The band formed in 1974, the original 5 members all being undergraduates at Bristol University. Their inspiration came from the Portsmouth Symphonia, who proudly claimed to be the worst orchestra in the world. It was felt that there had to be a similar spot out there for a group. Punk, although in its infancy, gave Heavy Puke the perfect cover.
The first two gigs showed that whilst Puke could get away with being bad, there was no great appreciation for a painfully bad group. In 1976, therefore, after all the original members gravitated to London, the bass guitarist swapped with the lead singer, someone who could actually play a guitar joined and the band made the inspirational move of introducing the first Pukette as a backing singer. Political correctness never being an issue for the group or for the period, almost all subsequent Pukettes (and there were many - anywhere between 2 and 8 on stage at the same time) were chosen purely on their sex appeal, rather than their singing capabilities.
In terms of musical ability, Puke succeeded, over the years, in sometimes rising just above “painful” to “appalling”, even occasionally reaching the giddy heights of “dreadful” albeit dropping back down from time to time to “excruciating”. Music was never their strong point although the PERFORMANCE was. They never took it remotely seriously. Once seen, never forgotten. The legend lives on. Enjoy the memories.
Band Members
Nev, Jules, Rupert, Johnny F, Phil, Julian S, Tim, Robin, Andrew, Clive, Alex, Nick, Will, John LP, Chris, Peter
Pukettes
Bebe, Spee, Alison, Sara, Josephine, Minna, Debbie, Fiona (and several others whose names are lost in the mists of time)