The Wendys

Formed in 1987, the Wendys were the second Scottish band to be signed to Factory Records, after The Wake. Their name came about after a nights drinking the evening before they were due to sign for Factory. They decided upon The Marys, but when the time came to sign for Factory, none of them could remember what they had decided upon. Believing they had chosen the Wendys, that's the name they registered. After the group opened for the Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder's father suggested that they send in a demo tape.[1] After they were signed to the label, Phil Saxe acted as their manager. Having felt at odds with the contemporary Scottish music scene, the Wendys found a common spirit among the Factory Records roster, saying they shared similar influences as their labelmates but still wanted to be known as their own distinct band.[2] Although they enjoyed critical acclaim with the release of their debut album Gobbledygook in 1991 (produced by Ian Broudie), they did not achieve the widespread popularity of labelmates such as New Order or the Happy Mondays. The timing of their album's release directly preceded the demise of the label, also hurting their chances at success. Following a long hiatus, the group released their second album Sixfootwingspan (originally intended to be called Sixfootwingspan Yoga Birds) in 1999.

On 4 February 2012, the band reformed for a one-off gig at the Berkeley Suite, Glasgow to promote the re-release of their Factory album Gobbledygook and other singles tracks.

In 2017, they signed up to play the Shiiine ON Weekender festival in Minehead, UK on Friday 10 November 2017 – Monday 13 November 2017. Rehearsals started in April 2017. This will be their 1st show outside Scotland in 23 yrs.

On 11 May 2017, via their Twitter feed, they announced that they would be playing a rare live show in Glasgow on 30 September 2017. The gig will be at Audio on Midland Street.

• The Wendys at AllMusic
• The Wendys on Myspace
• Official site