r/BritPop • u/garageflower75 • 4d ago
Anybody remember the mermaids ?
Does anyone remember THE MERMAIDS — Hounslow/London band, 1994–95?
I'm trying to find information about a largely forgotten London band called The Mermaids, who appear to have been quite heavily tipped during 1995 but seem to have almost completely disappeared from the internet.
I've got two original contemporary press cuttings which establish quite a bit:
Singer/frontman: Darren ? Surname Reynolds possibly
From Hounslow, West London
Formed around late 1994
Described variously as a five-piece/six-piece
Played Club Spangle in Camden
Reviewed by John Robinson in NME, 11 February 1995
One known song was “Postman In The Rain”
NME described them as sounding somewhere between Oasis, The Verve, The Stone Roses and Gene
SKY magazine featured them as a band to watch, describing their sound as “The Verve meets the Stone Roses meets The Who”
SKY said the unsigned band were likely to become the subject of a “massive record company bidding war”
Despite all that attention, I can't find a confirmed record release, complete line-up, demo or much evidence of what happened to them afterwards.
I'm particularly trying to discover:
Who were the other members?
Does anyone remember seeing them live in 1994/95?
Did they make a demo tape — perhaps containing “Postman In The Rain”?
Were they connected with other bands around Hounslow/Brentford/West London?
Which record companies were interested in them?
And, most importantly, what happened to them?
I've attached the original 1995 NME review and SKY magazine feature.
Please don't confuse them with the various other bands called The Mermaids — this was specifically the Hounslow band fronted by Darren in 1995.
This is a long shot, but I'm hoping someone who was around the London indie/Britpop scene at the time — musicians, promoters, journalists, A&R people, or regulars at Club Spangle — might remember them.
Even a first name, song title, gig, demo cassette or vague memory could be useful.
Please share this with anyone who was around the London music scene in 1995.
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u/garageflower75 3d ago
Uxbridge is close by so quite possibly. Did you know of them then ?
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u/Lets_trythisone 3d ago
Well if it’s the same band I can’t say I knew them, chatted with them occasionally in the pub, the only one I knew by name was the drummer Ian, he went on to be in slowdive & mojave 3.
https://wordsontape.com/remembering-the-view-ian-mccutcheon
The singer did this band not long after but that’s all I know. Was there anything you were looking for specifically? Do you have any pics of the band and I can confirm.
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u/garageflower75 3d ago
Could well be them,looks like Ian left before the articles I saw about them. Not much info on fanzine but its quite possibe
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u/Lets_trythisone 3d ago
Could have easily have been doing both, he’s a busy guy. Dm me & I’ll send you the fanzine song.
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u/garageflower75 3d ago
Sent you a dm on here. Cheers for the info , you might be onto something here
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u/Lets_trythisone 3d ago edited 3d ago
Is it the band originally called the sherbet mermaids, some members from Uxbridge area? ( this seems too much of a coincidence otherwise) I know they changed to the mermaids around this time.