Q-Tips

Q-Tips were a blue-eyed soul and new wave rock band from Britain, first formed in 1979 from the remnants of the rock group Streetband. Apart from the novelty song "Toast", a B-side made successful from heavy airplay by Capital Radio’s Kenny Everett, Streetband had failed to find any commercial success with their two albums London and Dilemma (both released in 1979). Drummer Chalky and guitarist Roger Kelly departed, leaving the remaining trio of Paul Young on vocals, Mick Pearl on bass guitar, and guitarist John Gifford. 
The ex-Streetbanders added Dave Lathwell on guitar and Baz Watts on drums. In addition, a four-piece brass section was created by Steve Farr (baritone saxophone), Richard Blanchchard (tenor saxophone), Oscar Stuart Blandamer (alto saxophone) and Tony Hughes (trumpet), and all hailed from the North London and Hertfordshire area. Organist Ian Kewley lived in Essex. Q-Tips' name derived from a well-known brand of cotton swab. Throughout the years there were numerous line ups, but by the mid-80's with Paul Young leaving the group in 1982, the band ultimately split up. Paul Young briefly teamed up again with Q-Tips for a reunion tour in 1993.
==Links to Peel==
Peel played much of the band's material in 1980 and mentioned that their 'S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song)' track was Kid Jensen's record of the week on his 24 March 1980 programme. 
In his Sounds article, published on 16th August 1980, Peel mentioned seeing the band perform on Wednesday at Ronnie Scotts, where he thought they were jolly, but felt that their debut self titled LP did not capture the brashness of the band. 
Beyond 1980, Peel rarely played much of the group's songs but after his death in 2004, it was later found out that he had a copy of their debut self titled album, 'Q-Tips', in his Record Collection: Q. 
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1980
*12 March 1980: S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song) (single) Shotgun
*17 March 1980: S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song) (7") Shotgun
*24 March 1980: (JP: 'It's a funny thing you know, but a lot of the ninnies that I work with here at Radio 1, when they've heard a record, say, five or six times on this programme, they come round to realising that it's pretty good. Thus, this is Kid Jerkin's Record Of The Week.') S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song) (single) Shotgun
*25 March 1980: S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song) (7”) Shotgun
*27 March 1980: S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song) (7”) Chrysalis ("Kid Jerkin's record of the week")
*24 June 1980: Tracks Of My Tears (LP - Q-Tips) Chrysalis
*12 August 1980: Some Kinda Wonderful (LP - Q-Tips) Chrysalis
*13 August 1980: Please Don't Stay At Home (LP - Q-Tips) Chrysalis
*18 August 1980: Keep Your Shoes On (LP - Q-Tips) Chrysalis
;1981
*11 June 1981 (John Walters): Stay The Way You Are (7") Chrysalis
== See Also ==
*Gigography 1980
*Sounds
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists