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The Hamsters are a UK band originating from Southend On Sea in Essex . They are a three-piece band comprising of Vocalist / Guitarist , Drummer and Bass player. The Hamsters originally came together "for a laugh" with no intentions of ever turning pro. They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion , Southend-on-Sea , UK on the 1st April, 1987. The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on Guitar and Vocals , Rev Otis Elevator on Drums and Andy Farrell on Bass . They didn't take themselves seriously at the beginning, likewise they don't take themselves too seriously now either, with a popular part of their regular act involving a lot of Self-deprecating humour. Even the band's name came about as a tongue-in-cheek joke based on a Pseudonym the Sex Pistols used when they were to perform concerts when they thought they would either be banned or were banned from towns. Influences They are usually described as being a Blues-rock band, which is a bit of a misnomer. They prefer to be described as being influenced by American Roots music rather than any one specific type of music. They are considered by many to be the UK's leading interpreters BBC Warwickshire review Blakey Music Venue Digital Blues website of the music of Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top . It is due to this fact that they are best known for their covers of Hendrix and 'the Top' that the description of being a Blues Rock band arose. In actual fact these covers only make up a small part of their playlist, the majority of their music coming under the Americana categorisation. Work schedule As of April 2007, they are in their 20th year and have performed more than 3,750 shows in that time. They have constantly toured throughout the UK and Europe and in 1991 performed a small tour in the US. On the British circuit they are known as the hardest working band in the UK. Ents 24 website The Brighton Magazine Last.fm The Hamsters were voted the UK's best Blues Rock band by the readers of Blueprint magazine. They contributed a track for inclusion in the BBC Radio 2 series "Bright Lights, Big City". It documents the story of British Rhythm and Blues from the fifties to the modern day. It was presented by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman , and was broadcast in late 2001. They performed at the 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006 London Guitar Shows at the Wembley entertainment complex, attended by over 15,000 guitar players. In 2003 they performed two live sessions on Paul Jones' BBC Radio 2 blues show. 'Whispering' Bob Harris frequently plays a selection of their music on his BBC Radio 2 show. The track "Taxi Driver" from their '' Open All Hours '' album was included in Classic Rock Magazine's (August 2006 issue) '100 Blues Anthems'. As their concert sets tend to be two to three hours long they rarely play with support acts though once in a while they are asked to support other bands, e.g. such artists as Albert Collins and Status Quo .
PERSONNEL Snail's Pace Slim The Hamsters' Lead Vocalist & Lead Guitarist , Snail's-Pace Slim, has been part of the Southend music scene for many years. He formerly played in various Essex -based bands including Dr Feelgood , The Kursaal Fliers and The Old Pals Act (with bassist Dave Bronze and Robin Trower 's brother Brad). Voted one of the top 100 guitarists of all time in a radio poll on LBC . Slim also contributes technical articles to guitar magazines when he has time, and was featured in the September '94 edition of Guitar Techniques Magazine . He was also included in the "Guitarist Magazine Book of Guitar Players", published in '94. Slim was asked by Guitar Techniques magazine to contribute a monthly recorded lesson on how to play the blues, this was for inclusion on the CD which accompanied every issue. Slim was recently interviewed for a new 3-hour video documentary about the featured in the film will be Ry Cooder , Mark Knopfler , Jeff Beck , Chris Rea , Hank Marvin , Bruce Welch , Robert Cray , David Gilmour and Rory Gallagher , amongst others. Rev Otis Elevator Rev Otis Elevator is the Drummer of the The Hamsters. Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist (real name Andrew ("Andy") James Billups) is the Bass player for the The Hamsters. Andy's '' Nom De Guerre '' was coined by Dave Bronze . The Hamsters have had three bass players since the band started in 1987, the first being Andy Farrell whom Andy replaced shortly after the band started, but Andy's is the face that Hamsters' fans know best of the three. In 1992 he decided to leave the band after he was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia (affecting his hands) and felt that he couldn't play to the standard fans expected. He was replaced by Dave Bronze . In 1994, after literally having had to relearn to play the bass, he rejoined the band and has continued to play with them ever since. Currently, in off-time between The Hamsters' hectic schedule he is working on a solo project which should possibly mean a CD release sometime in 2008. The musical style of the new CD is totally different to the style he is most well-known for with excursions into Ambient and folk-rock. DISCOGRAPHY Cassette
Albums |
Image:Hamster Jam (album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Hamster Jam ''<br />(1991)</p> |
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Image:The Hamsters (black Album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' The Hamsters ''<br />(1993)</p> |
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Image:Route 666 (album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Route 666 ''<br />(1995)</p> |
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Image:Hendrix Memorial Concerts (album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">''''<br />(1996)</p> |
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Image:Pet Sounds (hamsters Album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">''''<br />(1998)</p> |
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Image:Condensed Hamsters (album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Condensed Hamsters ''<br />(2000)</p> |
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Image:They Live By Night (hamsters Album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' They Live By Night ''<br />(2002)</p> |
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Image:Open All Hours (album)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Open All Hours ''<br />(2004)</p> |
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Image:Burnin Vermin (dvd)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Burnin Vermin' ''<br />(1991)</p> |
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Image:Band Of Gerbils (dvd)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Band Of Gerbils ''<br />(1996)</p> |
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Image:Verminator (dvd)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Verminator! ''<br />(1997)</p> |
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Image:Rodents Rock The Reich (dvd)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' Rodents Rock The Reich! ''<br />(1998)</p> |
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Image:To Infirmity And Beyond (dvd)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' To Infirmity, And Beyond! ''<br />(2004)</p> |
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Image:Mad Bad Dangerous (dvd)jpg<p Style |
"text-align: center">'' The Mad, The Bad & The Dangerous ''<br />(2007)<br />with Wilko Johnson and John Otway )</p> |
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| "http://wwwallmusiccom/cg/amgdllp=amg&searchlink=THEHAMSTERS&sql=11:hnfwxqqgldse~T0" class="copylinks" target="_blank">The Hamsters at All Music Guide |
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