The band was formed in the toilets of the Wapping Anarchy
Centre, established by the efforts of seminal Anarchist bands Crass and Poison
Girls, in 1980. One week after forming Hagar the Womb played their first gig
with Zounds and The Mob. The band were originally all-female in an attempt to
add a female voice to what they saw as a male-dominated movement, and the band
refused to conform to the stylistic constrictions associated with bands of the
time.
The band toured the UK punk circuit for five years
releasing two 12” singles and recording a Peel Session. Their first offering
The Word of the Womb EP (released on Conflict’s Mortarhate label) dominated the
UK Indie Chart during 1984.
Hagar the Womb were a female fronted, rather colourful
and refreshing band, who wanted to have a little more fun than just shouting
out the same gloomy political message that so many other bands of the time were
doing. After being ignored and laughed at by those who ran the Wapping Anarchy
Centre for trying to speak their minds and contributing ideas, several of the
women decided to start a band so they could be taken more seriously. In London
during 1980, Ruth, Karen, Amden and Nicola Corcoran all decided to become the
vocalists, Janet Nassim became the guitarist and Stepth Cohen played the bass,
while Andy Martin from The Apostles helped them by giving them a place to
practice in and a drummer named Scarecrow. The band was offered their first gig
at the Centre a week after forming. Coming up with a name that had no meaning,
and playing a somewhat chaotic gig supporting The Mob and Zounds, Hagar The
Womb cranked out early versions of "Dressed to Kill" and "Puff
the Magic Dragon".
After several gigs, people began to take notice of the
band; their lyrics, which were much more personal instead of always being about
war and bombs; their clothes, which were more colourful and not uniform black
like several "Crass clone" bands were doing. Instead of being
anti-everything, the band were anti-labelling and tried to be wild. After
recording their first demo, the track 'For The Ferryman' was taken to appear
on Mortarhate's 'Who? What? Why? When?
Where' compilation. In 1984, Hagar The Womb released their debut 12” E.P.
titled "Word of The Womb" on the Mortarhate label. It was engineered
by Pete Fender from Rubella Ballet/Omega Tribe, at Heart and Souls Studios,
Walthamstow in East London.