Pete Wylie

Peter James Wylie (born 22 March 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah!

Heat, Shambeko!

Say Wah!, JF Wah!, The Mighty Wah!

and Wah!

The Mongrel.

Wylie was born on 22 March 1958 in Liverpool.

Clad in a cover that alluded to the early 1970s "Trade Mark of Quality" bootlegs, the record appeared as a white label with a blank outer cover and a sheet attached with sleevenotes by music journalist Adam Sweeting.

This release did not shore up Wylie's dwindling fortunes and Wah!

were subsequently dropped by WEA.

He began his career in 1977 with lead vocalist Ian McCulloch and bassist Julian Cope, with whom he formed the band Crucial Three, which lasted from May to June the same year.

Later that year, he performed as a member of the short-lived punk band Mystery Girls, who gave only one performance, supporting Sham 69 at Eric's Club in November 1977, and was composed of Pete Burns and Julian Cope.

In December 1977, he joined The Spitfire Boys, who dissolved the same month.

Wylie and two of the band, Pete Griffiths and Peter Clarke, formed the same month The Nova Mob, alongside Julian Cope.

In August, he joined established local band Crash Course (December 1977 – January 1979), on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, after seeing them supporting Big in Japan at the matinee of their farewell show at Eric's Club on 26 August.

The revised Crash Course made their first live appearance at Manchester University on 13 October.

The band lasted until May 1978.

On 22 December 1978, a professional recording of the band performing at Eric's (a gig which included Echo and the Bunnymen) was made for a live EP, to be released on the club's own label, and to follow the Pink Military EP which had also been recorded there.

Crash Course disbanded in late January 1979 and the record wasn't pressed (the tape subsequently lost).

Also in January 1979, the band had recorded three tracks at Liverpool's MVCU demo studios: "Someone Different" (with which The Glass Torpedoes had a minor hit in mid-1979), "The Tears of a Clown" (the Smokey Robinson song), and "Look Now".

Shortly after the band's demise, the three MVCU demo tracks were broadcast, in their unmixed form, on BBC radio's Phil Ross programme.

One of the last compositions to be rehearsed by Crash Course was the semi instrumental "Heart Surgery".

A version of this later appeared on the Glass Torpedoes EP.

Active from 1979, Wylie and company garnered critical acclaim throughout 1980 for the singles "Better Scream" and "Seven Minutes to Midnight" (both as Wah! Heat), the latter being single of the week in the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker during spring 1980, as well as the 1981 Warner Bros. album ''Nah = Poo!

– The Art of Bluff'' (as Wah!).

Next, Wylie released an officially sanctioned "official bootleg" of new and old songs entitled The Maverick Years 1980–81 on his own label.

Their biggest hit single was "The Story of the Blues", which was released in late 1982; it reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.

A follow-up single, "Hope (I Wish You'd Believe Me)" was released in 1983, but found limited success.

In 1984, the Mighty Wah!

had a Top 20 hit with the song "Come Back" (as with "The Story of the Blues", the song was chosen by the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, as his "single of the year").

The accompanying double album, recorded for Beggars' Banquet, was entitled A Word to the Wise Guy.

It was critically acclaimed, but sold poorly and the band were again dropped.

By 1986, having ditched his backing ensemble, Wylie had a solo hit with "Sinful!", which peaked at number 13 in the UK, ostensibly produced by Ian Ritchie, but with major input from Zeus B. Held.

"Sinful!"

became the title track of his 1987 solo album, which included the enigmatically titled "FourElevenFortyFour".

In 1990, a single called "Imperfect List" was released under the project name of Big Hard Excellent Fish.

The spoken-word track is a list of 64 least favourite people and things read by Wylie's then girlfriend and collaborator Josie Jones.

The list was compiled by Wylie and the track was recorded by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, although Wylie is not credited on the record.

The list ranges from "Adolf Hitler" to "Lost Keys".

In 1990, the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu released a limited edition (between 350 and 500 copies) white label version of "It's Grim Up North" featuring Wylie on vocals.

This version was a club-only release.