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Funboy Five
the story of the
1980 single
'Life After
Death'/'Compulsive Eater'
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funboy
five
behind the
legend
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Although the John Peel session had engendered some record company interest, no
declarations of intent resulted in any commitment to finance, record or
release anything by the group.
Feeling the momentum created by the
Peel session and few snippets in the music press ebbing away, the
Funboy Five decided the next step should be an independently-released
single. This became ’Life After Death’/’Compulsive Eater’.
However, before the single was
recorded significant changes occurred in the group’s personnel.
Having already lost a bass player,
the group now lost a drummer, Robert, leaving just the two founder
members, Mick Sinclair and John McRae.
A bass player, Dave Tyler, aged 17
and still at school, joined the group. A drummer, Paul Ingram,
previously in the Anal Surgeons was persuaded to fill the vacant drum
stool. Another ex-Anal Surgeon, John Goddard, played bass with the band
at several gigs before the arrival of Mr Tyler, including one where the
other band on the bill had a guitarist who looked like a toby jug.
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Above,
the Funboy Five at Hemel Hempstead Arts Centre,
featuring the line-up that recorded the 'Life After Death' single,
including Carole, who provided the eerie backing vocals. Note headless
audience member to the right, unfortunately decapitated just at this
moment by a falling roof beam. The same line-up, minus Carole, made one
of the band's two appearances at London's Rock Garden, below. 
The cost of
recording the single, on January 6, 1980, and its pressing, left no
money available for the sleeve.
As a result,
the disc was clothed in a plain white inner sleeve with a stapled
fold-over piece of A4 paper with hand- and type-written info on the
band. But it was available in a choice of colours:
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Greatly influenced by – or
possibly under the influence of – the recently-released film, Phantasm,
Mick was cast as ‘The Tall Man’.
While often, and understandably,
taken at face value as a humourous song about a haunted house, ’Life
After Death’ is actually a warning on how the ’haunted house’ of
religion can, with the promise of life after death, steadily consume
the human soul (no really, it is, listen to it).
‘Compulsive Eater’ meanwhile was
inspired by a tabloid newspaper story of a prisoner who did, or
attempted to, eat everything in his cell: ‘No respect for the legal
system’.
The first release on the Cool-Cat-Daddy-O label, the single received the expected plays on the
John Peel Show, various other radio spins, a few reviews, and sold a
greatly encouraging 650 copies within a week of its release. Much less
encouraging was the fact that it sold hardly any thereafter.
Nonetheless, the band only to wait until 2011 before Talya Cooper
celebrated Halloween with a clever and innovative version of ‘Life After Death’.
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Introducing
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Formation
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The John Peel
Session
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Early Recordings
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Recent singles (2014 to 2016)
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The Label
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Last Days and the
21st Century Revival
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Before and After
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Buy Stuff
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Funboy Five
digital downloads at bandcamp
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Funboy Five
Youtube channel
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CONTACT
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