Bette Davis and the Balconettes was Sam, Nor, Tracey, Brian and Eugene. When Nor left the band he was replaced by Kate, the drummer from Polythene. Joe was a stand-in drummer between Nor and Katie. The band formed in Manchester, England in 1995. They released five 7" singles/EP's via Baby Boom (Manchester), Damaged Goods (London) and Slampt (Newcastle). A radio session for John Peel was also recorded. Two of these songs were later issued by Damaged Goods. The group's most famous song was "Shergar", a song well liked by John Peel. The song was originated by their half-American drummer Nor as a galloping horsey drumroll ode to early Clint Eastwood's "Rawhide" complete with intermittant "yahoos" and yeehaws"; however, Sam immediately morphed it into "Shergar" and the song made it's debut in March of '96 at the Manchester Roadhouse. A few days before the gig, the band plastered Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, with flyers bearing the infamous horsehead profile of Shergar as used by the IRA. It was days later that the IRA bombed Manchester city centre. Nor also participated in the composing of "Surf, Surf, Kill Kill!", "0898" , "Feed my Ego", in total, four of the bands six Peel Session songs. The other two, "White Food" and Big Pussy Sound" were crafted by Sam and Brian along with a drummer who was affectionately referred to by the others as "10p rent boy", though his full name is unknown. Nor reportedly kept the original rehearsal tapes of those songs which illustrate their creation and still has them. The group played brash garage/punk complete with dinky farfisa: early Fall is definitely a reference point. Sam's lyrics were deeply sardonic and laden with expletives. Looking back on his time in the band Eugene likened the experience "to being the piano player in the middle of a bar room brawl." Everett True was an advocate and "Paul Power T-Shirt" was awarded single of the week in Melody Maker. Otherwise the band found little favour with the weeklies. They fared better with fanzine editors though their brackish style was often in contrast with the somewhat twee nature of these publications. In 1998 the band dissolved following a row. Joe went on to play in Mum & Dad. Kate briefly played drums in The Fall. And Eugene moved to London where he formed Long Good Luck. Discography ... 0898 7" (Baby Boom, 1997) Paul Power T-Shirt 7" (Baby Boom, 1997) Shergar 7" (Damaged Goods, 1997) Celebrity Fuckers 7" EP (Slampt, 1998) Surf Surf, Kill Kill 7" (Damaged Goods, 1998) Tracks featured on ... The Cheap Damaged Goods Sampler CD (Damaged Goods, 1997) The Brighton Crawl 7" EP (Melting Vinyl, 1998) <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Bette+Davis+and+the+Balconettes">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.