I was inspired by endorphin74's words to create this thread.

endorphin74 said (here : http://www.prince.org/msg/3/91619)


And so it occurred to me that Thrashing Doves were a brilliant band who sadly, like so many others, never got the recognition they deserved and inevitably split up.

So who else was into them ? Who's even heard of them ?

For me, it was one of those all too rare moments :

It's 1987, I'm a young fool working my first real job, and have plenty of disposable income to spend on music and other more hedonistic pursuits (i.e. beer). I'm in Kingston (upon Thames - London, England) and decide to go for a browse in my favourite record shop, Beggars Banquet. Perfect timing on my part, as I walked in they start playing Beautiful Imbalance from Bedrock Vice and something about the song just clicked with me. It was one of those "wow, that is so brilliant, I've got to hear more of these guys" moments.
By the end of the song I'm hooked and hang around pretending to be still browsing in the hopes of hearing more. Fortunately it's the LP (remember them?) they're playing and so I get to hear Matchstick Flotilla next. Great!
The Grinding Stone comes on next and I am again blown away. I can't move, I'm just stood there with a blank look on my face mesmerised by this music.
The guy in the shop (who's name I just can't remember, sorry man) saw me and smiled. He's serving another customer so I wait until the end of Grinding Stone and say "I need a copy of whatever that is you're playing"
"Ah, I could see you enjoying it" he says, and then gives me the full bio, everything he knows about them.

Taking the album home and listening to it filled me with a level of excitement usually only to be had when listening to the latest Prince album for the first time.
Bedrock Vice was one of those albums that just clicked with me, I thought (and still do) it was utter brilliance, not a weak moment anywhere.


Two years later Trouble in the Home was released and I bought it on the first day of release, an honour usually reserved for new Prince albums. It's probably not as groundbreaking or musically fulfilling as Vice, but it's still a great album, and again, no weak moments.

I've been buying plenty of music for years (no surprises there) and Bedrock Vice and Trouble In The Home are two of only a handful of albums from that era that I still play on a regular basis (the others of course being mainly Prince albums).

I recently discovered (here : http://www.soc.surrey.ac....doves.html ) that they released a third album Affinity (under the name The Doves) in 1991 before splitting up for good. I'm still trying to track this down. Anyone who knows of where I might lay my hands on a copy please let me know (and please don't point me to kazaa or any other such file "share" site, cos I don't do that).

Amazingly, there is also a (tenuous) Prince connection : David Z remixed and produced the single mix of "I Wouldn't Know You From The Rest" in Paisley Park!


Anyway, just thought I'd share my Thrashing Doves story with you, because they were a great band and deserve the props.

Well, I'm afraid I can't say that I was as bowled over by the Thrashing Doves as you were, but I did buy the l.p. version of Bedrock Vice in a second-hand shop in 88 or 89. I listened to it occasionally, but it really didn't leave much of an impression on me. Unforturnately I don't have access to my vinyl at the moment, so I can't revisit the album. I do remember enjoying one song a fair amount, but I'll be arsed if I can recall the title - I believe it was the second track on the first side.

Speaking of forgotten British bands - anybody remember the Woodentops? I recently listened to their fairly classic album "Giant" and was pleased to find it stands up very well. It really reminds me of the Jazz Butcher.