Dum Dums (band)
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| Dum Dums | |
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 Dum Dums, pictured left to right, Josh, Stuart, Steve.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | England |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Alternative rock, Punk Pop, Power Pop, Indie |
| Years active | 1997–2001 |
| Label(s) | Wildstar Records |
| Former members | |
| Josh Doyle Steve Clarke Stuart 'Baxter' Wilkinson |
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The Dum Dums were a British guitar-pop band. They split up in August 2001. The band members were Josh Doyle - vocals and guitar, Steve Clarke - bass and vocals, Stuart 'Baxter' Wilkinson - drums and vocals.
Originally formed in 1997, the band spent their early years gigging in small venues and songwriting. They signed a management contract with Modernwood Management, and then signed to Wildstar Records in March 1999. In the same month they went on their first UK tour, supporting fellow Modernwood artist Nik Kershaw. A much more extensive tour in September, supporting My Life Story, followed. It was on this tour that the band began to build up their fanbase, selling a two-track CD known as The Blue CD that contained the tracks Everything and Until My Ship Comes In.
Dum Dums' debut single, Everything, produced by Steve Power was released on 28th February 2000. Accompanied by a memorable video and A-listing on British radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, it reached 21 in the UK charts.
The second single, Can't Get You Out Of My Thoughts was released on 26th June and reached number 18.
On 18th September 2000, their debut album, It Goes Without Saying, again produced by Power, was released in the UK. It received favourable reviews from the music press, with the band being compared to other notable acts such as Green Day, The Police, Blink 182, Elvis Costello and The Jam. The album comprised 11 listed tracks and an unlisted bonus track, revealed to be named Setting Sail in the liner notes. Setting Sail is frequently regarded by fans as one of the band's greatest songs.
A third single, You Do Something To Me was released a week prior to the album, and this reached 27. The music video for this song, clearly inspired by Queen's infamous I Want to Break Free promo, featured Josh and Stuart in drag. The song was used as the theme tune to CBBC show Xchange, and they performed the song on the last episode of the series.
Promotion throughout the year consisted of many gigs, both as support act and headliners. Each successive headline tour was booked for slightly bigger venues than the last, and the band's explosive live performances and good nature (they would spend hours at each gig meeting fans and signing autographs) gathered many dedicated followers. They supported Bon Jovi at Wembley Stadium and also performed at Glastonbury, T In The Park, V2000 and several roadshows and outdoor gigs organised by local radio stations. In October they played 22 shows at arenas around the country supporting Robbie Williams. The year ended with another headline tour, with a final gig at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on 19th December.
There was also much TV exposure on shows such as The Big Breakfast, CD:UK, and The Pepsi Chart. Josh also appeared as a panellist on the BBC2 quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
After their relentless schedule over the last 12 months, 2001 was a much quieter year for the band. The final single from the album, Army Of Two was released on 5th February. There were three acoustic performances at Tower Records in London, Birmingham and Southampton to promote the release. UK gigs in 2001 mainly consisted of appearances at University Summer Balls. The band also travelled to Germany and Japan for their first overseas gigs.
[edit] The Second Album and the split
The band went back into the studio on three occasions in 2001, recording demo versions of the songs that would eventually comprise their second album. A session in February resulted in 5 new tracks being laid down, including fan favourite Photographs, which was played many times on tour in 2000. Another session in April saw 10 tracks recorded, and a final recording session in June, just prior to their Japanese tour, yielded another 4 tracks.
By all accounts, Wildstar Records were not keen on the band's new songs; the tracks showed a much more alternative rock and emo direction more along the lines of bands such as Jimmy Eat World and Foo Fighters, compared to the previous album which had been criticised by some as being 'overproduced' and 'too pop-sounding' (again, largely down to Steve Power's production; as anybody who attended a Dum Dums gig could tell you, they were most definitely a rock band).
Disillusioned with the label's lack of faith in the new material, Josh Doyle felt that the band had achieved what they had set out to do, and that he had taken the band in its current formation as far as it could go. By mutual agreement the band decided to break up, and announced via their website that their last gig would be at the Greenbelt Festival in August 2001. The set at the last gig included a new song that had been demoed, called Travelling At Speed.
10 of the 19 demos, including Photographs and Travelling At Speed are available in MP3 format on the Dum Dums' website.
