Artist
The Photos
United Kingdom
The Photos is a music group from United Kingdom. Their discography on Gatefold includes 3 records.
3
Albums tracked
1
In collections
—
Since
Biography
The Photos were a British new wave band active from 1979 to 1983, featuring core members Wendy Wu (lead vocals), Steve Eagles (guitar/vocals), Dave Sparrow (bass) and Olly Harrison (drums). The band recorded two LPs for Epic, a self-titled album released in 1980 and "Crystal Tips and Mighty Mice," which was originally scheduled to be released in 1981, but shelved and not officially released until 2008 by Cherry Red. The Photos had a punk-inspired new wave sound which, along with the jaunty vocals of Wu, often garnered comparisons to Blondie.
The Arc of The Photos
The pivots — what forced The Photos to reinvent.
The Evesham Explosion
Before the major label gloss, these kids were basically a high-speed garage band called Satan's Rats playing gritty UK punk. Transitioning into The Photos meant keeping that frantic rhythm section while allowing Steve Eagles to write actual melodies for Wendy Wu to front. You hear the friction in those early 1980 sessions where the punk urgency is constantly trying to break through the pop structures. It gave the debut a frantic, 'us against the world' energy that the band could never quite replicate once the money started rolling in.
The Crystal Ball Slump
Everything went wrong when the band headed into the sessions for their second album, Crystal Ball, without the momentum of the debut. The production got heavy-handed and the songwriting felt like it was trying to meet a corporate mandate rather than a creative spark. Internal friction and the weight of being the 'next big thing' crushed the group dynamics before the record even hit the shops. It's a textbook case of a label-induced burnout that effectively ended the band's run in less than two years.
Influences
- Blondie — The label explicitly marketed them as the UK answer to Deborah Harry's crew. You hear it in the way Wendy Wu handles the deadpan delivery on 'I'm Okay' and 'Barbary Coast.' It's that specific New Wave cool transposed to a British suburban setting.
- The Byrds — Steve Eagles has cited Roger McGuinn’s 12-string jangle as the primary blueprint for his guitar style. Listen to the opening of 'Do You Have Fun?' to hear that Rickenbacker chime filtered through a post-punk amp. It provides the brightness that separated them from the darker goth and punk acts of 1980.
- The Ronettes — The band was obsessed with the Wall of Sound and the 1960s girl-group aesthetic. The drum fills on the debut are a direct lift from the Hal Blaine school of percussion. They wanted to be a pop group, just one that played at double the speed.
- Buzzcocks — Eagles came out of the same DIY punk circuit and borrowed Pete Shelley’s knack for writing short, sharp love songs about rejection. The brevity of the tracks on the self-titled album mirrors the 'Spiral Scratch' philosophy of getting in and out in under three minutes. No fat, just hooks.
- The Ramones — They shared the same obsession with bubblegum pop and high-volume distortion. The relentless down-stroked guitar parts on 'She's My Girl' are a direct tribute to Johnny Ramone’s minimalist assault. It’s the sound of 1960s pop played with 1977 aggression.
Discography
Their records — most-collected first.
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