Popdose: Pop Goes the World: Sugarbomb, “Bully”
David_E
· 3 months ago
I'll take my lumps, but I like "Hello." Not as much as "Bully" and "After All" (I've always loved the scream in the TLS version), but I like it.
Thanks for the demos. Eeees guuuuud.
daryld
· 2 months ago
The mp3 links aren't working. The only songs i don't have are the Demo songs listed above, Liquid Cassanova and Mysteriously. Any idea where I can get these? My email is daryld12@msn.com.
Thanks, Daryl
Michael
· 3 months ago
From 2 songs I've heard so far these guys sound abit like 10cc.. Which is cool.. Thanks..
Peter
· 3 months ago
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Dave, for highlighting this overlooked band. And thanks, too, for your much earlier interview on Bullz-Eye from all those years ago. It was the first in-depth profile of Sugarbomb I came across after I'd been bitten (hard) by the Bully bug and had to find out as much as I could about this unheralded band. (Your earlier article is still the only substantial one about Sugarbomb I've read.)
Incidentally, someone on the Web described "After All" as the best Queen song Jellyfish never wrote.
I, too, was dismayed when I found Les Farrington's home page (which is basically just that: one page) and realised that he'd been reduced to playing in piano bars. I'm trying to think of a Shakespearean phrase to full convey my feelings of injustice (e.g., "O cruel fate!" or something like that), but can't at the moment because. I'm. Too. Full. Of. Rage.
As for the dreadful treatment of Sugarbomb by RCA, Les summed it up perfectly in your Bullz-Eye interview when he said, "I don't understand this business at all." Neither do I, Les.
With regard to Tastes Like Sugar, I dare say that its status can safely be upgraded from "rare" to "very rare." I bought my copy a couple of years ago on eBay from someone in England (yep, England). I paid about $50 for it – and I have to say that Sugarbomb is probably the only band I'd ever pay that much for. And since then, there's only ever been one other copy I've been able to find anywhere. Now, that's rare.
Here in Australia, any mention of Sugarbomb is even rarer (i.e., non-existent). I've been reassured by a UK distributor of Australian power pop CDs that Sugarbomb does indeed have quite a few fans in Australia. Unfortunately, I haven't met any of them. (Maybe they don't exist.)
Nevertheless, the optimist in me imagines Sugarbomb fans everywhere. There may be one standing in front of me at the supermarket checkout. It's possible. There may be one returning books at the local library just after I return mine. That's possible, too. There may even be one sitting next to me in dentist's waiting room. One problem of finding out if that's true is the practicality of asking everyone I meet: "Hey, you like Sugarbomb, too, don't you?" I've also been fairly reluctant to ask that question to everyone I meet mainly because of the potential for a quizzical look followed by an unwanted physical response. (I'm not keen on being punched on the nose.)
Ah, well. I'll just keep on imaging that Australians say they love U2, Coldplay, and Phil Collins but are secretly all Sugarbomb fans.
Bob
· 3 months ago
Peter is exactly right, David. Thank you for bringing attention to this criminally under-appreciated band.
Back around the time it was released, I saw a used copy of "Bully" sitting in a cutout bin and decided to take a chance on it. I was dumbstruck at how good it was -- so much so that I went out and bought another non-cutout copy so that I could have the pristine artwork. It immediately became one of my favorite Power Pop albums ever.
Now I find out that they were forced to hold back and leave some even better stuff off of the album. That's just not fair -- I sure hope that at some point these unreleased songs will see the light of day.
All Comments
Thanks for the demos. Eeees guuuuud.
Thanks,
Daryl
Which is cool..
Thanks..
Incidentally, someone on the Web described "After All" as the best Queen song Jellyfish never wrote.
I, too, was dismayed when I found Les Farrington's home page (which is basically just that: one page) and realised that he'd been reduced to playing in piano bars. I'm trying to think of a Shakespearean phrase to full convey my feelings of injustice (e.g., "O cruel fate!" or something like that), but can't at the moment because. I'm. Too. Full. Of. Rage.
As for the dreadful treatment of Sugarbomb by RCA, Les summed it up perfectly in your Bullz-Eye interview when he said, "I don't understand this business at all." Neither do I, Les.
With regard to Tastes Like Sugar, I dare say that its status can safely be upgraded from "rare" to "very rare." I bought my copy a couple of years ago on eBay from someone in England (yep, England). I paid about $50 for it – and I have to say that Sugarbomb is probably the only band I'd ever pay that much for. And since then, there's only ever been one other copy I've been able to find anywhere. Now, that's rare.
Here in Australia, any mention of Sugarbomb is even rarer (i.e., non-existent). I've been reassured by a UK distributor of Australian power pop CDs that Sugarbomb does indeed have quite a few fans in Australia. Unfortunately, I haven't met any of them. (Maybe they don't exist.)
Nevertheless, the optimist in me imagines Sugarbomb fans everywhere. There may be one standing in front of me at the supermarket checkout. It's possible. There may be one returning books at the local library just after I return mine. That's possible, too. There may even be one sitting next to me in dentist's waiting room. One problem of finding out if that's true is the practicality of asking everyone I meet: "Hey, you like Sugarbomb, too, don't you?" I've also been fairly reluctant to ask that question to everyone I meet mainly because of the potential for a quizzical look followed by an unwanted physical response. (I'm not keen on being punched on the nose.)
Ah, well. I'll just keep on imaging that Australians say they love U2, Coldplay, and Phil Collins but are secretly all Sugarbomb fans.
Back around the time it was released, I saw a used copy of "Bully" sitting in a cutout bin and decided to take a chance on it. I was dumbstruck at how good it was -- so much so that I went out and bought another non-cutout copy so that I could have the pristine artwork. It immediately became one of my favorite Power Pop albums ever.
Now I find out that they were forced to hold back and leave some even better stuff off of the album. That's just not fair -- I sure hope that at some point these unreleased songs will see the light of day.