Origin London, England Years active 1977–1978 | Genres Punk rock | |
Associated acts Johnny Moped, the Photons, Visage, the Pretenders, the Clash, the Psychedelic Furs, Adam and the Ants, Strange Cruise Past members Steve Strange
Soo Catwoman
Chrissie Hynde
The Kid
John
Vince Ely
Rob Egan
Tex
Topper Headon | ||
The Moors Murderers was a short-lived punk band who caused controversy by naming themselves after the perpetrators of the Moors murders. The band was founded in 1977 by Steve Strange, later to be in Visage. The band included numerous members who went on to greater fame with other bands.
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History
Steve Strange got the idea to start a group called the Moors Murderers after a conversation with Soo Catwoman. They were initially a 'phantom' band who just did a photo session for the German magazine Bravo.
Strange decided to form a real band after the photo session. Their first gig was in December 1977. This was a benefit concert for the NSPCC, supporting the Slits at Holland Park Comprehensive School. Some have suggested that this gig was actually played by the Photons under another name. However others have stated that Chrissie Hynde was already in the band at this time. This discrepancy may be due to the fact that for much of the time the two bands had interchangeable members. The Moors Murderers played a further and final gig at the Roxy club on 13 January 1978.
The band recorded one single for Jet Records called Free Hindley. They approached the Sex Pistols producer Dave Goodman to produce it but he refused. However, he suggested that in order to show that they did not condone murder the B-side should be a version of the Ten Commandments set to music. This suggestion was accepted.
In January 1978 the Sunday Mirror featured an article about the record under the headline 'Why must they be so cruel?'. It also showed a photograph of the band wearing hoods made from pillowcases. Later that month Strange announced that he had left the group in an interview with Sounds magazine. It disbanded shortly afterwards.