The Men They Couldn't Hang

The Men They Couldn't Hang was formed in 1984 when members of the London pub / rock / punk band Catch 22 Paul Simmonds (guitar, keyboards), Philip Odgers (vocals, guitar) and his brother John Odgers (drums) met singing guitarist Stefan Kas. ^[4] Later they were joined by Bradley ( bass , flute ), a punk artist who played with Shane McGoan, the leader of The Pogues, in his first band, The Nipple Erectors. ^[five]

Having successfully performed at several country and punk festivals, the group released the single “The Green Fields of France” in 1984 , the song of Australian folk singer Eric Bogle . ^{[5] The} folk-punk ballad, whose “lyrical hero” mentally talks to a soldier who fell on the fronts of the First World War at the tombstone, rose to # 6 in the UK Indie Chart ^[3] . John Peel in her Christmas list of the best songs of the year ("Festive 50") put her in third place. ^[6]

A year later, Elvis Costello signed the band to his label Demon Records , where the debut album The Night of a Thousand Candles was released . The single from him, “Ironmasters” (a composition by Simmonds, which draws parallels between the oppression of workers during the industrial revolution and domestic politics of Margaret Thatcher ), came out on the first place in Indie UK Charts ^[3] . On the radio, the song sounded only after the line was removed from it: “... And oh, that iron bastard, she still gets her way” - a direct allusion to the “iron lady”). In the "Festive 50" by John Peel, the song took 11th place.

The next single, “Greenback Dollar” (not included in the album) - a song by Hoyt Exton (known by The Kingston Trio ) - was produced for the band by Nick Lowe .

In 1985, signing a contract with MCA Records , the group released their second album How Green Is The Valley with the singles “Ghosts Of Cable Street” (about the decisive battle between British troops and fascists Oswald Mosley on Cable Street in 1936 ) and “Shirt Of” Blue ”(about the strike of the British miners in 1984-1985 ). After the release of the album, Bradley went to Recless Eric ; she was replaced by bassist Ricky McGwire (from UK Subs ), who took part in work on the album Waiting For Bonaparte . And here critics noted primarily songs on historical topics (“The Colors” - about a sailor from the Napoleonic Wars, “The Crest” - about orderlies of the Second World War). Oddly enough, “The Colors” turned out to be banned on the BBC because of the line “... You've Come Here To Watch Me Hang”, in which the censors saw a connection with the then events in South Africa.

In 1988, the band signed a contract with Silvertone Records , for which they recorded two albums: Silvertown (# 2 UK Indie Chart) ^[3] and The Domino Club . Keyboard player Nick Muir who played here (ex- Fire Next Time ) later became known as a member of the electronic duo Bedrock . In August 1990, The Men They Couldn't Hang gave a few concerts with David Bowie (as part of the Sound and Vision tour), but a year later they all unexpectedly split up, releasing a live album Alive, Alive-O (recorded at Town & Country club) . Simmonds and Odgers formed Liberty Cage , which released Sleep Of The Just (1994) and I'll Keep It With Mine (1995). ^[four]

In 1996, the TMTCH reformed, but without drummer John Odgers, who became a Therapy technician ? , and released CD Never Born To Follow on Demon Records , followed by the Big Six Pack mini album. In 1998, two collections were released: Majestic Grill and The Mud, The Blood And The Beer . The group again temporarily retired, but Ojers and Simmonds released (under their own names) the albums Baby Fishlips (first released under the pseudonym Preacher Jethro Brimstone and the Watermelon Kid , 1999) and Folk At The Fortress (2002), respectively.

In 2003, the band released their new studio album, The Cherry Red Jukebox , followed by two DVDs: Shooting and 21 Years Of Love And Hate , the second of which was re-released as a double artist of Smugglers and Bounty Hunters . Meanwhile, Odgers formed his own band, The Swaggerband (with limited involvement from Ricky Maguire and Simmonds), which released The Day After (2004) and Elvis Lives Here (2006).

Albums

Studio

• The Night of a Thousand Candles (1985)
• How Green Is The Valley (1986)
• Waiting For Bonaparte (1988)
• Silvertown (1989)
• Domino Club (1990)
• Never Born To Follow (1996)
• Big Six Pack (1997)
• The Cherry Red Jukebox (2003)
• Devil On The Wind (2009)
• 5 Go Mad on the Other Side (2011)

Concert

• Alive-O (1991)
• Smugglers and Bounty Hunters (2005)

Other

• Majestic Grill: The Best of the Men They Couldn't Hang (1998)
• The Mud, The Blood And The Beer (Best Of, Volume 2, 1999)
• Demos and Rarities, Volume 1 (2007)
• Demos and Rarities Volume 2 (2008)

• www.tmtch.net , the official website of the group