Pop/hardcore/punk band from northern England. Were flavour
of the day for a couple of months in 1995, mostly on the strength of their
powerfully moshworthy live performances, and blatant pandering to
the industry in the form of a promo they recorded for Radio One's
The Evening Session programme: a jaunty take-off of the Rupert Bear theme song:
Steven, Steven and Jo,
everyone
knows their name,
Steven, Steven and Jo,
everyone knows their name,
On Radio One.
(the same strategy worked less successfully for Snuff's far superior
Caught in Session blip)
China Drum's other major crowd pleaser was a blistering hardcore
cover version of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". This got much
airplay on the 'session, though its release as
a single was delayed for an inordinately long time, presumably over
legal wrangling with Kate's publisher; it eventually
saw the light of day as the b-side (wink wink, nudge nudge) of the
7" of the distinctly lacklustre "Can't Stop These Things".
The album, Goosefair, when it was eventually released, was
largely a disappointment; over-produced and sounding more like simple
power-pop versions of previously released B-sides. A good comparison
being the difference between the versions of Cloud 9 which appear on
the album (Mmeh) and the fantastic live version that formed the first
b-side of the "Fall Into Place" 10". Their "Wuthering Heights" cover
appears as a hidden track at the end of the album.
The band took their name from a component in the braking system of
trucks, which also gave them one of their most endearing slogans:
"China Drum: Enough power to stop a Scania!"
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