Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were instigated in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, in 1982 by Sonic Boom (b. Pete Kember, 19 November 1965) and regional soulmate Jason Pierce (also, strangely enough, b. 19 November 1965). Augmented by the rhythm section of Rosco and Pete Baines, it took Spacemen 3 fully four years to blossom onto record. Initially crying shy of sounding too much like the Cramps, the band carefully evolved into one-chord wonders; masters of the hypnotic, blissed-out groove. Such was their languid approach to working, and so dream-inspiring was their music, Spacemen 3 made a habit of sitting down for the entirety of their gigs. 1989's PLAYING WITH FIRE included the intensely repetitive blast of Revolutions. By this time Baines and Rosco had formed what was tantamount to a Spacemen 3 spin-off in the Darkside, allowing Will Carruthers and John Mattock to step into their places, and although this was the peak of the band's career, fundamental problems were still inherent: Sonic Boom made no secret of his drug dependency, having replaced heroin with methadone, and he and Jason Pierce were gradually growing apart to the point where they were chasing different goals. The relationship became so strained that RECURRING, although still a Spaceman 3 effort, saw the two forces working separately, Boom being attributed with side one and Pierce with side two. By this stage Boom had embarked upon a solo career and Pierce was working with Mattock and Carruthers in another band, Spiritualized, a situation which further fanned the flames. When RECURRING finally saw the light of day Spaceman 3's creative forces refused to even be interviewed together. A petty demise to what was, for some time, a creatively intense band.