The Popguns

The Popguns are an English indie rock band, which played a part in the British Indie pop scene. Originally from Brighton, East Sussex, they formed in 1986 by vocalist Wendy Morgan, guitarists Simon Pickles and Greg Dixon plus bassist Pat Walkington, and were joined by Shaun Charman, the former drummer for The Wedding Present in 1988.[1]

The Popguns
The Popguns at Indietracks 2014.
The Popguns at Indietracks 2014.
Background information
OriginBrighton, England
GenresIndie pop, alternative rock
Years active1986–1996, 2012–present
LabelsMedium Cool, Midnight Music, 3rd Stone, Matinee
MembersWendy Morgan
Simon Pickles
Greg Dixon
Pat Walkington
Kate Mander
Ken Brotherston
Past membersShaun Charman
Bill Cox
Mike Morgan
Paul F Bonham
Tony Bryant
Websitehttp://www.popguns.net/ Official site

History

Their first release, "Where Do You Go?", came in the form of a split flexi disc (with How Many Beans Make Five?) given away free with an issue of a local zine in 1988.[2] The next year this was followed by the single "Landslide", (released by Medium Cool Records), which reached number 20 on the UK Indie Chart,[3] and made it to No. 46 on BBC radio DJ John Peel's annual Festive Fifty list for that year. The singles "Waiting for the Winter" (1989) and "Someone You Love" (1990) featured on their debut album, Eugenie (also 1990), released by the record label Midnight Music.[2] The single "Still a World Away" preceded second album Snog, which was followed by the EPs XXX and Crazy (all released in 1991).[2] Charman left, leaving the group on a brief hiatus which saw them lose a significant amount of their media coverage. The single "Star" saw them debut for their new label, 3rd Stone, who released their third album, Love Junky (1995), which also contained the 1995 single "Get Out". The final album of their early years, A Plus de Cent (1996) – which features the French language version of their last single, "Harley Davidson" – was released by Tall Poppy Records.

2012 saw the band resume live performances with six gigs in that year and a further two in 2013. At least four new songs were included in these performances. A three-track 7″ single, "Lovejunky", was released in late 2014, followed by a new album, Pop Fiction, on Matinée Recordings.[4] Soundblab ranked the album at Number 2 on their Top 10 Releases of 2014.[5] Another single, "Still Waiting for the Winter", was also taken from Pop Fiction. The band have continued to tour and record new material, and released the single "So Long" in May 2017, followed in the same year by the album Sugar Kisses.[4]

Discography

Albums
  • Eugenie (1990), Midnight Music
  • Snog (1991), Midnight Music
  • Love Junky (1995), 3rd Stone
  • Pop Fiction (2014), Matinee Recordings
  • Sugar Kisses (2017), Matinee Recordings[6]

Compilation albums
  • À Plus de Cent (1996), Tall Poppy
  • Another Year, Another Address . . . the Best of the Midnight Years (1996), Cherry Red

Compilation appearances

Singles and EPs
  • "Where Do You Go?" (1988), La-Di-Da - flexi-disc split with How Many Beans Make 5?
  • "Landslide" (1989), Medium Cool[7] - UK Indie No. 20[3]
  • "Waiting for the Winter" (1989), Midnight Music
  • "Someone You Love" (1990), Midnight Music
  • "Still a World Away" (1991), Midnight Music
  • XXX EP (1991), Midnight Music
  • Crazy EP (1991), Midnight Music
  • "Star" (1994), 3rd Stone
  • Get Out EP (1995), 3rd Stone
  • "Harley Davidson" (1996), 3rd Stone
  • "Lovejunky" (2014), Matinee Recordings
  • "Still Waiting for the Winter" (2015), Matinee Recordings
  • "So Long" (2017), Matinee Recordings

References
  1. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 216. ISBN 0-85112-579-4.
  2. Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 923
  3. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1999. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-9517206-9-4.
  4. "Popguns | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  5. Penczak, Jeff. "A WRITER'S TOP 10 RELEASES OF 2014". Soundblab.com. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. "Popguns | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
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