Formed in Great Yarmouth East Anglia in 1974 when the band's average age was only 15, the band were originally known as Cosmic Love and then Teezer.
The Crabs were born at a Norwich gig where they played the first set as Teezer and the second set as the Crabs.
Original line-up was
Vocalist guitarist : Tony Diggines
lead guitarist : Ronny Rocka
drummer : Ricci Titcombe
bassist : William Strang
They reformed in 2005 to play at the Morecambe Punk fest Wasted without the full line-up, so who knows, they might be playing again? News Flash The Crabs are playing the 12 Bar Club on the 23 Feb.2008 London W1.
In 76 the Crabs signed a publiching deal with Sparta Flodia a top music publisher. To promote the band they needed more gigs so they teamed up with a booking agent who sent them from one end of the UK to the other in their 7.5 ton converted removel truck, after being on the road with the same people for months in a row with no hotels can lead to disagreements. The truck was a box van with aircraft seats in the back along with a bed on the bit above the driver, a calour gaz heater and a 8 track castette player with only three 8 track albums. Later on the tour Tubula bells was flung out of the window followed by the speakers in the drivers cab who had no concrol over the selection or the level of the music. The band took there own PA and backline with just one road crew called Mossy who often got the sharp end of our fustrations, the truck had no power strearing so we all developed arms like Popeye. On the tours they supported the likes of X-Ray Spex, The Lurkers, Sham 69, The Jam & Siouxsie & The Banshees and many others and regularly played most of the famous punk venues including The Roxy & Vortex and the Music Machine.
The managerment was convinced that the Crabs will get a major record deal that they turned down a two single one album deal from lighting records. The major deal kept passing them by, other releases by the band was released as The Fulham Furies (Fulham football team) on a sideproject where they played on the backing track (A punk version of These boots are made for walking) and wrote and performed the b-side for the team to sing along to, many years before football teams made half decent records.
In 1979 The Crabs became the backing band for Gary Holton (who played Wayne in TV's Auf Wiedersehn Pet and lead singer with the Heavy Metal kids). Material was recorded at Spaceward studios in Cambridge and is due to be released soon.
1980 the band joining Max Splodge just after he had a hit with "Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps" as Splodgenessabounds.
This infamous union was planned to be a one off tour but lasted for over seven years, some members still gigging with Max to this day.
During the eighties Ronny Rocka joined and played with The Angelic Upstarts and The Godfathers. and the other members went their separate musical ways.
Its a sad fact but like so many bands at the time The Crabs never got the breaks nor the recordings out they deserved. Quality songs like Lullabies Lie show a tuneful quality while Victim shows them as punk rock as the next. Their sole recording output is a solitary live track Lullabies Lie on the mixed bag that was the Farewell To The Roxy album. They signed to Lightning in February 1978, home of the flotsam & jetsam of punk like The Mirrors, Cane & Horrorcomic who were going nowhere.
Allegedly a single exists - Victim /Blue Unction/ Save My Skin - but probably was never released as no one has ever seen a copy. Tracks in their set in the 70's included Dull Kid, C.R.A.B.S,For Us & Wartime Memories. They got very little publicity, mind you their 'Catch The Crabs slogan' was catchy!
Not many peaple know that?
The Crabs worked hard touring non-stop all over the U.K playing shit houses and some good gigs we also invited Virgin Records to come and see us at Depford empire with the Ruts & a Reggae band. But Willy bass player and Ricci the drummer had a row on the way to the gig and Will walked out of the band, so we ended up playing as a three piece and we was shit, to rub salt into the wound the Ruts got signed to Virgin records. The Crabs biggest clam to fame was a track on the Farewell to the Roxy LP and two Radio 1 John Peel sections and also playing on Fulham Football team's record," These Boots are made for walking" The single nowadays is going for £75 on E-bay. Other tracks with this line up are Nightmare on Rude St and Cowpunk medlem Splodge 3rd single
The Crabs
on Harry Hill's TV Burp
The last time the Crabs were seen together was on TV's Harry Hill's TV Burp.
They got together with old stable mate Max Splodge and performed Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps while Harry Hill ran around dressed as Gene Simmons.
As to why? During the shooting of Gene Simmons Rock School in Lowstoft his task was to make a band from a bunch of kids. Gene's limo driver was non other than our drummer Ricci Titcombe.
Ricci tried to explain to Gene the concept of 'two pints of larger and a packet of crisps' Here is a clue! In the USA crisps are chips and larger is just a beer? Trying to explain to a yank the song is about not getting served in time before last orders is one hell of a task.
Above: Some photos of the day's filming.
The story starts back in the early 70's during the power strikes in the pub I lived in all my life, the Rocket. Every body was going to the local pub when ever there was a power cut, which at that time was most nights, the was no power to run the jukebox so people made there own entertainment. I noticed that the guy playing the guitar was very popular with the girls, being in early puberty at 11 years old I had made up mind up! I wanted to play the guitar. So I found that old guitar that my Mum brought back from Spain and got the guy named 'Jethro' who had entertained the pub to teach me a few chords. Within a year I had learnt to be able to play most of major and miner chords and wanted to take the next step and start a band.
My mate Ricci Titcombe played drums in the Sea Cadets so he was the drummer and put a kit together with an old bass drum, two bongo toms and a cymbal with rivets nothing else. My nephew Neil (Trucker ) Brown learnt to play the Bass and we started to practice every Saturday afternoon with various singers until we saw Tony Diggings do a Gary Glitter impersonation at Tiffany at the teenage disco, the girls was screaming at him, so that was good reaction for us he was in the band as the singer. All we need now was our first gig.
My teachers at my school Mr Dye & Mr Lord were giving me guitar lessons they also had a band called Chalk and were playing the Valentine dance and our first gig was offered to us to support them if we can get the band together in time. Lucky for me I lived in a pub so we had a room to rehearse in and my dad backed us all the way rather than me following in my brothers footsteps and end up in Borstal, he even got me a white Fender Stratacater. We needed a name for some reason we called our self 'Cosmic Love' what a name but we done it and got it together, we ended up headlining the gig and even got my sister to make me and my nephew (Trucker ) glittery outfits. I have got those photos of our first gig under lock & key. Feb. 14 1972 Valentine ball Alderman Leach school Gt. Yar.Norfolk.
What Can I say the photo tells the story of platform boots and flairs and sad hair cuts. Trucker left the band and was replaced by Chris Smith who we saw him singing a Rod Stewart song down the road from the Rocket, he was not a bass player but looked good. Say no more.
Glam rock was in vogue a year had gone by since the first gig and we had played another 4 or 5 more gigs in the local area. Had our own PA system and even strobe lights we made a two track recording in some one's garage and came away with a copy of a hard record each and two spare copies for promotion one went on the pub jukebox the other got us our first manager Peter ? a DJ at Tiffany WOW! He got us a meeting with two major record company's in London on the Train on the way up to the smoke we where all spending our advances buying our family houses and a pop star castles each after watching David Essex 'That will be the day' and 'Stardust ' at the record office the A & R men where looking at us and saying to our manager they are far to young come back in a few years a few months later the Bay City Rollers hit the charts at the same age. We missed the boat by being ahead of our time that became the story of our life.
The name Cosmic Love was replaced by Tezzer along with bass player Chris Smith who after many auditions for the right person was replaced by Willy Kimbiling, now we have the same line up that became the Crabs. Our New manager Roger Webster also a DJ got us to improve us musically by sentencing us too years of gigging around Norfolk and Suffolk youth clubs, most of these gigs was our own promotion hiring the hall, door men and running the bar selling soft drinks as getting gigs in those days was near impossible. This was good training for the band, we where learning new experiences in running a business, putting on shows in towns we never been before, the pros and cons of promotion your self and learning more songs all at the age of 17.
We had grow up musically as well and now started to listen to more heavy rock like AC DC as well as Sweet, Slade, Bowie and T.Rex. I can admit that after supporting them at the Comer links we as a band along with many other musicians was inspired and impressed by the band the 'Heavy Metal Kids'. This was the first time I had seen a stage show that entertained your eyes as well as your ears. HMK was ahead of there times, they were punk before punk was even invented and after supporting them they when on to open up for Alice Copper on a USA tour, I don't know if Alice nicked there stage act or if Gary Holton nicked Alice's but I did see Alice do a similar act years later? HMK a great live band that deserved to be massive but was not meant to be. Teezer now put in some of the HMK songs and vibes in there set along with our first original songs but we still did not know which direction we where going in 25% Rock 25% Teeny bop and 50% a new direction after seeing the Clash on the so called Sex Pistols tour.
Splodgenessabounds
Post Crabs
Splodgenessabounds
After the Crabs we joined Gary Holton from TV fame and singer of the Heavy metal kids, but as he got busy with his acting he put us on to his mate Max Splodge who's band just left him just before a tour and just had a hit with "two pints of lager and a packet of crisps" and "two little boys" so we had nothing to lose on joining Max for the one tour. The audition for Max was meant to be at studios in South London, we traveled down to London in a single decker Bus converted by our mates to impress Max. We played one song in the studio a HMK song with Gary who had come down to give us support, Max said you passed the playing bit, let's go to the pub to see if you can pass the drinking bit. We did pass and had a good time, So next was off to Wales to rehearse but all we did was go to the pub Max told us he could drive and crashed a car in to a mountain and got drunk, that carried on for the next four years with a few albums in between bars and tours.
chords and wanted to take the next step and start a band.
replaced by Chris Smith who we saw him singing a Rod Stewart song down the road from the Rocket, he was not a bass player but looked good. Say no more.
bar selling soft drinks as getting gigs in those days was near impossible. This was good training for the band, we where learning new experiences in running a business, putting on shows in towns we never been before, the pros and cons of promotion your self and learning more songs all at the age of 17.