It was the late ’80s and early ’90s, and I remember all the great bands that came out of the UK. Band after band just gave me the happy feet Bands like Blur, Oasis, Coldplay, and Elastica. For me, there was one particular album I really listened to every single day. It was “God Fodder” by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin.
NED’S ATOMIC DUSTBIN
Ned’s just always made me smile with songs like “Not Sleeping Around,” “Saturday Night,” “Grey Cell Green” and “Kill Your Television” always moved me. Like with everything else in life, they soon became out of sight and out of mind. Sometimes you lose track of what some of your favorite bands are up to, or if they’re even still around.
Mix in the Covid-19 pandemic, sadly Ned’s hasn’t been on the forefront of music news. Like most bands from back in the day, they split up for a little bit, but they reunited with various members. In 2008, they gave it another go and slowly the band has been putting itself back together towards its original footprint.
Over the past year, they did do some shows as Ned’s Acoustic Dustbin, but their live show is where they shine.
Returning to where it all began, Ned’s recently announced they’ll be playing four special shows. First, they will play twice at PowerHaus (formerly Dingwalls) on November 27th and 28th, then two shows at Stourbridge Town Hall December 4th and 5th.
It‘s been over 30 years since Ned’s recorded their debut release, “The Ingredients” EP, just a few hundred yards from Stourbridge Town Hall. Although they reunited in 2008, this will be the first time the original five-member line-up have played in Stourbridge since 1988 and the first time they played Dingwalls, their first London headline and sell-out, since 1990.
On the Ned’s website, singer Jonn Penney said: “Looks like we’re finally coming home! 30 years since we released ‘”‘The Ingredients EP'” we’re finally going to get to play the songs in Stourbridge. It’s a homecoming that has been a long time coming (and Rat will probably remind us all again that he’s from Sedgley not Stourbridge!) but I think 30 years is long enough to leave it. We can’t wait to play the town hall – it’ll feel like a new venue to us because it’s been such a long time!”
PHOTO FROM SHOWRUNNER SITE
“It seems so weird now to think that we wrote Grey Cell Green so early on – we were still just boys and we had no idea that we would ever even release a record at the time. That particular song seems to have defined us well before our ‘hits’ like Kill Your Television, Happy and Intact got written.”
BANNER FROM SHOWRUNNER SITE
If you love that Brit-pop sound, or high-energy music in general, Ned’s is definitely a band to check out.
The rumor is that they may be doing a much larger tour, but that all depends on Covid and vaccine numbers over the next few months. The hope is that Ned’s will be headed for a world tour. There’s nothing official, so we’re crossing fingers that this means they’ll land in North America at some point.
Until then, check out their music or go to any of the limited shows if you can. They are electricity personified and definitely a must see.
