Calling the band Strange Fruit was Eric’s idea, not mine. I had wanted to call us All Tomorrow’s Parties for obvious Velvet Underground, late ‘60’s reasons, but in the end, I think Strange Fruit was a better name.

We wanted to be psychedelic, in 1981, as a follow up to Punk/New Wave “Wam Bam! Jam”.

The trouble is that no one knows what psychedelic really means, even now.

I think it was more of a feeling than a sound.

All I can say is we were a three-piece and we covered Love Her Madly by The Doors as well as Somebody To Love by The Jefferson Airplane – in 1981!

97% of our material was our own compositions, though. Were we ahead of the times or behind them? I don’t know.

It was a change from The Stereotypes, but it only lasted about a year in the end.

Eric had his genuine 1970s Strat (as it had just been the 1970s), which he’d spent all his grant money on and told his Dad he’d won in a competition!

Coincidentally, I had spent all my grant money on a ‘Grant’ violin-bass copy, to get a new sound.

Hofner basses were out of fashion at that time and very hard to come by.

It wasn’t like today, it was 1980/81.

Today, people are more aware that Strange Fruit is a Billie Holiday song, and it has been covered by many artists since  she released it in 1939. It is tragic and important, like Gloomy Sunday, also by Billie Holiday and it makes you feel very sad.

Perhaps we should have called ourselves All Tomorrow’s Parties after all; or All Yesterday’s Parties?    

Strange Fruit:   Paul Galley: bass/vocals  

                           Stuart Donaldson (aka Eric): guitars/vocals

                           Jeremy Brill: percussion