The Nightingales: Workshy Wunderkind 7" Vinyl Single

2004

Workshy Wunderkind / Darwins Waiting Room

7" BIG PRINT YAM2

Formed from the ashes of legendary punk group The Prefects. Offbeat outsiders playing intelligent, unclassifiable rock; combining an eclectic brew of Beefheart, country, 'glam' and punk with unique lyrics. Dynamic live. Championed by John Peel and Alan McGee. "Responsible for some genuinely terrific songs of unusual wit, spontaneity and rhythm" - Uncut. "Outstanding" - Sunday Times

In 1976 singer Robert Lloyd, with guitarist/drummer brothers Alan and Paul Apperley formed The Prefects - Birmingham's first punk group. The band were part of The Clash's 'White Riot Tour', toured with Buzzcocks, played with The Slits, The Fall, The Damned and many others, before recording two sessions for the John Peel radio show.

The band acquired legendary status in the UK, partly because no records were released until the band had split up, and then, up until recently, only one posthumous single for Rough Trade. However, in November 2004 a retrospective compilation "Amateur Wankers" was released by NYC label Acute Records which, twenty five years after the group's demise, garnered praise all over, from webzines to Rolling Stone. The interest was such that now a 'Live in 1978' CD has been released.

The Prefects' final line up, featuring Lloyd and Eamonn Duffy on bass, transformed into The Nightingales. Changing direction and personnel frequently, The Nightingales helped bring much needed experimentation and iconoclasm to the indulgent '80s. Based around Lloyd, the group's various line-ups regularly toured their eclectic and unpredictable rock music in the UK and Northern Europe, as headliners, supporting acts as diverse as Bo Diddley and Nico and appearing at festivals in Holland, Germany, Switzerland and, of course, Britain, including Glastonbury. Through the 1980's the group recorded for Rough Trade and Cherry Red Records before Lloyd started his own Vindaloo label.

They released many critically acclaimed singles (Six consecutive 'Singles Of The Week' in NME and/or Sounds) and three albums, in addition to recording numerous sessions for their great champion John Peel. Gleeful audiences and rave reviews were standard. All the time The 'Gales remained fiercely independent outsiders but nevertheless inspired some of the big wigs in the UK's music industry and have often been name dropped by an array of characters from Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records, to John Taylor of Duran Duran.

Since the band split up, in the late 80's, there were two CD compilations of The 'Gales work released Demon Records and Cherry Red, again to glowing press. During the early 90's Robert Lloyd was signed up by Virgin Records and continued to record sessions for his long time admirer John Peel, for whom, in these various incarnations, he recorded more sessions than any artist bar The Fall.

The Nightingales reformed at the start of 2004, with Lloyd and Duffy being joined by original Prefect Alan Apperley, long serving 'Gales guitar genius Peter 'The Tank' Byrchmore and former PWEI drummer Fuzz Townshend. Continuing to play intelligent, unclassifiable rock music around Lloyd's unique lyrics, the group are as independent and offbeat as ever. They recorded and released four 7" vinyl singles on their own Big Print label over an eight month period from July 04, which are due to be compiled on CD for release in 2006, coupled with a live 'bonus' disc.

With a floating membership, based around Lloyd and Apperley, The Nightingales have also taken their oddly dynamic live act on the road in England and, for the first time, USA. The American shows took in the 2005 SXSW Music Festival in Austin Texas as well as headlining shows in Chicago and New York, which were 'Pick Of The Week' in the Chicago Reader and Village Voice respectively. The group will be playing more shows in the UK over the 05/06 winter before a return visit to the States in March 2006, followed by a European tour later on.

The interest in the reformed 'Gales has led to the reissue, for the first time on CD, of their original three 80's albums in 2005 - 'Pigs On Pupose' and 'Hysterics' on Cherry Red & 'In The Good Old Country Way' on Caroline True Records.

In addition to these releases and the forthcoming singles/live compilation 'Low Level Disruption' the band will also be releasing an all new six track mini album titled 'Out Of True' in March 2006, followed later in the year by a new full length album.