Cud (band)

History

The four-piece formed in Leeds in 1987. Their first recording was a Peel Session in June 1987, prompted by a demo tape they sent to John Peel. Their first single, "You're The Boss", was released on the Wedding Present's Reception Records record label. Their second release, the Peel Sessions EP, was released on Strange Fruit Records in February 1988 - this included a cover version of Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" which had already featured in the Festive 50 at number 20. After building up a strong local fanbase, they were signed by Imaginary Records in 1989, who released their first two albums, When in Rome, Kill Me and Leggy Mambo.

Cud signed to A&M Records in 1991. The greater spending power at A&M enabled Cud to reach the Top 40 in 1992, with "Rich and Strange" (#24) and "Purple Love Balloon" (#27), as well as reaching number 30 in the UK Albums Chart with fourth album Asquarius. A further Top 40 single followed in 1994 with "Neurotica". 1994's Showbiz would be their last album. Potter was replaced by Mick Dale, who would later join Embrace, shortly before the band broke up in early 1995.

On 21 November 2001 Puttnam returned to the music scene with the mail order only release Donkey With a Fez On, an album of previously unreleased demo material originally intended for release after the Showbiz album. This was followed by a live performance at the 12 Bar Club in London. Puttnam was accompanied by Alaric Neville and David Lazenby on guitars, and Michael Hurst on melodeon and percussion. The performance was subsequently released on CD in 2002 as the mail order only Chateau de Carles.

Cud reformed to support the release of a double album of their greatest hits entitled Rich and Strange - The Anthology which was released in August 2006 on Universal Records, alongside a brief UK tour to promote it. Dunphy was replaced by Felix Frey on guitar for the tour. The same line-up again reformed for a short tour early in 2008 to support the expanded re-releases of Elvis Belt (now a double album entitled Elvis Belt/Elvis Handbag), Leggy Mambo and Showbiz. At Cud's gig at the Barfly in Liverpool on 6 March 2008 Puttnam suggested, contrary to suggestions on Cud's homepage, that the latest tour would be Cud's last. On 27 April 2008, Cud announced that their final ever gig (entitled "No more Cud!") would take place in Rios Leeds on 3 May 2008. To commemorate the event, a limited-edition CD single was sold, which was supposed to feature a new recording of "Punishment-Reward Relationship", along with live versions of "Now!", "Only", "Living in the Past" and "Strange Kind of Love". This was distributed as a blank printed CDR with the tracks to follow shortly afterwards. To date the songs have not been forthcoming.

Cud reformed again (with Puttnam, Goodwin, Potter & Frey once again) for two gigs during March, 2010, held at the Hootananny Club in London. In 2012 the band did their "Jubilee tour" in support of their album The Complete BBC Sessions released by 3Loop Music. This tour was their first since 2010, and the first to include original guitarist Mike Dunphy in almost 17 years. However, original drummer Steve Goodwin declined to participate so Gogs Byrn completed the lineup. During the tour the band performed live on Marc Riley's BBC 6 Music Show. The band played further shows later in the year with The Wedding Present, Carter USM & Ned's Atomic Dustbin including a sell-out show at Brixton Academy. In 2013 Steve Lamacq premiers Cud's first new single in 17 years; a double A side titled 'Louise/Mexico'. The band tour in November together with Ned's Atomic Dustbin. With the release of the single "Victoria" in 2014, Cud perform several support gigs across the UK in October. In 2015 the band played several dates in the UK in September, and appeared at the 'Shiiine On Weekender' in Minehead on 8 November. They have also appeared at the 'Gigantic' indie music festival in Manchester in April 2014 and 2016. Puttnam and Dunphy performed as a two-piece 'acoustic' set at the Beautiful Days festival in August 2016 and the band will again appear at the 'Shiiine On Weekender' in November 2016.