Conventional biographers might suggest the Anal Surgeons formed in September 1977, in Hemel Hempstead, England, but ‘formed’ is too grand a term for what was an attempt to fill a vacant spot at the weekly live music night at a local pub, the Great Harry.
The vacant spot was duly filled, and vacant ashtrays were duly thrown largely because the audience, which numbered several, had paid 30p a head to see a band that provided an inaudible 15-minute set much of consisted of the two singers making costume changes.
The Great Harry live music nights were among those promoted throughout the area by one Chris France and he was he who encouraged the Anal Surgeons, known briefly at this time as Will B and the Has Beens, to play.
Early appreciation of the Anal Surgeons in Great Harry newsletters:
Taking their enduring name from a short story by Lorenzo de Graul, the Anal Surgeons withstood the abuse and quickly, with the benefit of rehearsing, evolved into something sufficiently well-organised to perform something recognisable as music in front of the public on a regular basis. Very soon they also appeared on the 1978 compilation album, Aylesbury Goes Flaccid, with the song 'Wide Boy'.
Anal Surgeons rehearse. Left to right: Mick Sinclair, Phil Seaton, John Cook, Paul Ingram, John Goddard, Tony Ingram.
Among the people that witnessed some of the band’s chaotic but visually rich live performances was John Otway, who had been advised by his accountant to spend some of the money from his recent chart hit, ‘Really Free’, on music-related projects or else pay it in tax. Consequently, Otway produced and paid for what would have been an Anal Surgeons single, 'Wide Boy'/'Where’s That Fag?', had any record label seen fit to release it.
A local newspaper reported:
At London’s Chalk Farm Studios, the recording sessions were notable for several things: the sax player’s broken reed which Otway reckoned made the sax sound better; singer John Cook’s growing addiction to the kebabs pedalled by a local dealer, and the realisation that the intended b-side, 'Where’s That Fag?', actually sounded better than the a-side, 'Wide Boy'.
Failing to secure the release of either song, Otway moved to other things and the whereabouts of the master tape became a mystery that endures to this day. However, 'Where’s That Fag?' gained an initially obscure if latterly surprisingly popular release on a 1979 cassette compilation, Back to Sing For Free Again Soon, on Fuck Off Records (Fuck Off 1).
The Anal Surgeons meanwhile took themselves on a tour of big stages, playing at Friars Aylesbury with Otway and Wild Willy Barrett, and several universities as guests of Daevid Allen and Gong and also of Here & Now. One such date was Dacorum College in Hemel Hempstead which was recorded and a cassette circulated which provided the best, in the sense of authentically capturing the live experience, documentation of the band. Unseen for many years, a copy of the cassette has been recently been located and its contents may form a large part of a future Anal Surgeons CD.
Micky Dolenz was probably the most famous person, and certainly the only ex-Monkee, to have seen the Anal Surgeons play, which he did at the Bossard Hall, Leighton Buzzard. We remember him though we suspect he’s forgotten us. Hey Micky – do you really want to be in that Hall of Fame?
Surgeons' singer adopts casual stage pose:
Having achieved much more than they ever intended and more than their friends and known associates ever thought possible, the Anal Surgeons split towards to the end of 1978 with several members forming the core of Vince Pie and the Crumbs, best remembered globally for their contribution, 'Pontin’ Stomp’, to 1981's second Street Level ep (FEP 002), and locally for their hyperactive stage shows. Mick Sinclair, meanwhile, formed the Funboy Five.
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