INITIALLY SIGNED TO THE WEDDING PRESENT’S RECEPTION RECORDS LABEL IN THE LATE 1980s, LEEDS BAND CUD COCKTAILED INDIE PRINCIPALS WITH EFFERVESCENT POP FUNK AND A SKEWED, OFTEN SELF-DEPRECATORY, SENSE OF HUMOUR.

No mere novelty band, however, Cud produced a handful of remarkably tight singles and well-regarded albums, including LEGGY MAMBO (1990) and ASQUARIUS (1992), all hinges loosened by the almost supernaturally baritone voice of Carl Puttnam.
Seemingly every undergraduate’s second-favourite band, during their original life one would have no chance of moving through a university refectory without seeing a Cud t-shirt or meeting someone who owned at least one of their records and had seen them live. Ever-presents on the clubs-and-campus circuit, the band were a solid draw yet only vague chart performers despite signing to A&M Records. The off-kilter singles PURPLE LOVE BALLOON and RICH & STRANGE both went Top 30, but the band imploded in the mid-1990s under major label pressure to conform.

Fast-forward a decade and, off the back of a compilation of singles and rare tracks, plus expanded re-release versions of their albums, a rejuvenated Cud have played a series of short tours since 2006 without, seemingly, fully reforming as a going concern. Now, freshly-minted label 3-Loop are about to release an enticingly robust 4-CD collection of the band’s many sessions for the BBC, stretching right back to a pre-record deal outing for John Peel in 1987.

William Potter, bass player in Cud, talks to The Mouth Magazine about the BBC project, tells us the curious story of how the band secured their first record contract, and talks about the difficulties of life for a group signed to a major label.

Please note that the competition referred to in The Mouthcast is now closed