Mighty Mighty | |
---|---|
Origin | Birmingham, England |
Genres | Indie pop |
Years active | 1983–1988, 2009–present |
Labels | Girlie, Chapter 22, Vinyl Japan, Firestation, Cherry Red |
Members | Russell Burton (vocals & bass) Mick Geoghegan (guitar) Pete Geoghegan (Vox organ and guitar) D J Hennessy (drums) Hugh McGuinness (vocals and harmonica) |
Mighty Mighty are a British indie band formed in Birmingham, England, in the mid-1980s. [1]
Showing influences from Postcard Records bands such as Orange Juice, [2] they came to prominence when featured on the NME's C86 compilation, at around the same time that they released their debut single "Everybody Knows the Monkey". This was soon followed by a 12" single, "Is There Anyone Out There?", before the band signed to Chapter 22 Records, releasing a string of well-received singles and the album Sharks in 1988. With their brand of indie pop giving way to American influenced rock and shoegazing, they split in 1988.
Continuing interest in the band saw the reissue of Sharks in 2000, the release of a compilation album of BBC session tracks in 2001, and two compilations of singles and unreleased tracks in 2000 and 2001.
They reformed for the Indietracks music festival in 2009. [3]
They played Popfest Berlin in 2010, followed by Firestation Records of Berlin issuing their 'lost second album', The Betamax Tapes, on vinyl and CD, 25 years after it was recorded, in 2012.
In 2013, Cherry Red Records released a major double CD compilation entitled Pop Can - the Definitive Collection 1986-88 which collects most of the band's released material, namely all their singles, B-sides and EP tracks, alongside several tracks from their only album released during their career, Sharks, and tracks from The Betamax Tapes.
During 1986-87, they recorded three sessions for John Peel and one for Janice Long, all broadcast on BBC Radio One - these are collected on the Vinyl Japan compilation Mighty Mighty... At the BBC and continue to be broadcast by BBC Radio 6 Music.
In July 2019, Mighty Mighty released their third album Misheard Love Songs recorded at Muthers in Digbeth, Birmingham.
Chart placings are from the UK independent chart. [4]
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C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time. As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. In its time, it became a pejorative term for its associations with so-called "shambling" and underachievement. The C86 scene is now recognized as a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK, as was recognized in the subtitle of the compilation's 2006 CD issue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop. 2014 saw the original compilation reissued in a 3CD expanded edition from Cherry Red Records; the 2014 box-set came with an 11,500-word book of sleevenotes by one of the tape's original curators, former NME journalist Neil Taylor.