Dodgy are an English powerpop rock trio that rose to prominence during the Britpop era of the 1990s, best known for their hits “Staying Out For The Summer” (their debut hit that reached #19 in the UK on re-release in 1995), “If You’re Thinking Of Me” (#11) and “Good Enough” (their biggest hit, reaching #4 in the UK chart). Their music has been compared to that of The Who and The Hollies.

They are frontman Nigel Clark (bass), Andy Miller (guitar) and Mathew Priest (drums).

Redditch’s Clark and Priest met Londoner Andy Miller whilst swimming after placing an advert “Jimi Hendrix required” in the magazine Loot.

The band’s debut album, produced by The Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie, demonstrated a comprehensive grasp of classic British pop influences particularly from the late 1960s.[citation needed] In many ways the album pre-dated the Brit-pop sound that would come to dominate the scene with the arrival of Oasis (Who would in fact support the band on more than one occasion in their early career).

During the 1990s the band gained significant popularity for their live performances and tendency to appear in the music press with a cheeky story. Drummer Mathew Priest suggested he was the love-child of Aphrodite and Keith Moon, whilst Andy Miller was once so busy on tour that he forgot it was his Birthday. It was often reputed that David Soul of Starsky and Hutch was a huge Dodgy fan. One other fan of the band gave them a goldfish which they named David Wilkie and took on tour.

The band concerned themselves with social issues by supporting War Child, the Liverpool Dockers’ Strike, Charter 88 and youth democracy campaigns.

While Clark was absent from 1998 to 2007 to pursue ongoing solo projects, Priest and Miller continued the band as a five piece joined by the vocalist David Bassey; keyboardist Chris Hallam, and bass player Nick Abnett. This line up of the group would record one album, Real Estate, released in 2001. This album was produced and mixed with Robin Evans at T-Pot Studios in Scotland (funded with help from the fans). On their “Dingwalls to Dingwall” tour in 2000, the group visited the Hebridean island of Taransay to entertain the castaways being filmed for a BBC reality television programme.

The original line up of the band, Clark, Miller, and Priest, returned with a live album, So Far On 3 Wheels – Dodgy On The Radio, in October 2007. In the summer of 2007, the band announced a reunion tour, featuring the entire original line up, with shows to take place in the winter of 2007. These plans were abandoned however, when guitarist Andy Miller fell out of bed, chipping a bone in his arm in the process. The rescheduled tour took place in March 2008.

The band played two sets at Guilfest music festival in Guildford, Surrey on July 5, 2008. The first set was an acoustic set in the Unison tent where they appeared in support of the organisation. They later played a set with full band on the main stage where they played a succession of hits along with some new material, with frontman Nigel Clark announcing plans for a new album.

They headlined the Sunday night at Scarborough’s Beached Festival in August 2008 and ToneFest in September, where after their set, Nigel joined in with Sgt Pepper’s Only Dart Board Band and entertained the crowd with Beatles Songs.

November 2008, The first tracks from sessions recorded & produced by Nigel, Mathew & Andy appear online firstly a version of Forgive Me tagged The Club Tour Mix in celebration of there forthcoming Tour of Barfly Venues across the UK, Forgive Me Demo Version was also available to Download as part of a Ticket Bundle on Official Dodgy Websites, also available as a Free Download and principal track on a Forthcoming EP is track called “Down In The Flood” influenced by a journey home during the recent Floods in Evesham near Nigels home, Links to this track are available on all Dodgy’s web links.

Discography

Studio albums

* The Dodgy Album (1993)
* Homegrown (1995) #28 UK
* Free Peace Sweet (1996) #7 UK
* Real Estate! (2001)

Compilation albums

* Ace A’s and Killer B’s (1997)
* The Collection (2004)

Live album

* So Far On 3 Wheels – Dodgy On The Radio (2007)

UK singles

* “Summer Fayre” (1991) #198
* “Easy Way” (1991) # 165
* “The Black and White Single” (1992) #115
* “Water Under The Bridge” (1993) #72
* “Lovebirds” (1993) #65
* “I Need Another (EP)” (1993) #67
* “The Melod-EP” (1994) #43
* “Staying Out for The Summer” (1994) #38
* “So Let Me Go Far” (1995)#30
* “Making The Most Of” (1995) #22
* “Staying Out For The Summer ‘95″ (1995) #19
* “In a Room” (1996) #12
* “Good Enough” (1996) #4
* “If You’re Thinking Of Me” (1996) #11
* “Found You” (1997) #19
* “Every Single Day” (1998) #32
* “Feathercuts and Monkeyboots” (2000)
* “(We All Need A Little) Liftin” (2001)
* “Down In The Flood/Forgive Me(Club Tour Mix)(EP)” (2008)

Special thanks to Keith Law at unsignedcity.com for content.