This fine band formed out of the remains of Albert Dock,
"a satirical, performance-oriented outfit". Despite releasing a batch
of excellent, witty, and very catchy singles, all of which should have made the
Radio 1 playlist but mysteriously didn't. Yachts did not achieve any notable
success and broke up in early 1981. They couldn't even capitalise on a tour
supporting The Who, glowing reviews in the States, working with top producers
like Clive Langer, Richard Gottehrer and Martin Rushent, and gimmicks such as
releasing records in four different sleeves, die-cut sleeves, semi-transparent
sleeves, or on coloured vinyl. The problem was probably their boring name and
image - they were much less quirky-looking than similarly poppy bands such as
Squeeze, XTC or Madness - as well as their lyrics, which were a bit too
politely piss-takey and smart-arsed for mass consumption. A case in point is
the ultra-catchy Box 202, which concerns a young man who places a lonely-hearts
advert after his beloved dies in a plane crash. They did not attempt to ride
the punk bandwagon, but although they opted for lush powerpop with harmony
vocals and middle eights galore, they still played with enough spunk and fire
to place them at the soft end of the punk spectrum.
Forming in April 1977, and making their live debut at Eric's in Liverpool, as support act to Elvis Costello. Initially a quintet with John (J.J.) Campbell on vocals, by the end of the year he had left, leaving in his wake two singles, Suffice To Say (which came out on Stiff) and Brutality, Rhythm And A Dance Beat, a split single they shared with Big In Japan. On this latter release the Yachts were, for one reason or another, called the Chuddy Nuddies. Campbell's departure did not split the group, but it did mean that they were not seen in public until the following summer, by which they were perceived a power pop band.
The Yachts tenure at Stiff lasted just one single, and along with Costello, Nick Lowe and others they went with former Stiff supremo Jake Riveria to make records for his new label, Radar, where they stayed until 1980, releasing several singles and two LPs, the second with Glyn Harvard of The Edge on bass. Each album was also issued in the US by Polydor, where they enjoyed some radio airplay.
Forming in April 1977, and making their live debut at Eric's in Liverpool, as support act to Elvis Costello. Initially a quintet with John (J.J.) Campbell on vocals, by the end of the year he had left, leaving in his wake two singles, Suffice To Say (which came out on Stiff) and Brutality, Rhythm And A Dance Beat, a split single they shared with Big In Japan. On this latter release the Yachts were, for one reason or another, called the Chuddy Nuddies. Campbell's departure did not split the group, but it did mean that they were not seen in public until the following summer, by which they were perceived a power pop band.
The Yachts tenure at Stiff lasted just one single, and along with Costello, Nick Lowe and others they went with former Stiff supremo Jake Riveria to make records for his new label, Radar, where they stayed until 1980, releasing several singles and two LPs, the second with Glyn Harvard of The Edge on bass. Each album was also issued in the US by Polydor, where they enjoyed some radio airplay.