Band: Huggy Bear / Phantom Pregnancies / Blood Sausage / Element Of Crime
Where: UK
When: 1991 – 94 ( HB years)
Members:
Chris Rawley (Thee Element of Crime)Jo Johnson (Blood Sausage, Thee Element of Crime)Jon Slade (Almost Ringo, Comet Gain, ex-I'm Being Good, Mast, Small Things)Karen (Phantom Pregnancies)Niki (Blood Sausage)
Huggy Bear history: Wiiiji has the most incredibly detailed history of the band here.
Phantom Pregnancies: From the Troublman site
“A true cult band from England. Rumor has it they would crash other people's shows, set up between bands, and play one of their 5 minute sets. Free of the hot trends of the minute, they mix a raw garage/trashy sound with lo-fi, but dancy rhythms. Phantom Pregnancies includes members of Huggy Bear, Wat Tyler, Eggplant and Mambo Taxi.” All of the recordings I have heard are blazing VERY lo-fi recorded garage punk.
Blood Sausage: I think were active when Huggy Bear was still in full swing and featured Niki and Jo from HB. Blood Sausage was a more straight forward less agitated version of Huggy Bear. Modern Lovers meets Thee Headcoats.
Element Of Crime: Chris and Jo of HB w/ Dale of Blood Sausage. I don’t know much more about the band, I think a member of Linus was also in the group (???) and of all the off-shoot bands they remind me the most of Huggy Bear.
Why I picked this band / These bands: I couldn’t possibly make a list of UK Riot Grrrl bands and not include the best of the best of the bunch : HUGGY BEAR. They are a favorite among fans of this genre and personally speaking they inspired me 100x more than Bikini Kill. The guitar playing in Huggy Bear harkens back to a sound Gravity records made famous.
I had the honor of playing a house show with Huggy Bear in the 93’ I think but I have to say live they were terrible. All band have bad shows so I just chalked it up to a bad night. Regardless Huggy Bear remains at legend status with me.
Discography: Huggy Bear
KRS/5RC Releases
KRS206 Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah / Our Trou LP
KRS214 Taking the Rough with the Smooch 10"/CD/CS
KRS236 Weaponry Listens to Love CD/LP
KRS/5RC Compilations
KRS207 Stars Kill Rock CD/LP
Other Discography
WIJ 23 Don't Die 7"
TROUBLE001 Her Jazz 7"
WIJ 18 Kiss Curl For The Kid's Lib Guerrillas 7"
WIJ16 Rubbing The Impossible To Burst 7"
Long Distance Lovers EP (Gravity)
Main Squeeze CD EP (Fellaheen)
Shimmies in the Super 8 Compilation 7"x2 (Duophonic
Phantom Pregnancies
Bostic Surgery 7" (Incognito, Germany)
Rent Boy Assassin split 7" (Damaged Goods, UK)
Mr. Hanson (Beck)/J Church 3-Way split 7" (Honey Bear, only 100 made)
One-Sided Live 7" (came with a zine, UK)
Special Child 7" (Troubleman Unlimited, USA)
Assassination City LP (Damaged Goods, UK)
Cinnamon Imperials/Phantom Pregnancies split 7" (Honey Bear, USA)
The Garage Fell On My Foot compilation LP (Damaged Goods, UK)
Cheap Sampler comp CD (PP do 1 min. of silence) (Damaged Goods, UK)
I Gave You My Heart For Christmas... Comp 7" (DamGoods)
Compilation 7" with Helen Love and others (?)
The Compilation That Coulda Been A Contender LP (Dim Mak, USA 2003)
Blood Sausage:
Touching You In Ways... 7" (Wiiija)
Dennis Lavant 7" (K)
Happy Little Bullshit Boy 10" EP (Wiiija)
Huggy Nation cassette compilation
Element Of Crime
The Things You Do For Love 7" (Soul Static Sound)
If I skipped anything important please feel free to add. There is so much information attached to the Huggy Bear family tree that I am certain I am forgetting or missing something.
