Hurrah

With their ripped jeans and leather jackets, the British guitar pop band Hurrah! might've been considered rebellious -- back in the '50s. Nevertheless, in 1987 Hurrah! were unlikely victims of controversy when the video for the single "Sweet Sanity" was banned from American television. Featuring two ladies holding hands, the video almost prevented the group from entering the U.S. Formed in the early '80s by Paul Handyside (guitar, vocals), David "Taffy" Hughes (guitar, vocals), David Porthouse (bass), and Mark Sim (drums), the band was initially named the Green-Eyed Children. In 1982, Hurrah! was signed to Kitchenware Records in England. Sim then suddenly left the group, and he was replaced by Damien Mahoney. In 1986, Mahoney quit the band to become a cop, and the group hired Steve Price. Hurrah! recorded several critically acclaimed yet commercially unsuccessful singles on Kitchenware before receiving a contract from Arista Records; the band even sold their instruments so they could buy food. Hurrah! released their debut album, Tell God I'm Here, in 1987, and the group had to use gear lent to them from Prefab Sprout and Martin Stephenson & the Daintees to record it. They also opened up for U2 at Wembley Stadium in London and toured Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt as well. Hurrah!'s second LP, The Beautiful, appeared in 1989, but like its predecessor it did not sell well, and the band departed from Arista. Hurrah! recorded a third album in 1991; however, it was never released. Hughes then started the post-punk outfit Star Witness, later called Candy Coloured Clowns, with Mark Shearman (bass) and Hurrah!'s final drummer Adrian Evans, while Handyside began recording under the nom de guerre Bronze. Porthouse underwent training to be a faith healer. In 2000, Tell God I'm Here was reissued on CD with seven bonus tracks by BMG Funhouse in Japan. ~ Michael Sutton, Rovi