World of Twist

A dry ice fantasia

World of Twist formed in Sheffield, in 1985 per Wikipedia, 1989 per MusicBrainz and 1982 per one fan history, and later moved to Manchester. The original line-up had James Fry on vocals, Andrew Hobson on bass, Gordon King on guitar, Tony Ogden on drums, Rory Conolly on saxophone and Nick Phillips and Andy Robbins on keyboards. Ogden, born May 30, 1962 in Cheadle Hulme and a former drummer in the punk band the Blackout, took over vocals after Fry left for London in 1988. The band relocated to Manchester and ran a club night, and Nick Sanderson, from Clock DVA, joined on drums. A demo tape in early 1990 led to a deal with Circa, a Virgin subsidiary.

"The Storm" (November 15, 1990, UK 42) was among Martin Hannett's last production work. They sold out the Manchester International 1 in August 1990 and the Manchester Ritz that December, played the Leadmill in Sheffield with Pulp and sold out the London Astoria on March 27, 1991, in shows described as a dry ice fantasia with elaborate set pieces. Holly Johnson called them the Velvet Underground on acid. "Sons of the Stage" (1991) and "Sweets" (September 30, 1991) reached the lower end of the UK chart, and Quality Street (October 28, 1991) reached 50. A Peel session was recorded on June 25, 1991.

NME announced the split on June 27, 1992 after "She's a Rainbow" (Fluke remixes, UK 62); Ogden had decided he no longer wanted to sing, and Virgin was sold to Thorn EMI, leaving the band without a label. Fry, King and Sanderson formed Earl Brutus in 1993. Tony Ogden died on July 26, 2006, aged 44, and Nick Sanderson in June 2008. Quality Street was remastered and reissued by 3 Loop Music in 2013 with a bonus disc. Saint Etienne's "London Belongs to Me" references them, and Jeremy Deller's 2009 Procession included a We Miss the World of Twist float.