The Woodentops

Rough Trade years

The Woodentops formed in late 1983 in south London around Rolo McGinty, formerly of the Wild Swans and the Jazz Butcher, and Alice Thompson, who had played with the Jazz Butcher in 1982 and 1983. Toppermost lists the original line-up as McGinty on guitar and vocals, Thompson on keyboards, Simon Mawby on guitar, James Rawlings on bass and Paul Hookham on drums; Frank de Freitas took over on bass in 1985 and Benny Staples replaced Hookham. McGinty wrote all the songs. Their debut single "Plenty" (1984, Food) reached number 40 on the UK indie chart, and Wikipedia says Morrissey reviewed it glowingly in Melody Maker. Their first Peel session was in September 1984; a Penny Black interview counts five BBC sessions between September 1984 and January 1988, three for Peel, and Brighton and Hove News dates the third and last Peel session to March 30, 1986.

They moved to Rough Trade in 1985, with singles "Move Me" (produced by Andy Partridge), "Well Well Well" and "It Will Come", then "Good Thing" in May 1986. Giant came out in June 1986, recorded in 1985 at the Roundhouse in Camden and Power Plant in Willesden and produced by Bob Sargeant, and reached 35 in the UK and number 2 on the indie chart. Live Hypnobeat Live (April 13, 1987), recorded in Los Angeles in November 1986, topped the indie chart, as did Wooden Foot Cops on the Highway (February 1988), which reached 48 in the UK. Alice Thompson left in 1987, replaced by Anne Stephenson. "Tainted World" (1991, with Bang the Party) was the last single, and they toured until 1992.

They returned to the stage in September 2006 and played the Queen Elizabeth Hall in October 2009. The 52-track Before During After (One Little Indian, May 27, 2013) gathered remasters, remixes and rarities; McGinty told Kit Monsters about 80 percent of the master tapes had vanished. Granular Tales (Cherry Red) followed in 2014, Live Tokyo in 2019 and Fruits of the Deep in April 2024. McGinty has also played with Pluto, Dogs Deluxe and Gary Lucas's Gods and Monsters. DJ Mag is reported to credit the band with inadvertently defining the Balearic sound.