4q

Colwyn Bay punk band (1987-90) who in 3 years managed to become a menace & household name throughout North Wales & the North West, not because of their music, but because of their antics, on & off the stage & a relentless publicity machine. 4Q began May87 & in their 3 year history along with the fanzine Crud became the most notorious outfit on the North Wales coast. After Edi Filmstar (voc) & Paul Puke (drms) departed the most known line up was Cumi Pants (voc), Neil Crud (gtr), Wayne The Bastard (bass), Matt Vinyl (drms). This line up performed more than 50 of the 74 gigs that 4Q played across the UK. The fanzine Crud was in its 4th issue by the time the band got off the ground & was enjoying a healthy readership of 5,000. 4Q soon followed suit of the fanzine & started earning newspaper headlines for their on & off stage antics which inc violence, nudity, vandalism & general rowdiness. With exaggerated reports in the Welsh press 4Q soon became larger than life & found themselves banned from a total of 23 venues across the North Wales coast. Earning headlines like: “Bay Ban The Punks”, “Banned Gig Is A Conspiracy”, “Pub Pulls Plug On Band”, “Degrading Our Land Of Song”, “Punk Band Fans In Graffiti Fury”. The band spent the rest of their career doing the same thing across England, at the same time 4Q were attracting police attention at their concerts with fans being questioned & searched on the way into venues. Although never securing a record deal 4Q rel a number of cassettes – the most well known being ‘Imagine A Dead Hippy’ which feat a version of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ & the line “…John Lennon got a bullet in the middle of his chest, if I had my way Paul McCartney’s next”. This provoked a storm & front-page news on the Liverpool Echo with the headline ‘Fury Over Lennon Song Slur’ – 4Q had the audacity to actually play in Liverpool the day after that headline – to a riotous audience. With the police kicking in his door on a regular basis Neil Crud decided that the fanzine & the band had run their natural course & 4Q played their final gig at the Rhyl Bistro 27.09.90. The only available recordings of the band is a cassette The Very Breast Of 4Q for £3.50 from Music + Elsewhere / 6 Farm Court / Frimley / Surrey GU16 5TJ which feat an excellent musical history of their short & yet eventful career. Others who have been in 4Q inc orig vocalist Edi Filmstar, his brief replacement Budgie, failed rhythm guitarists Paul Bod, Marc Mucus, & guitarists Gumption Liquid (see also Franks Dad, Wild Mornings), & Robin Reliant (see also Sons of Selina, Astro Monsters, Lemon Meringue Gang, PSST). 4Q interest had a bit of a resurgence during 1999 with BBC Choice Wales tracking down Neil to film a short history of the band & zine, which was aired in Oct99, plus The Pioneer published a 2 page Where Are They Now feature in Feb00. Neil, Wayne, Cumi & Matt; arguably 4Q’s finest line-up met up for the 1st time together in 11 years in Colwyn Bay (May00) – a few photos were taken & the joke of reforming was brought up & quickly dismissed. The History of Punk said this – ‘ Rhyl’s 4Q are perhaps Wales’ shining example of this a cabal of boorish irritants who made headlines for their John Lennon requiem Imagine A Dead Hippy but never released any vinyl.’