Mud (band)


Mud are an English glam rock band, formed in February 1966. Their earlier success came in a pop and then glam rock style, while later hits were influenced by 1950s rock and roll, and are best remembered for their hit singles "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974, and "Lonely This Christmas" which reached Christmas number 1 in December 1974. After signing to Rak Records and teaming up with songwriters/producers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, the band had fourteen UK Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1976, including three number ones.

History

The band was founded by lead guitarist Rob Davis, lead vocalist Les Gray, drummer Dave Mount, and bassist Ray Stiles.
's TopPop in 1974
The band released their debut single "Flower Power" on CBS in 1967, but were not immediately successful. Three further singles in 1967/68, "Up the Airy Mountain"/"The Latter Days", "Shangri-La"/"House on the Hill" and "Jumping Jehosophat"/"Won't Let It Go", made no impression on the UK Singles Chart.
The band appeared on the Basil Brush Show on BBC TV, and toured as support for Jack Jones. After years of unsuccessful singles, they were signed to Mickie Most's Rak label, and had three Top 20 successes in 1973 with "Crazy", "Hypnosis" and "Dyna-mite".
At the peak of their career they also enjoyed British number one singles with "Tiger Feet"; and "Lonely This Christmas", an affectionate Elvis Presley pastiche; plus "Oh Boy", a cover of the Buddy Holly hit, which also featured on their album Mud Rock Volume 2. "Tiger Feet" sold over 500,000 copies in the UK and a million copies globally.
Like contemporaries Sweet, their most successful period came when their records were written and produced by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman: in 1975 they had seven singles in the UK Top 40 totalling over 45 weeks on the chart, the most by any artist in 1975. "Oh Boy" was the only number one single produced by Chinn and Chapman that they did not also write.
"Lonely This Christmas" gets seasonal airplay on British radio and television,. The band also embraced the burgeoning disco craze, as exemplified on their 1976 single "Shake It Down" which reached No. 12 in the UK chart. After "Tiger Feet" they released "The Cat Crept In" which reached No. 2 in April 1974, which was written to exploit Les Gray's vocal impression of Presley. Their next single "Rocket" reached No. 6 in the UK, after which they released another track from their album Mud Rock, a cover of "In the Mood". This was released under the name of "Dum", but it failed to chart.
After the success with "Lonely This Christmas", they cracked the Valentine's Day market with "The Secrets That You Keep", which reached No. 3 in February 1975. Around this time Mud wound up their contract with Rak releasing three further singles, "Oh Boy", "Moonshine Sally" and "One Night". Mud also split from Chinn and Chapman in mid-1975 and signed to Private Stock. There they enjoyed three more British Top 20 hits within seven months: "L-L-Lucy", the ballad "Show Me You're a Woman" and the disco-influenced track "Shake It Down". The latter two singles saw them gradually moving away from glam rock, which was now unfashionable. Keyboardist Andy Ball, formerly of Candlewick Green, joined the band briefly during this period, to be replaced in early 1978 by Brian Tatum.
Their last single to reach the British charts was a cover of the Bill Withers song "Lean on Me" which reached No. 7 in the UK in December 1976. This was followed by Gray's solo version of "Groovy Kind of Love" on Warner Bros., which peaked at No. 32 in the UK.
In 1977, with Private Stock in financial difficulties, the band moved to RCA. Their first single on that label was "Slow Talking Boy", a folk rock song composed by John Kongos, and featuring Davis playing a Vox 12-string guitar-mandolin; they performed this song on BBC TV's Top of the Pops, but without reaping any chart success. Mud's next single, " A Little Tenderness", was their final appearance on any major national chart, stalling at No. 98 in Australia. Three more singles, all cover versions, followed in 1978 before RCA dropped the band and Gray quit for a solo career; the original band continued for a short while with female vocalist Margo Buchanan in Gray's place, releasing an unsuccessful single for Carrere, before finally disbanding in 1979.
Following the band's dissolution, Stiles went on to join the Hollies; whilst Davis went on to co-write several highly successful dance hits for Kylie Minogue and Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Drummer Mount went into the insurance business. Mount appeared on an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks on BBC Two in November 2005, and featured in the "spot the pop star of the past" identity parade segment. Mount died on 2 December 2006. He had been married twice and worked as a salesman latterly. His obituary appeared in The Independent newspaper. The last performance by the four original members was on 3 March 1990 at Dave Mount's wedding; a video recording of which was made by Mount.
After the original band broke up in 1979, Gray reformed the band as 'Les Gray's Mud'. The initial lineup featured Stuart Amesbury and Cherie Beck of the Bristol-based Cherie Beck Band; together with Dale Fry, Rob John, and Nick Richie ; with the latter two being replaced in 1983 by guitarist Tim Fish and drummer Mark Hatwood respectively. In 1985, a further lineup change saw Amesbury, Beck, and Fry depart the band; with the new lineup being rounded out by Kevin Fairburn on bass.
In 1987, all members with the exception of Gray departed the band, and Gray brought in bassist John Berry, drummer Wole Rothe, and guitarist Syd Twynham as replacements. Rothe and Twynham had both been members of Liquid Gold prior to joining Mud. This lineup lasted until 1998 when Rothe was replaced by Phil Wilson, and the band underwent no further changes until the death of Gray in 2004. Following Gray's passing, the three remaining members were given permission by the other founding members of Mud, plus that of Gray's family, to continue using the band's name. Berry, Twynham, and Wilson then rechristened the band 'Mud II' and recruited keyboardist and longterm Mud collaborator Chris Savage. The following year, Berry left and was replaced by Marc Michalski, creating the lineup of the band which still continues to this day.
A short version of "Tiger Feet" was played at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Personnel

Members

;Current members
;Former members

Timeline


ImageSize = width:800 height:500
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:130 top:0 right:05
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Alignbars = justify
Period = from:01/01/1966 till:21/06/2016
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1970
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1966
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2
Colors =
id:v value:red legend:Lead_Vocals
id:g value:green legend:Lead_Guitar
id:r value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_Guitar
id:k value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:b value:blue legend:Bass_Guitar
id:d value:orange legend:Drums,_Percussion
id:bv value:pink legend:Backing_Vocals
LineData =
layer:back width: 1
PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left
bar:Les Gray from:start till:01/01/1978 color:v
bar:Les Gray from:start till:01/01/1978 color:k width:3
bar:Les Gray from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2004 color:v
bar:Les Gray from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2004 color:k width:3
bar:Margo Buchanan from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/1979 color:v
bar:Rob Davis from:start till:01/01/1979 color:g
bar:Nick Richie from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1983 color:g
bar:Tim Fish from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1987 color:g
bar:Syd Twynham from:01/01/1987 till:end color:g
bar:Syd Twynham from:01/01/2004 till:end color:v width:3
bar:Stuart Amesbury from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:r
bar:Andy Ball from:01/01/1974 till:01/01/1976 color:k
bar:Chris Savage from:01/01/2004 till:end color:k
bar:Ray Stiles from:start till:01/01/1979 color:b
bar:Ray Stiles from:start till:01/01/1979 color:v width:3
bar:Dale Fry from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:b
bar:Kevin Fairburn from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1987 color:b
bar:John Berry from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/2005 color:b
bar:Marc Michalski from:01/01/2005 till:end color:b
bar:Dave Mount from:start till:01/01/1979 color:d
bar:Rob John from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1983 color:d
bar:Mark Hatwood from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1987 color:d
bar:Wole Rother from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1998 color:d
bar:Phil Wilson from:01/01/1998 till:end color:d
bar:Cherie Beck from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1985 color:bv
bar: width:15 align:center textcolor:black fontsize:8 shift:
from:start till:01/01/1979 text:Mud color:tan1
from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2004 text:"Les Gray's Mud" color:tan2 textcolor:white
from:01/01/2004 till:end text:"Mud II" color:tan1 textcolor:black

Discography

Albums

List of songs

Instrumental songs