CUD

Emerging from the same art/design cauldron that produced fellow Leeds legends Soft Cell, Scritti Politti, and TheMekons, CUD were the pre-Britpop answer to doleful shoegazing bands – fun-loving, light-hearted, romantic anddownright catchy. Alternatively loved or loathed like a yeast extract, CUD are indie rock for the unpretentious pleasure seeker,boasting as they do the rich deep-lunged voice of Carl Puttnam, edgy guitars of Mike Dunphy and tight, funkyrhythm section of William Potter, bass and Gogs Byrn, drums. CUD were initially lauded for their quirky Peel session cover of ‘You Sexy Thing’ in 1987. They soon built up a hugelive following and buffed up their repertoire with a string of unstraight pop beauties, best exemplified by the 1990album ‘Leggy Mambo’. This led to a major-label deal with A&M in 1991, front-page NME coverage, massive selloutgigs and proper Top 30 hits, ‘Rich and Strange’ and ‘Purple Love Balloon’. Misunderstood by record companies and press, CUD packed away their guitars and sticks in 1995 but, bolstered bya greatest hits anthology (‘Rich and Strange’) in 2006, they agreed to tread the boards again, with a furtherreunion following in 2012 (now with original guitarist and key songwriter Mike Dunphy) and continue to find anarmy of ‘Space CUDets’ still eager to sing along, dance like fruitcakes and invade their stage. Independent. Venue, Disco, Drinking Den.