We're Only Human (previously The Incredible Kidda Band and The Kicks) were an English

powerpop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an en ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band, formed in

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 ...

on 1 July 1981, and composed of Alan Hammonds (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), John Rollason (guitar and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

), Keith Taylor (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) and Mark "Tarky" Bates (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s and backing vocals). The band were helped in the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

by producer Graham "Kidder" Hammonds (

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

and backing vocals).

Career

Having played regularly at The Bridgehouse in

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

, the band joined Terry Murphy's own Vinyl Cuts

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, in order to release their debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Hold Your Head Up High" and "I Wouldn't Treat a Dog (Like You Treat Me)" in June 1985. Murphy was also manager of Wasted Youth and father to the

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, Glen Murphy. The single was recorded at Village Recorders on 19 March 1985, with the session being produced by Hammonds and engineered by Gary Edwards. Both sides of the single were cut by

George Peckham George "Porky" Peckham (born 1942) is an English record engineer, widely recognised as among the most accomplished in the business. He has been responsible for producing the master discs from which many vinyl records have been pressed over the ...

, and the run-out groove on both sides of the single bear his motto, 'A Porky Prime Cut'. In 1987, guitarist John Rollason took time out from the band to record ''The Dirty Strangers''

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

with the Dirty Strangers. We're Only Human disbanded in 1989. In 2000, due to public demand for their back catalogue, the debut

, ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' was released by Detour Records. The

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

contained twenty nine tracks and featured both

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

and

demo recordings A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

. The album received favorable reviews, particularly edition 254 of ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' in October that year. In 2002, the first four singles were repackaged and re-released by the Japanese independent record label, 1977 Records. On 24 February 2006, Hammonds and Lister were featured on 'Pop Into The Past' with Pete Chambers on

BBC CWR BBC CWR (Coventry & Warwickshire Radio) is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Coventry and Warwickshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV, and via BBC Sounds from studio ...

. On 28 March 2007, ''Pop 'Til You Drop'', the lyric book to accompany the album ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' was published by Lulu. The album itself was re-released on 20 June 2007, on the band's own Black and Blue Records label, through Detour Records. In 2007, "Sign on the Dotted Line" was re-recorded by the Teenage Frames. In 2008, "If Looks Could Kill" was re-recorded by the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

based Baby Shakes, and the song continues to be part of their live repertoire. This was followed by The Brothers Gross' covers of "I'm Gonna Join the Army" and "We're Gonna Make It". Many other cover versions continue to surface. During 2011, Last Laugh Records from New York released a series of single releases of Kidda Band material including the unreleased "Radio Caroline" and "(Watch out) Thief" plus a reissue of "Everybody Knows". In December 2011, Red Lounge Records from Germany released a vinyl version of the ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' album in a repackaged format. In 2012, Last Laugh Records also re-released "Fighting My Way Back" and the unreleased "Bitch/She's a 50".

Discography

Singles

* "Hold Your Head Up High" / "I Wouldn't Treat a Dog (Like You Treat Me)" (1983) - Vinyl Cuts Records VC002We’re Only Human - Discography at 45cat.com
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Albums

* ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' (CD) (19 June 2000) Detour Records DRCD 023 * ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' (Vinyl) (19 June 2000) Detour Records DRLP 023 * ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' (CD Reissue) (20 June 2007) Detour Records DRCD 023 * ''Too Much Too Little Too Late'' (Vinyl - Repackaged) (9 December 2011) Red Lounge Records RLR095

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Incredible Kidda Band Official Website

The Incredible Kidda Band on MySpace

The Kicks on MySpace

The We’re Only Human on MySpace

Avery Hill College Campus

45 Catalogue

Kidda Band interview on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio
Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 English new wave musical groups