The Wonder Stuff

Bringing bouncing, effervescent indie pop to the UK's morose, shoegazey scene of the late 1980s, The Wonder Stuff's sneering flamboyance and boisterous, good-time energy quickly made them cult favourites. The band self-funded their first EP A Wonderful Day after a win on the Football Pools by bassist Rob Jones, before signing with Polydor for debut album The Eight Legged Groove Machine (1988). Second album Hup (1989) made the big breakthrough, reaching Number 5 in the UK, before the huge summer single Size Of A Cow took its follow-up Never Loved Elvis (1991) to Number 3. Inspired by their appearances at the Glastonbury and Reading Festivals, the band held their own open air concert, The Big Day Out, compered by Vic Reeves, and they later teamed up with the comedian for the Number 1 hit Dizzy (originally by Tommy Roe). They split in 1994 shortly after headlining the Phoenix festival but reformed in 2000 and remain active.