The Boo Radleys

Taking their name from a character in the book To Kill A Mocking Bird, childhood friends Martin Carr and Simon "Sice" Rowbottom formed the band in 1988, drawing inspiration from the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr.. Drenched in swirling, fuzzy feedback with classic pop harmonies straining to break through the fog of static, influential Radio 1 DJ John Peel's support of early albums Ichabod And I (1990) and Everything's Alright Forever (1992) helped the band build up a healthy fan base. With the heavy, distorted wall of noise starting to mellow a little, third album Giant Steps (1993) became an indie classic, named album of the year by Select magazine and Number 2 in NME's end-of-year list. As Brit pop began to break in the UK, they returned with the huge summer hit and glorious slice of guitar pop Wake Up Boo! which propelled fourth album Wake Up (1995) to Number 1 in the UK charts. The deliberately obtuse and experimental C'Mon Kids (1996) quickly destroyed their chances of pop fame before Kingsize (1998) heralded the band's end in 1999.

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