The Lancashire Hotpots

The Lancashire Hotpots
Origin St Helens, Merseyside, England
Genres Comedy, folk
Years active 2006–present
Labels Fuss Records
Associated acts Diffusion, Korova, Emmet, Moped, Lyons and Tigers, The Ups
Website www.thelancashirehotpots.net/
Members Bernard Thresher
Dickie Ticker
Bob Wriggles
Kenny Body
Billy McCartney
Ron Seal
Past members Willie Eckerslike

The Lancashire Hotpots are a comedy folk band[1] from St Helens, (historically part of Lancashire), England, formed in December 2006.[2] The group record songs about Lancashire, technology and British culture (e.g. "Chippy Tea", "He's Turned Emo", "eBay Eck").[3] Their songs make use of Lancashire dialect. Their first single, "He's Turned Emo", gained over 230,000 plays on MySpace (as of 17 March 2008) and was featured on BBC Radio One by Colin Murray.[4] Their debut album, Never Mind The Hotpots was a minor hit, reaching number one comedy album on iTunes in the UK,[5] and number two in the BBC 6 Music Album Charts.

The current members are Bernard Thresher (vocals, guitar, ukulele, drums), Dickie Ticker (bell tree, mandolin, melodica, hand percussion), Bob Wriggles (bass guitar, synth bass), Billy McCartney (keyboards) and Kenny Body (drums),[6] the latter two joining following the death of founder member Willie Eckerslike. Eckerslike (born Tom McGrath; drums, vocals) died 11 May 2010, aged 38.[7]

History

Bernard Thresher and Bob Wriggles met each other while working at Knowsley Safari Park and subsequently formed their first rock band together, Korova. Whilst working at St Helens College, Bob met Dickie Ticker who was producing electronic music and light hearted remixes under the name 'Diffusion'. The three became interested in working together and after Korova disbanded, Bernard and Bob joined forces with Dickie to create electronic dance music under the new guise of Emmet.[8]

They first dabbled with comedy music producing a remix of the Coldplay song "Clocks" for Radio one DJ Chris Moyles in the style of the band German dance group Scooter.[9] In a play on words they named the side project Moped. The track proved popular with listeners of the show and they went on to produce several more remixes as well as playing live in various clubs around the country. On the request of Chris Moyles, they produced a remix of songs by Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim in order to perform them at an outside broadcast in a pub in Brighton. Cook was a guest on the show and Moped performed the remix live on the show for him. Whilst being interviewed on the show he said he 'felt as though his whole life had flashed before him.'[10]

Emmet and Moped continued to perform live shows and make records with limited success. One day whilst sat on the toilet, Dickie had the idea of a folk band who write songs and tell stories about modern life:[11] not about orchards and craft fairs but online dating and modern technology woes. Originally conceived to be called The Bolton Weavers (after folk band the Houghton Weavers) the band eventually was named The Lancashire Hotpots. They made their first recordings in Bernard's front room in Coventry after an unsuccessful Emmet gig at a comic convention in Birmingham where they played to a completely empty room.

Billy McCartney was in Liverpool band Lyons and Tigers who supported the Hotpots numerous times around the North West of England. Kenny Body was in several St Helens based bands including Jessica's Ghost, The Ups and Giant Root Attack. Both were enlisted to play in the band following death of original drummer, Willie Eckerslike. Incidentally, Kenny Body briefly appeared as an audience member in their "Carry You Home" video.

Festivals

As well as touring nationwide, the band are a regular staple at major music festivals playing events such as Glastonbury Festival,[12] Kendal Calling,[13] Y-Not Festival,[14] Chris Evans’ Carfest[15] and Beatherder Festival[16] on multiple occasions.

Television

Television appearances for the group include performing their song ‘Dibnah’ live on BBC2’s Too Much TV on 28/3/2016[17]

Olympic controversy

The group were contacted by the International Olympic Committee in August 2016 over their 2008 song "The Beer Olympics".[18] The IOC claimed copyright over the word Olympics stating that Hotpots’ use of the word was a breach of their copyright. To avoid further problems, the band subsequently retitled the song "The Beer International Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Sporting Quad Yearly Event".[19] The band received Nationwide coverage of this story with articles in The Sun and Sunday People newspapers and with radio interviews on Talk Sport and BBC Radio 5 Live.[20]

Discography

Albums

  • Never Mind The Hotpots (2007)
  • Pot Sounds (2008)
  • The Lancashire Hotpots' Christmas Cracker (2009)
  • Criminal Record (2010)
  • Achtung Gravy (2011)
  • A Hard Day's Pint (2012)
  • Crust for Life (2013)
  • Golden Crates (2014)
  • A Fistful of Scratchcards (2015)
  • Now't like the 80's (2016)
  • Sing-A-Longa Knees Up Jamboree (2018)

Live albums

  • Never Mind The Hotpots – Live at The Citadel (2007)
  • Live at The Manchester Academy (2017)

DVDs

  • Never Mind The Hotpots – Live at The Citadel (2008)
  • Live at The Lowry (2014)
  • Live at the Manchester Academy (2017)

Singles

  • "He's Turned Emo" (2007)
  • "The Beer Olympics" (EP) (2009)
  • "Carry You Home" / "Chippy Tea" (2009)
  • "You Could Get Hit by a Bus Tomorrow" (2011)
  • "The Beer Olympics 2012" (2012)
  • "The Beer Festival" (2012)
  • "The Baking Song" (2013)
  • "The Flappy Bird Song" (2014)
  • "Mum's for Tea" (2014)
  • "Cheer Up Thom Yorke" (2015)
  • "Lancashire's For Me / Black Friday (2015)
  • "Dibnah" (2016)
  • ”Has the Bin Man Bin Mon?” (2018)
  • "The Austerity Blues" (2018)

References

  1. ↑ "Paddy's tribute to musician". The Bolton News. Newsquest Media Group. 2010-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
  2. ↑ Aitch, Iain (2007-05-19). "Masters of parody". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  3. ↑ Westcott, Matt (2007-07-26). "Never Mind The Hotspots – The Lancashire Hotpots". The Northern Echo. Newsquest Media. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Paul (2007-08-07). "Folk's t'internet sensations". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. Media. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  5. ↑ Dobson, Jemma (2008-02-25). "Interview: The Lancashire Hotpots". The Blackpool Citizen. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  6. ↑ "The Lancashire Hotpots - The New Recruits". YouTube. 30 May 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  7. ↑ "Lancashire Hotpots drummer found dead". St Helens Star. Newsquest Media Group. 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
  8. ↑ "Emmet". Sthelensreporter.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  9. ↑ "MoPed - Clocks". YouTube. 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  10. ↑ "Moped live on Radio 1". YouTube. 2006-07-30. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  11. ↑ "Interview: The Lancashire Hotpots". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  12. ↑ "Photographic image" (JPG). Cdn.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Kendal Calling Artists". Kendalcalling.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "2016 Lineup - Y Not Festival". Ynotfestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  15. ↑ "Carfest North 2014". Efestivals.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  16. ↑ "The Beat-Herder Festival - Dates T.B.C." Beatherder.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  17. ↑ "The Lancashire Hotpots - DIBNAH Live On BBC2". YouTube. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  18. ↑ "International Olympic Committee threaten to sue Brit folk legends for "The Beer Olympics" song". 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  19. ↑ "The Beer Olymp*cs - A Statement". The Lancashire Hotpots. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
  20. ↑ "The Beer Olymp*cs - National Media Coverage!". The Lancashire Hotpots. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
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