Thee Headcoats

One of the many bands led by British garage rock icon <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Billy Childish</a>, Thee Headcoats was his most prolific, no small statement given the man's ceaseless creativity and busy release schedule. Thee Headcoats played tough, R&B-influenced rock & roll influenced by the gritty sounds of the early <a href="spotify:artist:1SQRv42e4PjEYfPhS0Tk9E">Kinks</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5U16QlMnlSAhkQxBZpLyLO">Pretty Things</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:79Q3HncNHbxPnXkn5zCWgz">Downliners Sect</a>, with a sense of humor informed by <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a>'s fascination with Deerstalker hats, American animated cartoons, and various strains of vintage pop culture. Thee Headcoats established their template on early LPs like The Earls of Suavedom (1989) and Heavens to Murgatroyd, Even! It's Thee Headcoats! (Already) (1990). A leaner, more punk-oriented attack emerged on later-day albums such as 1998's The Messerschmitt Pilot's Severed Hand, yet <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> and his bandmates never abandoned their commitment to raucous '60s-informed rock, sounding essentially unchanged on 2023's reunion effort Irregularis (The Great Hiatus).

<a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Billy Childish</a> had already made a name for himself as the U.K.'s leading exponent of no-frills garage rock with early groups like <a href="spotify:artist:4ey6bpgFyzrk4wAnWdNDMG">the Pop Rivets</a>, Thee Milkshakes, and <a href="spotify:artist:0inrs4SRUX8tumpMrZkkiD">Thee Mighty Caesars</a> when, in 1989, he introduced a new combo, Thee Headcoats. Clad in matching Deerstalker hats (which they dubbed "headcoats"), Thee Headcoats featured <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> on guitar and lead vocals, Allan Crockford on bass, and <a href="spotify:artist:7LSPkEvlsBiuxfUNbmdRIa">Bruce Brand</a> on drums. During his time with <a href="spotify:artist:0inrs4SRUX8tumpMrZkkiD">Thee Mighty Caesars</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> had found valuable partners in the outspoken garage-punk label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Crypt+Records%22">Crypt Records</a>, which released several of their albums in the United States, and Thee Headcoats' first album arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Crypt%22">Crypt</a>, 1989's The Earls of Suavedom. Ollie Dolot would take over on bass by the time they recorded 1990's The Kids Are All Square – This Is Hip! Touring in the United States helped spread the word about the group, and soon the Mummies, <a href="spotify:artist:7LuYiSXiWs86rwWJjEEgB9">Mudhoney</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:6olE6TJLqED3rqDCT0FyPh">Nirvana</a> were among the bands singing their praises. The endorsement of the latter two acts would in part lead to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sub+Pop+Records%22">Sub Pop Records</a> issuing 1990's Heavens to Murgatroyd, Even! It's Thee Headcoats! (Already) in America, though <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> insisted the CD version be mastered from a vinyl LP in deference to his lo-fi tastes. In 1991, <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> introduced an auxiliary group, <a href="spotify:artist:1MDoUyChsGrYbl9DeV9tif">Thee Headcoatees</a>, a female vocal group backed by Thee Headcoats, featuring <a href="spotify:artist:3giOet7O2pgPUYOujF4ifa">Holly Golightly</a>, Kyra LaRubia, <a href="spotify:artist:7Gc41EgYaHVRoG3YgmnsI6">Ludella Black</a>, and "Bongo Debbie" Green. 1993's The Good Times Are Killing Me featured the debut of another Headcoats bassist, Johnny Johnson, and in 1996, <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> teamed up with one of his musical heroes, Don Craine of <a href="spotify:artist:79Q3HncNHbxPnXkn5zCWgz">the Downliners Sect</a>, to cut a collaborative LP, Deerstalking Men, released under the banner <a href="spotify:artist:59Rx32zGL26dQIM9zNFhQS">Thee Headcoats Sect</a>.

Thee Headcoats would record 19 albums and more than twice as many singles between 1989 and 1999, even as <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> continued to make records with other projects, including collaborative albums with poet <a href="spotify:artist:3bYI1USKqZikVsc7Xz3SU1">Sexton Ming</a> and calypso music with Billy Childish & the Blackhands. 2000's I Am the Object of Your Desire, credited to Wild Billy Childish & His Famous Headcoats, would prove to be the group's swan song, and their final show was recorded for release on <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hangman%22">Hangman</a> label on 2001's Live at the Dirty Water Club. By the time the LP came out, <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Childish</a> had already introduced his next combo, <a href="spotify:artist:0tKxSPbiRdnBgrEzSKpprL">the Buff Medways</a>, the name inspired by a breed of chicken native to Kent and the surrounding Medway area. After the death of Don Craine in February 2022, <a href="spotify:artist:1kZTgpirZqES4wBVk08d2o">Billy Childish</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7LSPkEvlsBiuxfUNbmdRIa">Bruce Brand</a>, and Johnny Johnson went into the studio with Keith Evans of <a href="spotify:artist:79Q3HncNHbxPnXkn5zCWgz">the Downliners Sect</a> to cut a <a href="spotify:artist:59Rx32zGL26dQIM9zNFhQS">Headcoats Sect</a> EP, A Tribute to Don Craine, which was the first new music from Thee Headcoats since their breakup. Inspired by the sessions, the three opted to record a new Headcoats album, and Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) appeared in March 2023. It included the song "Oh Leader We Do Dig Thee," a tribute to their late friend Craine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi