Thee Headcoats – Heavens to Murgatroyd, Even! It’s Thee Headcoats! (Already) LP Damaged Goods (UK)

“Reissue of classic album originally released by Sub Pop records in 1990! Now with new artwork and extra two tracks (‘Girl From ’62’ was originally released as the A-side of a single on Regal Select Records, while ‘Troubled Times’ was the B-side of a single on Dog Meat Records).

‘What’s the story behind the album title? ‘Heavens to Murgatroyd, even!’ is a term of surprise by Snagglepuss, a bright pink lion, who starred in his very own Hanna-Barbera cartoon. The term was famously employed by The Downliners Sect on the intro to their top tune ‘Leader of The Sect.’ This album originally came out on Sub Pop Records in 1990. The label was known for US grunge at the time, how come they ended up working with a Medway garage and racket group? We prefer the term ‘Maximum Drums and Racket.’ It all came about because a young Steve Turner, of Mudhoney fame, when a young lad visiting England with his father, happened across Thee Mighty Caesars playing at The Cricketers Public House at the Oval. Fast forward five years and he is telling the Seattle grunge mob all about how great we are. We were then invited to play with Mudhoney on their first Sub Pop jaunt in the UK. Bruce Pavitt, the Sub Pop visionary, saw our mass appeal and asked if we’d knock out an LP for Sub Pop. He also asked me to sign a contract. I replied — ‘What’s a contract, can you eat it?’ By this good chance we still owned the LP.’ –Q&A with Billy Childish (September, 2023)”