Spitfire are a British rock n roll band from

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, whose ever-changing line-up revolved around brothers Jeff and Nick Pitcher. Other members included Steve White,

Justin Welch Justin Steven Welch (born 4 December 1972) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Elastica, Suede, and later the drummer in Lush. Welch is currently the drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain. Biography Welch moved to London in hi ...

, Steven Walker (who went on to play in the Auteurs and

Modern English Modern English, sometimes called New English (NE) or present-day English (PDE) as opposed to Middle and Old English, is the form of the English language that has been spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England England is a Count ...

), Matt Wise, and Scott Kenny. Two early

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

on Eve Recordings saw the band linked to the

shoegazing Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volum ...

scene, and to the Scene That Celebrates Itself, although a cover of "

The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...

" theme staked out their retro garage rock appeal. Their debut album, 'SexBomb' was released on Records 1993 'Feverish' is a 6-track compilation of the first two EVE Recordings EP's 'Translucent' & 'Superbaby', which was licensed to and released by the French label Danceteria in 1992. Spitfire were hailed as influential by many New wave of new wave bands, and regularly gigged with S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men between 1993 and 1996. The Pitcher brothers were resident DJs at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

club The Basement, which with Camden's Good Mixer pub and Blow Up club was at the core of the pre-

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

scene. In 1994 a 3 track e.p 'Big Banger' was released on the Lowlife label. The line up now included the Pitcher brothers, Steve Burgan on guitar and Lawrence Shaft on drums. UK tours followed and a live session featured on BBC Radio 1's Mark Radcliffe show. A second album '' Electric Colour Climax'', followed on Lowlife Records in 1996. The band courted controversy, with a sleeve featuring a retro pornographic image, found at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's Toe Rag Studies where the band had recorded the album on vintage recording equipment in three days. The band drifted apart around 1996, with the Pitcher brothers forming Cheetah. Wise and Kenny had, meanwhile, started a new band called Society who continued to write and perform material until Wise's death in 2021. Nick Pitcher has a family of groups, Rex Speedway and Thee Fortune Tellers, Rex Speedway and the Denim Avengers, Rex Speedway and the Majestic 12 and Rex Speedway and the MKUltra.

References

External links

SPITFIRE BANDCAMP PAGE (All Eve Recordings EPs available to purchase here)
spitfire-uk.bandcamp.com
SPITFIRE 'WILD SUNSHINE' VIDEO (From Eve Recordings YouTube Channel)
www.youtube.com

Spitfire Website
English rock music groups Musical groups from West Sussex {{UK-rock-band-stub