Fooog Dinboffin and the Release

Fooog Dinboffin and the Release consisted of Simon and George, both on guitar and vocals. Simon, a man of many names, became known as Fooog Dinboffin for some years, although nobody ever called George ‘The Release’.

Mostly they played acoustic guitars. Simon had a 12-string with only six strings on it, and George had a truly horrible steel string which he had bought for £25 from a junk shop near the bottom of Fore Street. He named it ‘Sarah’. The action was about 15mm at the 12th fret and the neck had already been adjusted as far back as it could go. It was a truly ghastly thing to try to play.

This bizarrely-named act performed live in public together from time to time. They were seen and heard in several places, often as street buskers, in locations such as Exeter High Street. They hoped to earn a few pennies from the passing crowds, try out new songs, and maybe even meet some girls.

Unfortunately, they only really managed to try out a few songs. Their public performances were neither especially polished, nor loud enough to compete with the noises of busy streets. It was also finger-numbingly cold most times. They did meet a few girls – but not very many.

Fooog Dinboffin and the Release started around May 1982 after the disbanding of Achilles Heel, the first band that Simon and George had played in together. Fooog Dinboffin and the Release lasted throughout the whole of the Everyones period. It continued until well after the formation of Now in the autumn of 1982.

Their most famous moment came at the Sidmouth International Folk Festival in the summer of 1983. Fooog Dinboffin and the Release performed Johnny Wake Up live for Westcountry TV, to a huge live audience on the promenade at Sidmouth. A few tens of thousands of people must have seen the duo on their TV screens that evening.

It was immediately after this performance that Ken and Simon Knagg came up and introduced themselves to Fooog Dinboffin and the Release. To find out how this story continued, please see the band Wud.