Dodgy, are back

Seems like they've patched up their differences and have an 8 date tour in November.

I don't quite know what to think. I used to absolutely LOVE them. They were my favourite band, frankly. I even joined the fanclub.

Against that, they had the worst image problem of any band I've ever known and this meant a lot of people didn't take them that seriously. I don't mean 'image' in the way that's rightly derided by most people... more the silly videos and the adverts in kiddy language and all that. But they had so many classic songs if you ignored that - stuff like "Water Under The Bridge"... I'm looking forward to seeing them again, anyway. One of the dates is in Bristol. Ker-ching!

Hmmm, I'm also rather surprised but very pleased as I too was a big fan in my student days. I've seen Nigel Clark solo twice in the past year and his voice is still top notch, so it will be very interesting to see them do all the old songs again.

http://www.nme.com/news/dodgy/28898

Seems virtually everyone is reforming these days - gather there's rumours about Voice of the Beehive doing a tour at some point, which would be great. I think Myspace and the internet have a lot to do with it - bands can now realise how big their potential fan base still is.

Stodgy and Podgy - god what is it with so many bands of the 80s and 90s reforming all the time?

I don't really know what to say about Dodgy, except that they had a few very catchy hits around the time of Britpop and then, as Damian said above, suffered from a rather workmanlike non-image which may have cost them more success in the long run. Two of them had curly permed noodle hair like that twat out of Cockloader [sic] - which at the time wasn't exactly very cool was it (well, either that or you could always dress like Jarvis Cocker). And the drummer Mathew Priest - for all his amiable cheeky chappiness and undeniable "geezer" qualities, came across as a bit of a jester in the Keith Mullen of The Farm (sacre bleu!!) mould.....something which decidedly divided opinion in my view.

I'm wondering how many other Britpop also-rans will be reforming by this time next year....perhaps Menswear (joke band!)? Sleeper (Slapper more like), Echobelly (dire), or even, heaven forbid, Elastica again!

What's going on?

Incidentally, anybody here realise that former fraggle-electro-punk moshpit faves Carter USM [all hail!] are actually reuniting for one final "10th Anniversary of splitting up" gig at Brixton in October this year? That should be a great night for anyone who was a huge fan (like I was).

Never mention Toploader in the same sentence as Dodgy again.

I'm quite heartened by the fact that a lot of bands I liked have stuck around or reformed (Dodgy, Silver Sun etc.) whilst ones I didn't like are by and large staying away (Shed Seven, Sleeper, Echobelly...)

I'm another pleased to see them back, and will buy my tickets for the Manchester gig. The Nigel Clark album last year reminded us just what a good song writer he is, and was only just listening to the first Dodgy album the other day. Classic stuff.

Ha ha ha - funny coincidence to relate: they played Dodgy's "Staying Out For The Summer" on BBC2's Springwatch earlier this evening - in full - as backing music when they showed a run down of some of the wonderful highlights of the previous three weeks of the series.

Did you ever watch Springwatch Nightshift? Oddly relaxing...

Did you ever watch Springwatch Nightshift? Oddly relaxing...

Sure, I have been dipping in and out of that one seeing as I'm usually always active at night until around 4 am. But I wouldn't sit through each nightly episode from start to finish as it gets a bit monotonous after a while. There's only so many times I can sit and watch the baby barn owls making that admittedly grating hissing /rasping sound - the noise is far too close to the sound of my own mucus-encrusted perpetually irritated and irritating bastard nose when it snorts, sneezes and sniffles as a result of probably my most violent hayfever symptoms of the year yet (almost 24/7 every day for the last 3 weeks).

Love the crazy capers that link some of the footage though. This year we've been spoilt rotten with too much Springwatch magic on the TV, but then again as a wildlife freak, I wouldn't have it any other way. Better than the fucking uselessly crap human equivalent that is the tediously desperate BB of course - that is far too annoyingly contrived for words, whereas watching animals going about their business is actually genuine and real.

Here in Manchester, we've had the added bonus of having a pair of peregrines nesting in the city centre (as they have done for the last three years) and this year there have been rooftop cameras watching them every day going about their business rearing their four chicks - the pictures are then beamed up live onto the giant TV screen by the square with the big wheel in it for the last 6 weeks courtesy of the RSPB who have set up a mobile TV unit in the area. Fantastic it is to see one of nature's finest predators undertaking its rigorous pest control and helping to keep the city's pigeon population down! We've spotted both parents perched high above the city on the office towers and I have observed them closer up through the RSPB telescope that is also set up in the square. It's brilliant!