Note: From their formation in August 1989 to January 1992, The Wildhearts were called The Wild Hearts… with a space. However from here on in I’m just going to call them The Wildhearts. Hope this is OK!
Whether you like them or not, The Wildhearts are a pretty special band who it’s hard not to feel sympathetic towards. If you need evidence that Ginger and co. are pretty damn metal, their fast living lifestyle and open mindedness to the wilder side of life isn’t the only evidence for this… I remember hearing the 'Fishing for Luckies' mini album in 1994 and being quite impressed by ‘Inglorious’. More riffs than your average thrash song and some pretty effective time changes...
Newcastle in the 1980s was a pretty metal place (I’ll write a longer post laying down my case for how this was the birthplace of Thrash soon) so seeing as The Wildhearts were Geordies this was bound to take a prominent role in their sound.
In the illustrious NWOBHM Encyclopedia, Malc Macmillan calls early incarnations of The Wildhearts “a retirement home for clapped out old NWOBHM scenesters”… So here are some of the Wildheart’s UK metal connections!
Phasslayne
Andrew Stidolph, better known as Stidi was the original drummer in The Wildhearts, but before he did this he was in a three piece NWOBHM band called Phasslayne, who formed around 1982. Stidi was recruited in 1984 and the album came out on the legendary Neat label. The production was crap and the album cover somewhat nondescript but there was a fair bit of listenable stuff on this release.
They were actually a lot of fun when they reformed to play Brofest #3 in 2015! Stidi plays drums on The Wildhearts’ debut ‘Earth Vs The Wildhearts’, an undisputed classic...
Mournblade
Mournblade were one of the freakier NWOBHM groups, with vocalist Dunken F. Mullet making multiple costume changes throughout each performance.
They played anywhere and everywhere, including free festivals like Stonehenge in 1984 and 1985. Now that would have been something to experience! Not only does Dunken F. Mullett have the most NWOBHM name ever, he rubbed shoulders with some pretty formidable punks in the form of Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols and Rat Scabies of The Damned, forming a crazy band with no name that performed only once. In 1990 he joined The Wildhearts, singing on a five track unreleased demo for East West Records. This demo seems to have been wiped from existence though! Ginger is great at letting everything to do with The Wildhearts be heard regardless of quality, but I suspect there is a certain amount of shame about this stuff sounding a bit like Guns n’ Roses… so I have a bad feeling I won’t be hearing this any time soon…
Mullett actually appears to be superhuman, being a senior instructor at The Institute of Aikido Auckland, New Zealand.
Tobruk
This band may have represent the less messy end of the NWOBHM spectrum, sounding somewhat mainstream, but Snake, another early Wildhearts vocalist really gives this material an extra kick up the ass.He later joined Idol Rich...
Idol Rich
… and this performance makes me wish the band had gone far! Nick Burr on guitar had been spent time in Tyrant, who were one of the greatest bands of the NWOBHM in my humble opinion, later Playing with Paul Dianno’s Killers and Steve Grimmett’s Lionsheart.
Gloucester is a pretty metal city. I grew up there, but by the time I was old enough to hit the rock bars everything had fragmented and there was a choice of either death metal or pogo pop. Stuart 'Snake' Neale was pretty amazing! He tragically died at the age of 43 in 2006 of heart failure after struggling with substance abuse for a number of years, but he was a talented chap, even sharing a stage with legit rock n roll heroes Del Shannon and Billy Fury before he settled on a career of metal decadence.
Soho Roses
This Glam Punk band is legendary. They had everything; a full on androgynous image that appeared to sit somewhat strangely with their reputation for manly, alcoholic punch ups with other mascara smothered men in tight leather trousers. Forming out of the ashes of the V2s, this is what bassist Julien Dean and drummer Patrice Panache did before their time in The Wildhearts.
As glam slowly became a commercial style, with the playful, chaotic crossdressing being replaced by racist and homophobic posturing from American groups like Guns n Roses, Julien and Pat later on formed a band called Guns n Wankers whose record was put out by Phat Wreck Chords. Nice!
The Quireboys
Ginger spent time with these glam hardrockers before forming The Wildhearts. They kick ass in this live show with Ginger on guitar, I guess they became a bit less wild after he was fired for drinking and drugging too heavily.
The Dogs D'Amour
Speaking of less wild, as a side note here’s The Dogs D'Amour with Bam on drums. He was a Wildheart before Stidi...
...Bam’s debut in The Wildhearts was November 1991 in Wolverhampton where they supported NWOBHM gods Diamond Head, and thus Bam regained his metal credentials...
Energetic Krusher
Here’s the most metal thing related to The Wildhearts! Listen to classic Wildhearts bassist Danny McCormack’s virtuoso playing, this is thrash the way it should be played. 1989 wasn’t a bad year for thrash, with this sounding even better than other UK releases (including NWOBHMers Onslaught with ‘In Search of Sanity’) it’s a wonder they didn’t do better.
The Wildhearts were a great place to mash these great minds together. They created a bona-fide classic in their debut, were impressively experimental on ‘Fishing for Luckies’ and ‘PHUQ’ then raised a pretty metal middle finger to the music industry with 1997s powerfully uncompromising ‘Endless, Nameless’ album. Danny has recently lost a leg but still plays with a metal one. It is thought The Wildhearts will record one more album to raise money for all the ex members who's lives have descended into chaos over the years!
Hope you’ve enjoyed my dissection of The Wildhearts, please savour the heavy insanity of their divisive 1997 single ‘Anthem’. Industrial hardrock pickled in alcohol.
