Biography
The Dentists can stake a reasonable claim as Brit-pop's originators, though they never managed to seize the moment when the approach they had honed across ten years suddenly emerged as the dominant trend near 1994. Mick Murphy's markedly British vocals and Bob Collins' relentlessly chiming guitar formed their hallmark style, one that countless acts have since echoed without truly replicating.
Formed in 1983 in their hometown of Chatham in rural Kent, the group began with Murphy, Collins, bassist Mark Matthews, and drummer Ian Smith. Their debut single, "Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (And It's Wintertime)," appeared on the obscure independent label Spruck Records in 1985. A neo-freakbeat gem that evokes a 1967 recording, the track stayed the band's most recognized and cherished song throughout their existence. That early high point led directly into the album Some People Are on the Pitch They Think It's All Over It Is Now—its title drawn from the closing announcement of England's 1966 World Cup final victory—and the six-song EP You and Your Bloody Oranges, which share no common tracks. Titles such as these, together with numbers like "One of Our Psychedelic Beakers is Missing" and "Where's My Chicken, You Bastard," led some critics to dismiss the quartet as whimsical paisley-clad figures, an impression that proved difficult to shake.
Early in 1986 Smith departed, and Alun Jones took his place. After an intense opening year of activity, the revised lineup produced only two EPs across 1986 and 1987: Down and Out in Paris and Chatham and Writhing on the Shagpile. In 1988 the Belgian imprint Antler issued a CD drawing the strongest material from prior releases, omitting Some People Are on the Pitch and titled Beer Bottle and Bannister Symphonies: A Collection of Some of the Finer Moments of Dentistry. The same label then released the new EP The Fun Has Arrived.
Following that burst of output the Dentists largely vanished for more than two years, surfacing only with the single new track "Snapdragon" on the 1989 compilation Time Will Show the Wiser. Their return in 1991 with the album Heads and How to Read Them marked the start of an even more active period. Alongside two singles from the record, each featuring strong and otherwise unavailable B-sides, the band placed exclusive cuts on various compilations and finally sought entry into the American market they had previously overlooked. A 10" EP called Naked gathered seven rarities from 1986 and 1987, most previously unreleased. In 1992 this was followed by Dressed, a 22-track CD spanning 1985–1987 that included nearly all of Some People Are on the Pitch together with key tracks from the EPs, overlapping substantially with the 1988 Belgian collection.
Amid this wave of reissues the Dentists issued three thematically connected singles on separate independent labels, each backed with a John Hegley poem. The songs, though not the poems, were assembled in 1993 on the U.S. release Powdered Lobster Fiasco, which also contained re-recorded versions of several earlier numbers. Rob Grigg replaced Jones on drums beginning with those singles. Later that year the band signed unexpectedly with East/West, an Atlantic subsidiary known chiefly for R&B. The label sought instant indie credibility by issuing the box set Bigbangredshiftblackholes, three 7" singles that mixed upcoming album tracks with demos, rehearsals, and other previously unavailable material.
The resulting album, 1994's Behind the Door I Keep the Universe, ranks among the Dentists' strongest work, yet it failed commercially despite East/West's promotional push, which included the scarce but striking hour-long Radio Novocaine promo disc of the band performing recent favorite singles and interviewing one another. Apparently discouraged, the group chose Wharton Tiers to produce 1995's Deep Six. Tiers coated the songs in superfluous guitar noise and slowed the tempos, yielding a disheartening record whose title proved sadly apt. After its release and commercial disappointment, East/West dropped the Dentists. Collins withdrew from music altogether, while Murphy, Matthews, and Grigg recruited a new guitarist and formed the short-lived Coax.
Formed in 1983 in their hometown of Chatham in rural Kent, the group began with Murphy, Collins, bassist Mark Matthews, and drummer Ian Smith. Their debut single, "Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (And It's Wintertime)," appeared on the obscure independent label Spruck Records in 1985. A neo-freakbeat gem that evokes a 1967 recording, the track stayed the band's most recognized and cherished song throughout their existence. That early high point led directly into the album Some People Are on the Pitch They Think It's All Over It Is Now—its title drawn from the closing announcement of England's 1966 World Cup final victory—and the six-song EP You and Your Bloody Oranges, which share no common tracks. Titles such as these, together with numbers like "One of Our Psychedelic Beakers is Missing" and "Where's My Chicken, You Bastard," led some critics to dismiss the quartet as whimsical paisley-clad figures, an impression that proved difficult to shake.
Early in 1986 Smith departed, and Alun Jones took his place. After an intense opening year of activity, the revised lineup produced only two EPs across 1986 and 1987: Down and Out in Paris and Chatham and Writhing on the Shagpile. In 1988 the Belgian imprint Antler issued a CD drawing the strongest material from prior releases, omitting Some People Are on the Pitch and titled Beer Bottle and Bannister Symphonies: A Collection of Some of the Finer Moments of Dentistry. The same label then released the new EP The Fun Has Arrived.
Following that burst of output the Dentists largely vanished for more than two years, surfacing only with the single new track "Snapdragon" on the 1989 compilation Time Will Show the Wiser. Their return in 1991 with the album Heads and How to Read Them marked the start of an even more active period. Alongside two singles from the record, each featuring strong and otherwise unavailable B-sides, the band placed exclusive cuts on various compilations and finally sought entry into the American market they had previously overlooked. A 10" EP called Naked gathered seven rarities from 1986 and 1987, most previously unreleased. In 1992 this was followed by Dressed, a 22-track CD spanning 1985–1987 that included nearly all of Some People Are on the Pitch together with key tracks from the EPs, overlapping substantially with the 1988 Belgian collection.
Amid this wave of reissues the Dentists issued three thematically connected singles on separate independent labels, each backed with a John Hegley poem. The songs, though not the poems, were assembled in 1993 on the U.S. release Powdered Lobster Fiasco, which also contained re-recorded versions of several earlier numbers. Rob Grigg replaced Jones on drums beginning with those singles. Later that year the band signed unexpectedly with East/West, an Atlantic subsidiary known chiefly for R&B. The label sought instant indie credibility by issuing the box set Bigbangredshiftblackholes, three 7" singles that mixed upcoming album tracks with demos, rehearsals, and other previously unavailable material.
The resulting album, 1994's Behind the Door I Keep the Universe, ranks among the Dentists' strongest work, yet it failed commercially despite East/West's promotional push, which included the scarce but striking hour-long Radio Novocaine promo disc of the band performing recent favorite singles and interviewing one another. Apparently discouraged, the group chose Wharton Tiers to produce 1995's Deep Six. Tiers coated the songs in superfluous guitar noise and slowed the tempos, yielding a disheartening record whose title proved sadly apt. After its release and commercial disappointment, East/West dropped the Dentists. Collins withdrew from music altogether, while Murphy, Matthews, and Grigg recruited a new guitarist and formed the short-lived Coax.
Albums
