Sun Carriage – in session for John Peel – June 9, 1991 – Broadcast July 28, 1991 – BBC Radio 1 –
Sun Carriage tonight. Doesn’t ring bells? Well, to be honest, they were only together from 1988 to either 1992 or 1995 (depending on which biography you read) – had only two eps released and were included on a compilation album, Live At The Sausage Machine. They did only one session for John Peel (this one – recorded on June 9, 1991 and broadcast on July 28th of that year). They did open for a number of high-profile acts, notably House Of Love, Spacemen 3, Lush and Happy Mondays. But none of that translated into commercial success for the band.
Although they were said to be influenced by David Bowie, the pre-grunge Garage-rock era of Iggy Pop as well as Neil Young and Roxy Music, the audience they were most closely aligned with was Grunge and Britpop, as many bands were in the late 80s/early 90s.
Sun Carriage were, at various times, a three-piece or a four piece – but the constants were Ron Price and Matthew Watts, who were vocals/guitar and writers of the material.
According to a few sources, the band split in 1995 (although some say 1992), with Watts going off to form Codiak before joining up with the Swedish band, The Nameless Ones. Unfortunately, Matthew Watts was diagnosed with Cancer and eventually died in Plymouth on May 13, 2009.
So a band that came and went in a flash, but left clues as to their whereabouts and accomplishments.
Like I said when I started this post; in all due likelihood, you may not have heard of this band, but this session does make for some interesting listening and it may be the catalyst in making other discoveries. It goes along with having an open mind and a curiosity.
Nonetheless, they got one Peel session in, and we’re playing it tonight to give you some idea of what you might have missed.
