Cud

Emerging from the same art/design cauldron that produced fellow Leeds legends Soft Cell, Scritti Politti, and The Mekons, CUD were the pre-Britpop answer to doleful shoegazing bands – fun-loving, light-hearted, romantic and downright catchy.

 

Alternatively loved or loathed like a yeast extract, CUD are indie rock for the unpretentious pleasure seeker, boasting as they do the rich deep-lunged voice of Carl Puttnam, edgy guitars of Mike Dunphy and tight, funky rhythm section of William Potter, bass and Gogs Byrn, drums.

 

CUD were initially lauded for their quirky Peel session cover of ‘You Sexy Thing’ in 1987. They soon built up a huge live following and buffed up their repertoire with a string of unstraight pop beauties, best exemplified by the 1990 album ‘Leggy Mambo’. This led to a major-label deal with A&M in 1991, front-page NME coverage, massive sellout gigs and proper Top 30 hits, ‘Rich and Strange’ and ‘Purple Love Balloon’.