Guana Batz

The early 1980s witnessed the Guana Batz emerge within Britain's psychobilly surge, which unfolded alongside the Cramps' underground ascent in America and the chart success of rockabilly revivalists the Stray Cats and the Polecats on both sides of the Atlantic. Formed in 1983 in Feltham, Middlesex, the lineup featured vocalist Pip Hancox, guitarist Stuart Osbourne, drummer Dave Turner, and bassist Mick White, who also played with the Meteors; electric bassist White was soon succeeded by upright acoustic player Sam Sardi. Merging punk velocity and aggression with rockabilly, the group aligned with the British psychobilly circuit that included the Meteors, Stingrays, Caravans, and other acts performing at London's good-naturedly rough Klub Foot. A swift recording contract followed, yielding the debut EP You're So Fine on Big Beat Records before the close of 1983. Their contribution to the Stompin' at the Klub Foot compilation secured a stronger arrangement with ABC/ID, which issued the full-length Held Down...At Last! (also known as Held Down to Vinyl...At Last!) in 1985. Loan Sharks arrived the following year and registered an even stronger underground impact in the U.K. Live in London, taped at the Klub Foot, appeared in 1987, and Rough Edges sustained the annual release pattern in 1988. After that album, Johnny Bowler replaced drummer Turner and made his debut on Electra Glide in Blue, issued in 1990 by the new label World Service. Although the band maintained tours throughout the U.K. and Europe with bassist Mark Pennington, their original recording run concluded there, and they disbanded during the 1990s. Hancox and Bowler both relocated to California, where they established homes and families. The Guana Batz reconvened in late 1998 and produced the all-covers album Undercover the next year. Can't Take the Pressure appeared in 2000, followed by the rival anthology The Very Best of the Guana Batz in 2001.