels etc.- the strain on the Pants proved unbearable and they split. After a recovery period and Hugh getting over the shock of finding himself in full time employment.The band regrouped under the new moniker of 'The Hugh Reed Explosion' Hugh had had enough of people thinking his band was a tribute to Lou Reed and decided from now on it would be unmistakenly a tribute to himself.In 2003 the band were invited to Denmark and played at the Roskilde festival near Copenhagen. More recently they have supported both 'Belle and Sebastion' and also Mogwai.