Formed from the ashes of The Elements (Keighley, West Yorkshire, England). The Skeletal Family began life in December 1982.
The initial line-up consisted of: -
Anne-Marie Hurst (Vocals)
Stan Greenwood (Guitars)
Roger “Trotwood” Nowell (Bass)
Steve Crane (Drums)
Ian “Karl Heinz” Taylor (Keyboards)
Taking their name from a David Bowie track off the Diamond Dogs album, the band quickly gained a sizeable local following, encouraged by this produced a self funded single “Trees”/”Just A Friend” released through the Leeds based Luggage label.
The single quickly gained the attention of Radio One’s John Peel, which through regular airings on his late night show saw the single breach the lower regions of the National independent charts.
Due to this radio airplay the band by-passed the usual route of playing the small pub circuit and made their London debut at the Fulham Greyhound to an enthusiastic audience, no doubt bolstered due to the current radio airplay. The gig also received an encouraging reaction from the now defunct national music paper “Sounds”, which secured the band other prestigious support slots with Sex Gang Children and Play Dead.
By now with a Radio One session booked for March, the band recorded a second single “The Night”/”Waiting Here”. For this release drummer Steve Crane was replaced by Manchester based Howard Daniels. Karl Heinz also departed (occasionally resurfacing on various future projects).
