Eric Goulden, the vocalist, guitarist, and tunesmith widely recognized as Wreckless Eric, pursued one of his more curious side projects when he assembled the Len Bright Combo alongside the rhythm section of Thee Milkshakes. Captains of Industry, his short-lived band, disintegrated in late 1984 soon after issuing its only album, prompting him to move to Chatham, Kent, in southeast England. There the local scene revolved around Billy Childish’s garage-styled beat group Thee Milkshakes; after catching one of their performances while newly sober, Goulden felt motivated to start fresh. He contacted Milkshakes bassist Russ Wilkins about forming a band, Wilkins recruited drummer Bruce Brand, and Brand suggested the name Len Bright Combo—the absence of anyone actually called Len Bright was intended as part of the joke.
The trio adopted an intentionally modest working method, traveling in a worn-out van with their own modest PA and choosing modest, unfashionable clubs that gradually built them a devoted audience. Rejecting overtures from larger companies, they financed and released their first album themselves on Empire Records under the title The Len Bright Combo Present the Len Bright Combo by the Len Bright Combo. Cut in two days at Upchurch Village Hall with portable equipment for a total of eighty-six pounds, the record’s unpolished sound would later gain favor, yet without radio support or label promotion it barely registered commercially; Goulden later noted it sold fewer than two thousand copies. A follow-up, It’s Combo Time, surfaced before the year ended but met similar indifference.
In September 1986 the band’s momentum collapsed after a van crash on the return from a Bristol gig killed a pedestrian. Brand departed soon afterward; Goulden and Wilkins continued briefly with a replacement drummer before declaring the Len Bright Combo finished in 1987. Four years later the original three members backed Phil May and Dick Taylor of the Pretty Things for a handful of shows. Goulden then resumed his Wreckless Eric solo work, eventually settling in the United States and beginning a sustained partnership with his wife, Amy Rigby. Wilkins went on to perform with the Prisoners and the Wildebeests, while Brand accompanied Holly Golightly and worked again with Billy Childish. Fire Records reissued both Len Bright Combo albums in 2013, prompting the original lineup to reunite for one concert in London.
