The Bodines, consisting ofMike Ryan, Paul Brotherton, Tim Burtonwood and Paul Lilley, emerged from Glossop, Derbyshire, England, in 1985. Fronted by the floppy-fringed Ryan, they became one of the better-known outfits from a crop of jangly indie bands that sprang up around that time. They made their debut with "God Bless", an early release by Creation Records. Shortly afterwards, Lilley was replaced on drums by John Rowland. Two further singles followed; their second, "Therese", was included on the C86compilation album. Like their contemporaries Primal Scream, The Mighty Lemon Drops and The Weather Prophets, The Bodines went on to sign up with a major label with great hopes of transferring their success to the mainstream charts. The group joined Magnet Records, where a remix of "Therese" became their major label debut. In July 1986, The Bodines participated in the Festival of the Tenth Summer. The Bodines's debut album, Played scraped into No. 94 in the UK Albums Chart, in the summer of 1987. None of the Bodines' singles got into the UK Singles Chart. Under pressure for failing to deliver the hit record that their major label backers required, the Bodines split up, albeit temporarily. Rowland went on to play with The Rainkings. In 1989, a reformed line-up of Ryan, Brotherton, new bassist Ian Watson, and new drummer Spencer Birtwistle released the single "Decide" on Manchester's Play Hard label and contributed a further new track to the same label's Hand to Mouth compilation. A couple of years later, Ryan reappeared with a new band called Medalark Eleven, assisted by Gareth Thomas on bass and Adrian Donohue on drums. Reunited with Creation Records, they released a couple of singles ahead of the albumShaped Up, Shipped Out. On 23 August 2010, The Bodines debut album Played was reissued with seven bonus tracks on the Cherry Red label.
"Therese" 7" & 12" b/w "I Feel", "Scar Tissue" Creation Records CRE 028, CRE 028T 1986 No. 4
"Heard It All" 7" & 12" b/w "Heard It All", "Clear", "William Shatner" Creation Records CRE 030, CRE 030T 1986 No. 4
"Therese" 7" & 12" b/w "Heard It All" Magnet Records BOD1, BODT1 1987
"Skankin Queens" 7" & 12" b/w "My Remarkable Mind" Magnet Records BOD2, BODT2 1987
"Slip Slide" 7" & 12" b/w "Naming Names", "Long Time Dead" Magnet Records BOD3, BODT3 1987
"Decide" 12"b/w "Hard On", "The Groove" Play Hard Records 18 December 1989 No. 15
"Shrinkwrap" CD-Single b/w "With You", "Wake Me Up And Smell The Coffee" Firestation Records FST 073 2007
Albums
Played
Side A
"Skankin Queens"
"What You Want"
"Scar Tissue"
"Tall Stories"
"Clear"
Side B
"Untitled"
"Therese"
"Slip Slide"
"The Back Door"
"William Shatner"
The Japanese release contained two extra tracks: "Therese" and "Heard It All".
Compilation appearances
NME C86 Compilation NME 22 Contributed "Therese". Free with the NME Weekly Music paper. Was also released as a 500 numbered promo was released for radio with the number NME Pro 1. It was later released with a different sleeve on Rough Trade with the number ROUGH 100. 1986
It's Different For Domeheads Creation CRELP 5 Contributed "Paradise"
Record Mirror 12". Free release with the Record Mirror Magazine on Ensign RM6. Contributed "Back Door " 1986
Flowers In The Sky 1984–1987 Creation CRELP 028 CD Contributed "God Bless"
