Inca Babies

Sometime In 1982 Or 1983 In Manchester’s Hulme District The Inca Babies Were Formed. Hulme A Concrete Deck Access ‘streets In The Sky’ Projects Was At That Time A Demi-Bohemia Over Run With Artists Musicians Students Addicts And ‘ne’er Do Wells’. Previous Tenants Mainly Families Put There To Benefit From This ‘magical New Living Space’ Realising A Slum Was A Slum Regardless Of How High Off The Ground You Put It Had Long Gone. At The Time Manchester Music Was Gripped By A Schizophrenic Jazz Funk Scene Which Was Emulated By The ‘indie’ Scene’s Own Approximation With Its ‘jangly Dancy’ Pop.
In This Climate The Inca Babies Had No Choice But To Come Up With Their Own Sound. What Resulted Was A Raunchy Death Ray Twang From A Punk-Trash Americana Perspective. Link Wray The Cramps The Gun Club And The Birthday Party Were The Spirit Guidance And A Big Influence. But Because The Incas Were An Obscenely English Band Impertinently Playing Out Of Their Continent People Didn’t Get It At First. However Musicologist C.P Lee In His Book On The Manchester Music Scene Must Have Spotted Something When He Called Them The ‘Hulme Cramps’. So Indeed Must Radio 1 DJ John Peel And His Producer John Walters. They Took One Listen To The First Single The Interior And Offered Them A Session On The Spot. It Was To Be The First Of Four They Did For Radio 1 Between 1984-87. After This There Was A Frenzy Of Bookings For Their Rowdy Live Shows. No Cub Scout Hut Was Too Small Or Warehouse Too Large. Within A Year They Had Been To Every Borough And City In The Land Usually At The Stick Carpet End Of Town And A Fan Base Had Gathered Across The UK. With 2 Number One Slots In The Indie Single Chart And A Top 5 Album Rumble The Incas Soon Began To Find An Audience Abroad. Tours Of Mainland Europe Included Germany Holland Belgium France Yugoslavia Hungary Austria And All Of Scandinavia.
Three Further Albums This Train Opium Den And Evil Hour Were Released Including Six More Singles All Experiencing Good Sails And Chart Places. During This Time While Popularity Was Not A Problem Keeping Personnel Was And While Singers And Drummers Came And Went The Backbone Of The Band Who Played Every Gig And Appeared On Every Record Bill Marten Bass And Harry Stafford Guitar Later Vocals Struggled To Keep The Integrity Of The Band Alive. The End Came When There Were No More Singers And No More Drummers. By The Late 80s Acid Clubbers Raved Through The Night And There Was No Place For The Incas. But By This Time They’d Joined Them Anyway. The Inca Babies Were 1983-87
Harry Stafford Guitar Singer Bill Marten Bass Alan Brown Drums Julian Worapay Singer Pete Bogg Drums Mike Keeble Singer Darren Bullows Guitar Johnny Scarles Drums Tony Clarke Drums . The Interior/Sense Of Loss. Black Lagoon Records 7” Sept ’83.
Grunt Cadillac Hotel/No Sacred Sound. Black Lagoon Records 7” Feb ’84.
Big Jugular/Brother Rat/Brain Cruiser/Jericho. Black Lagoon Records 12” EP. May ‘84.
The Judge/Bus Breaker. Black Lagoon Records 7” & 12” Aug ‘84.
Rumble. Black Lagoon Records LP. Feb ‘85.
Surfin’ In Locustland EP. Crawling Garage Gasoline/Doomed Locust Land/ Lung Knives/Correction Stack. Black Lagoon Records 12” Sept ‘85.
This Train. Black Lagoon Records LP. Nov ’85.
Splatter Ballistics Cop. Black Lagoon Records 7” & 12”. Nov ‘85.
Opium Den. Black Lagoon Records LP. May ’86.
Buster’s On Fire/Walking Over Glass. Constrictor Records 7” Aug ‘86.
Evil Hour. Black Lagoon Records LP. Jan ’87. read less