Wud

Wud was a band from Exeter that played all manner of varieties of rock. Hard, alternative, classic, progressive, psychedelic, art, soft, AOR – they did it all.

Wud featured the songwriting talents of George Davies (guitar, vocals) and Ken Staple (vocals, guitar). Once they had established a set of a few songs under the dubious name Lemming Meringue, they recruited Marc Greatorex (bass), Graham Barbe (drums), and Simon Miller (percussion).

For a short time the band also included Zaphod (flute, keys) and a guy called Gavin (drums), who was sacked after he produced a substandard performance at a live show. Gavin was replaced by Graham.

Both as a rock band and as composers, they exhibited great potential, what with Ken’s Robert Plant influenced vocal stylings and George’s unique guitar lines and tones. The band generated a fair amount of interest, their renown travelling even as far away as Camden and Soho in London.

A few weeks after recording their Daylight Demo, they were offered a deal with Island Records. This deal would severely compromise the band’s artistic integrity. The label wanted Wud to slim down again to just Ken and George, and to play synthesizers, not guitars. Wud preferred to remain true to themselves, and loyal to their members, and declined the offer. It never went any further.

Although they only performed a handful of shows, many of their live rehearsal sessions were captured on cassette. The band existed in effect during most of 1985.

Sadly the band never quite lived up to all the hype, due to being too short-lived. This was largely due to the enormous personality differences that existed between Ken and George. As a result, George often found it impossible to resist the temptation to bully Ken, as George found Ken’s character and ego to be preposterously pompous.

Eventually the band disintegrated in the autumn of 1985. George, Marc, Graham and Simon – in other words, Wud without Ken – formed Laughing Sun with Senga on vocals. Laughing Sun would undergo several lineup changes, with Simon the mainstay, and last for a few years.

As far as we know, Ken never joined another band. He wrote a couple more songs and then suddenly became a born-again christian. Ken disappeared completely a couple of years later. Nobody has heard of him since about 1987, and our occasional internet searches have produced nothing. Surprising, considering his undeniable vocal talent.

Wud?

To clarify: Wud rhymes with thud, blood and mud. Wud doesn’t rhyme with good, should or wood. Wud definitely doesn’t rhyme with lewd, food or dude.

Wud is a regular verb. To wud is to do your thing your way without the adverse influence of direct external interference.

In a Thesaurus, wud would belong with freedom, tolerence, autonomy, independence, alternative, underground and weird.