The Medway Indie Scene
Ugly? I Don't Think So
Medway based Indie band The Dentists
The song entitled 'Ugly' and on the 12" 'The Fun Has Arrived' released on the Belgian based Antler Records label in 1988.
Strawberries & Sixties Sounds
Their first release in 1985 was 'Strawberries Are Growing In My Garden (And It's Wintertime)' on the small Indie Label Spruck records. Many of their songs especially 'Strawberries' have a 60's psychedelic tinge to them. To be honest if I didn't know I would have probably thought it was a song by The Byrds from the late 1960's. Have a listen here...
Their melodic jangly guitars and harmonized vocals sound as if from a different era, but the band were part of 'The Medway Scene' an Indie scene that flourished in Kent in the mid 1980's.
The song was later re-released in '86 at the height of the C-86 scene which led them to BBC Radio 1 Janice Long Sessions and play lists for DJ's such as John Peel and Andy Kershaw.
The Band
The band were:
- Mick Murphy (lead vocals)
- Mark Matthews (bass)
- Bob Collins (guitar)
- Ian Smith (1984–1986) drums
- Alun Jones (1986–1991) drums
- Rob Grigg (1991–1995) drums
Looks from the gig list on their website that they seemed to perform mostly in the Kent area with the occasional foray into London and one or two shows in Harlow in deepest, darkest Essex. By '88 looks like they set out for Hamburg, Copenhagen etc.
It appears that they did perform support for Del Amitri and also The Go-Betweens at London Venues The Marquee and Astoria in '86.
Influences, You & Your Bloody Oranges
The original band (before they became the Dentists) was The Ancient Gallery and they mostly gigged locally, their influences seemed to have been Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division and Orange Juice with older influences of The Doors
The band produced several 12" records, one of them amusingly entitled 'You and your bloody oranges' and a wittily entitled album 'Some People are on the pitch, they think it is all over...it is now'
From the 'You And Your Bloody Oranges' 12" catch the track 'Pallino'. Finally, from the same 12" the wonderfully psychedelic 'I Can See Your House From Up Here', which is at the link on a track from one of their 12" singles, however equally as psychedelic is 'Flowers Around Me' at the link.
Stateside & Calling It A Day
They gained interest from several American fans who invited the band to play the College Music Journal Festival in the States in 1991 and they were signed up by U.S. Label 'Homestead Records' releasing the single 'See No Evil' (which contained an acoustic version of 'I Can See Your House From Up Here'). They eventually signed to the American EastWest label after they had built up a following over 'the pond' they recorded two albums for the new label, both appeared to not do as well as the band had hoped and eventually decided to part company with EastWest Records and decided to call it quits in 1995.
Catch more about them, their history, discography and photos of the band on thedentistsweb.com
Thanks To
Video Sources and a collection of Awesome YouTube Videos many thanks to:
Information: The Dentists Web
'Medway at Sunset' Photo by Sean Ferigan on Unsplash