Mighty Mighty

The British band Mighty Mighty attracted a far bigger audience in Japan than they ever managed to build at home. That overseas interest surfaced only after the group had already disbanded, having existed for just a handful of years. Formed in Birmingham, England, in 1986, the lineup featured Hugh Harkin on vocals and harmonica alongside guitarists Mick Geoghegan and Peter Geoghegan, bassist Russell Burton, and drummer David Hennessey. Their first public appearance came during the NME/ICA Rock Week concerts, and one of their early recordings was featured on the C-86 cassette compilation. In 1986 they issued their debut single, “Everybody Knows the Monkey.” Frequently likened to Orange Juice, the band produced only a single long-player, 1988’s Sharks, before calling it quits. Their own imprint, Girlie Records, supplied the name for the later anthology The Girlie Years, which gathered the band’s jangly singles and B-sides. In 2001 Vinyl Japan issued a collection of Mighty Mighty’s BBC sessions. The sustained Japanese enthusiasm stemmed from the strong appetite among indie collectors there for British guitar pop.