The Soup Dragons were formed in 1985 in Belshill near Glasgow. The original line up consisted of Sean Dickson (lead guitar, voice), Sushil Dade (bass), Jim McCulloch (guitar) and Ross Sinclair (drums). The bands early output was a fuzzy guitar sound heavily influenced by the likes Of The Buzzcocks.The band released three singles/EP's between 1985/86 and these can be found on The Hang Ten Compilation. The Sun In The Sky Ep on Subway was scheduled to be their first release but the band were unhappy with the sound of the record so it was pulled with Whole Wide World becoming their debut single. Unsurprisingly the band ended up on the C86 compilation with the track Pleasantly Surprised. They also recorded two sessions for John Peel in 1986 where the line up was completed with the backing vocals and tambourine playing of Jacqueline (no surname). The band also had entries in the 1986 Festive 50 with Hang Ten reaching number 17 and Whole Wide World reaching number 25.
The band released their debut album This Is Our Art the following year. It included, for me, their best ever single Can't Take No More. Sadly after that the band changed to a more rockier sound which was then followed by their indie dance/baggy conversion which gave them the commercial chart success they craved. It also saw them score their highest chart placing in the States with Divine Thing which reached number 35 in the billboard chart.
The band finally called it a day in 1995 with members going onto other outfits. Dickson formed The High Fidelity with Dade forming Future Pilot AKA. Hopefully I will dig out recordings of both bands in the future.
The Soup Dragons - Hang Ten
The Peel Session recorded on 16/02/1986 (broadcast 24/02/1986) can be downloaded via The Perfumed Garden. Previews of most of the bands material can be found on mp3.com
IF you really must you can download I'm Free via this blog.
[My Space link]
