On the 28th of
March 1996, John Squire announced his departure from The Stone Roses and The Seahorses were born in a York pub. First he saw bassist
Stuart Fletcher guesting with the pub band. Then, when he was leaving, he struck his head on a huge decorative fibre-glass seahorse.
With the band name sorted, he turned his attention to finding a singer. Discovered when busking on the streets of York, Chris Helme contributed songs ('premiered' outside Woolworth's) on The Seahorses' debut Do It Yourself (1997). The line-up was completed with drummer Andy Watt for the Tony Visconti-produced recordings in Hollywood.
Do It Yourself was a platinum mainstay, having peaked at UK No.2 and spawned three hits: 'Love Is The Law', 'Blinded By The Sun' and the Squire/Liam Gallagher co-written 'Love Me And Leave Me'. Their sellout tours, showcasing the familiar Squire guitar heroics and the swaggering stahe presence of Helme, confirmed a confident start for a band who recently sacked Andy Watt, but had a new hit, 'You Can Talk To Me'.