early to mid eighties and out of the wreckage of punk and new wave stagger the drinking happy content( should be unhappy discontent). sterted in august 81. the non musicians crawl forward at a slugs pace for the next 2 and a half years with little improvement. There is a revolving door of 'musicians', bass, drums, and keyboard players numbering perhaps about 30 plus, who rarely survive more than 10 minuites audition, one keyboard player was sacked DURING a gig at the continental club being physically prised away from the keyboards. By decenmber 1983 they have a settled line up and the music starts to improve, finding a regular practice room down in the vaults of a crumbling church in swadlincote. The songs and sounds continue to improve through 1984, in october they are booked for their biggest gig yet at a massive conference centre in colchester, which turns into a disaster. On arrival no one knew anything about the gig....... it had not been booked, the band set up anyway and waited to see if anyone would come anyway, two people came to the door..... they were looking for someone else.......Certain band members had to be split up over the dabacle. singer and keyboard geoff smith sets off back on his own with the equipment, when the the van catches fire and explodes because he spent his last few quid on lager intstead of engine oil. After this relations in the band deteriorate, Khan having a chip on his shoulder against smith. Things came to a head in a miners benefit gig in march 1985 when bass player khan deliberately plays the wrong basslines wrecking the gig. For singer/keyboards smith this was the last straw, announcing that either he went or i went, khan went. He was replaced by A walker. The band continued and had a support slot with the fall in octber 1985. they were more reliable now live although crowds were more diminished because there reputation as the WORST BAND IN THE WORLD, which the band deliberately leaked to the local press for publicity. They went in the studio for the 3rd time in july 1986, as with the other sessions the 'engineers' could not mix a cake. The whole of happy contents decent recordings were recorded either in practice or live. Happy content finally split autumn 1986 finding virtually zero audience, they seemed to fall between several stools and satisfied very few, too late(and intelligent) for punk, sometimes near the fall, sometimes near early PIL, but eventually sounding like themselves. Happy Content Spent too much time at the bar and not enough time in the practice room, musical fashion was passing them by, if it had not already passed them when they began. Despite all this and numerous chaotic gigs there is a sizeable chunk of music worth a listen, from the crypt or a few live gigs where they were comparitively sober. Never before or since have any band sustained such seething hostility from a live audience,and sometimes bands!!!!! due to huge gaps between songs, often being pissed, bad equipment and the wrong audience led to often shambolic performances and strangely 'arranged' songs, the stiffs did not like them. I bring you the best scraps of happy content when added up make quite a feast, of hostility, some great sounds, humour (sometimes rather black) whether gigs were half full or completly empty, you just knew that Happy content were doomed to failure. The voice of singer smith was generally considered hideous, fair to say he was a better lyricist and keyboardist than singer, and yet quite often this hideousness fits the music..make of it what you will..................