The Hamsters | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Southend-on-Sea, England |
| Genres | Blues rock, R&B, Americana, rockabilly |
| Years active | 1987–2012 |
| Members | Snail's-Pace Slim Rev Otis Elevator Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist |
| Website | www.thehamsters.co.uk |
The Hamsters were a British band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England.
They performed their first live show at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, on 1 April 1987, and their last at The Half Moon, Putney on 1 April 2012, exactly 25 years later. They initially played in local pubs with no ambitions to take themselves seriously or to turn professional.[1] As the band ethos was to combine humour with music[2] two members of the original band (and later all three) used light-hearted and parodying pseudonyms as stage names.[3] The original line-up was Snail's-Pace Slim on vocals and guitar, Rev Otis Elevator on drums and Andy Farrell on bass. Andy Billups, aka Ms Zsa Zsa Poltergeist, replaced Farrell on bass in 1988.
The band's name was based on a pseudonym used by the Sex Pistols.[4]
- ^ "The Hamsters' 'Biography'". Thehamsters.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ Shane Homan, Access All Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture, McGraw-Hill International, 2006, ISBN 0-335-21690-0, p.112. "Elements of self-mockery in [The Hamsters'] presentation [...] are persistent, strongly marking their distance from what they typically refer to as 'muso' culture."
- ^ Homan p.112: "lead guitarist and singer [...] known as Snail's Pace Slim, [...] Zsa Zsa Poltergeist plays bass. Alan Parish plays drums and is also known primarily by a facetious pseudonym, The Reverend Otis Elevator."
- ^ Homan p.118 "Slim further explains the reasoning behind the band's name; 'The Hamsters was a name [the Sex Pistols] used on one gig. I just liked the irony of it – vicious group, cuddly name.'"