Very Things

THE Things were among various outfits released beneath the umbrella organization from the Dada Cravats Lab (DcL), located in Redditch, Worcestershire, Britain. This group managed several musical tasks under Dada concepts: ‘Using that banner was a whole lot simpler than providing lengthy manifestos’. The main element personnel involved had been The Shend (b. Chris Harz; vocals) and Robin R. Dallaway (aka Robin Raymond; electric guitar), plus Gordon ‘DisneyTime’ (drums), and Fudger O’Mad aka Budge (ex-And Also The Trees and shrubs; bass). Other groupings operating from the same steady included the Cravats, Babymen, and DcL Locomotive. Their initial one, ‘The Gong Guy’, explored responsibility and the task ethic. Although these were from the less strident politics standpoint, they discovered allies in anarcho-punk music group Crass, with this getting the next of two singles developing on the label (the prior one beneath the Cravats logo design getting ‘Rub Me Out’). On the trunk of the, and an extremely successful radio program for BBC disk jockey John Peel off, they were agreed upon to Reflex Information for the discharge from the Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes. An early on appearance on tv music program The Pipe helped bolster their fortunes, as the follow-up one, ‘Mummy You’re A Wreck’, was an similarly entertaining offbeat creation. After some personnel adjustments, they folded in 1988, abandoning the Motown -inspired Motortown (made by Ray Shulman, ex-Gentle Large, and Derek Birkett, ex-Flux Of Green Indians). The Shend considered acting, showing up in tv series like the Costs and EastEnders, playing, relatively predictably, intimidating individuals. Both ‘Robs’ departed to create their own music group under the name Strike The Roof.