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Peter
and the Test Tube Babies, from conception onwards
Make
no mistake! Peter And The Test Tube babies have written some of
the best punk songs ever. In the early '80s they stood out,
above all other bands to emerge, with their tales of the hazards
of being young punks in Brighton - "Banned From The
Pubs", "Intensive care", "Run Like
hell", the list goes on...all had the Test Tubes hallmark,
combining personal experiences, real cool tunes and, most
important of all, maintaining a great sense of humour.
At the time, their gigs were fun filled events with electrifying
tunes and plenty of entertainment. Harmless humour of those
early gigs was captured on their debut album, "Pissed And
Proud". From those early gems, the Test Tubes just got
better and better. The next crop of songs, "Jinx",
"Blown Out Again" and "September" all
featured on "The Mating Sounds Of South American
Frogs", which stayed at number one for four months at the
top of the independent charts. A US tour followed, climaxing
with a 4,000 capacity sell out show at the Los Angeles Olympic
Auditorium.
The Test Tubes first US domestic release, "Soberphobia",
is probably one of their finest moments. The use of keyboards
and sax on some tracks may not have been what people expected
but it worked a treat. The much sought after CDs
"Cringe" and "The $Hit Factory" again proved
the Test Tubes unpredictability in the early '90s.
The mid '90s saw the release of "Supermodels"
and the departure from the band of Trapper and Ogs (bass and
drums), excellent
musicians. The band brought in fresh blood, the young and
dynamic Rum and AD on bass and drums respectively. To promote
the Supermodels album the band then went on a 25 date tour of
Germany, Holland and Switzerland.
On their 20th anniversary in 1998 the band flew to Germany to record the
"Alien Pubduction" album, their first with AD and Rum. The band also undertook a massive US and Canadian tour that lasted
five weeks, lots of UK gigs and of course the annual German Christmas tour.
Rum quit in 1999 due to the punishing tour schedule. Paul 'H' Henrickson,
known to the band and a Brighton stalwart, took over on
bass.
The band hit the road with renewed vigour touring repeatedly
throughout the UK, Germany, Ireland, USA, France and making an
impact on the summer festival circuits. Early in 2001, after
years of taking punk to the masses, the pressure took its toll
and A.D. left the band. Harp playing Christophe from Paris took
over on the drums, beating other hopefuls to the job in hard
fought auditions. The band were soon back on the road touring
all over the world including a visit to The Shetland Islands!
Drums rolled again in 2003 as Christophe yielded the role to Dave
'Caveman Dave'
O'Brien. Christophe joined Peter and Del in the studio to aid
with their creation of vibrant Test Tube material for the twenty
first century.
In 2005, after a seven year hiatus, the band released "A
Foot Full of Bullets", recorded at Ford Lane Studios, Ford, West Sussex.
The album was definitely worth the long wait demonstrating a
familiar core sound matched with smart self assurance gained
from decades of experience. Storming on with characteristic
vigour, the Test Tubes gained praise as "the best band of the weekend"
(Lars Friedrickson) at the WASTED festival before closing the
year with the annual German Xmas
Tour 2005.
A
remix of "A Foot Full of Bullets" was produced with
contributions from Campino (Die Toten Hosen) and Olga (The Toy
Dolls) at the start of 2006. "For a Few Bullets More"
was released in August. Not long after, web master Dr Nigel announced
he was bowing out of the band's website after years of valued
service. The band are all indebted to Nigel and wish him all the best.
Creating a new web presence took the band through to the next
big tour date...The band flew down under in September to play Australia and New
Zealand for the first time.
The Test Tubes remain one of the best punk bands to come
out of Europe. See them live if you get the chance - check out gig listings
for latest info.
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