The Very Things with The Shend

The Very Things special with The Shend in conversation.

When The Cravats split up in 1982, guitarist Robin Raymond (aka Robin R. Dalloway) and bassist/singer The Shend (aka Chris Shendo, born Chris Harz) formed The Very Things, recruiting drummer Gordon Disneytime (aka Robin Holland), bassist Jim Davis (guitarist with Redditch band CKV) for the first live gigs, followed by bassist Steven Burrows (aka Fudger O'Mad or Budge), who is band mate of And Also The Trees.  The band also originally had a horn section of Vincent Johnson, John Graham, Robert Holland, and Paul Green.  Debut single "The Gong Man" was released on Crass's label in November 1983, with "The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes" following in June 1984, now signed to Reflex Records. A short film was made based on the latter for Channel 4's The Tube.

The band's debut album was released in August 1984, after which the band was trimmed to the core trio. Several singles and EPs followed over the next few years, although a cover of R. Dean Taylor's "There's a Ghost In My House" was withdrawn in 1987 due to The Fall's version appearing at the same time.[2] By 1988 the band had split up, although they had recorded enough material for an album release on One Little Indian, the Motown-influenced Motortown. The original albums, along with a collection of non-album tracks, were reissued by Fire Records in 1994.

The Very Things recorded two Peel Sessions, in 1983 and 1987, and two tracks, "The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes" and "This Is Motortown" featured in the Festive Fifty.

The Shend formed a new band, Grimetime, and has since gone on to an acting career, appearing in television series including EastEnders, Red Dwarf, The Bill, Men Behaving Badly, and Torchwood.