Originally known as SCRAWM with a line-up of Dogg Bower (vocals / guitar), Dudd Hallam (bass) and drummer Chris Flint, this Mansfield based group released the 1987 demo ‘Demented Genius’. SCRAWM then changed the name to LAWNMOWER DETH, with the premise that putting the fun into Thrash and Death Metal music with a madcap slant was the way to fame and fortune.
Now fronted by Qualcast Mutilator, a mild-mannered employee in the Nottingham branch of HMV Records by day, the rejuvenated band began to make plans for world domination, or at least jobs as groundsmen at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground. The First LAWNMOWER DETH demo, ‘It’s A Lot Less Bovver Than A Hovver’, featured a cover of FLEETWOOD MAC’s ‘The Chain’ (for many years the theme tune to BBC TV coverage of Formula One motor racing) retitled ‘Lawn Mower Grand Prix’ and produced by SABBAT’s Andy Sneap. The tape was followed by a further demo, this one entitled ‘Mowdeer’.
The Nottingham nutters made their vinyl debut on RTK records in 1989 on a split LP with Liverpool’s METAL DUCK, with the LAWNMOWER DETH slice entitled ‘Mower Liberation Front’. The following year Earache Records signed the band and unleashed the ‘Viz’ inspired ‘Ooh Crikey It’s…Lawnmower Deth’ album featuring the track ‘Do Do Doe’ dedicated to Metal Forces editor Bernard Doe, set up as the band’s nemesis and fiercest critic at the time.
