Biography
Fronted by James Bourne of Busted, the five-piece guitar outfit Son of Dork achieved short-lived acclaim through a punk-pop sound echoing blink-182. Drawing its name from a line in Problem Child, the group assembled mere months after Busted’s abrupt 2005 breakup, with Bourne enlisting lead guitarist Chris Leonard—a onetime member of Stamford Amp, the house band for BBC Kids TV—alongside rhythm guitarist David Williams, bassist Steven Rushton, and drummer Danny Hall via classified ads in NME and The Stage. Mercury Records promptly signed the act, which issued its debut single, the Top Three-charting “Ticket Outta Loserville,” followed later that year by the Gil Norton-produced full-length also titled Ticket Outta Loserville. Twelve months afterward the band notched a second Top Ten entry with “Eddie's Song,” supplied the theme for the Ant & Dec movie Alien Autopsy, and joined Wheatus and Bowling for Soup for the British dates of the Get Happy tour. Inactivity prompted several departures in 2007, culminating in the group’s formal dissolution. Bourne later collaborated with playwright Elliot Davies on a stage musical adapted from the band’s album; its brief engagement drew enough interest to schedule a 2011 West End transfer.
Albums