"Better Scream" is the debut 7" single released by the first band incarnation of Pete Wylie, Wah! Heat after being a member of the short-lived Crucial Three and the Mystery Girls. It was also Wylie's third serious project (the first being the heavily-funded but short-lived Liverpool super group English Opium Eaters with future Lightning Seeds leader

Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...

, future

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...

dancer Paul Rutherford on lead vocals, and future

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

drummer Budgie). When the English Opium Eaters collapsed due to musical differences, Wylie then joined local band Crash Course but left taking drummer Rob Jones with him. Wah! Heat was formed in late 1979. The original band consisted during this time of Pete Wylie on vocals and guitar, Rob Jones on drums and former Those Naughty Lumps' guitarist Pete Younger on bass. By the time the single was recorded, Mick Jones (no relative) had joined on keyboards. "Better Scream" was first released in late 1979, and in February 1980 was reviewed the same week as Wylie's former colleague

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

released his third single "Treason" with the Teardrop Explodes. "Better Scream" received critical acclaim by the British press and magazines like ''Sounds'' and the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''.

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

also noticed the band, and was so impressed by their 7" debut that he invited them to record their first Peel Session in late spring 1980.music...isms: Wah! Heat
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Track listing

# "Better Scream" (Wylie) - 3:25 # "Hey (Disco) Joe" (Jones, Wylie, Younger) - 5:00

References

1979 songs 1979 debut singles Wah! songs {{1970s-single-stub