Babybird

Scoring one of the big singalong anthems of the mid-1990s Brit pop era, Babybird's surly indie pop had a generation bellowing out "You're gorgeous, I'd do anything for you," to one another. Front man Stephen Jones was an actor, stand-up comedian and writer before recording a series of demos, initially as part of the Dogs In Honey experimental theatre project. Jones independently released home-made tracks and received rave reviews for limited edition albums I Was Born A Man (1995), Bad Shave (1995), Fatherhood (1996) and The Happiest Man Alive (1996) and the band quickly built a cult following. Their popularity and acclaim propelled first major label album Ugly Beautiful (1996) into the UK Top 10 and single You're Gorgeous shot to Number 3 and became a huge hit. With Jones' wry, cynical, twisted songwriting and catchy, melodic choruses, the band followed up with singles Candy Girl, Cornershop and Bad Old Man and albums There's Something Going On (1998) and Bugged (2000). But, as the Brit pop bubble burst towards the end of the decade, their popularity faded and they eventually split in 2011.