Sinking Ships

Sinking Ships (sometimes called The Sinking Ships) were a band formed in Autumn 1979 in Wragby, Lincolnshire (near Scunthorpe), UK, by Terry Welbourn (vox, bass) and Simon Brighton (guitars) formerly of a band called 'Berlin', and Colin Hopkirk (vocals) and Nick Green (drums) of the band 'Stress'. With this lineup, they would record a 5 track demo tape entitled 'Smiles and Guns'. Two of these songs (Weight Loss & Third World) would be put onto a local New Wave compilation on Stark Products. After the compilation, Colin Hopkirk left the band, and their sound transitioned from a Post-Punk/Ska/New Wave band into a lovely Post-Punk/Indie band sounding band. 
The Ships released a single in January 1980 entitled 'The Cinema Clock' to critical acclaim. Many favourable reviews were given, and many plays of The Cinema Clock and 1 play of the B-Side "Strangers" was played on John Peel's Show. The 3-piece band had a solid supporting reputation as a supporting band, and supported big name indie bands such as The Psychedelic Furs, The Modettes, Spizz Energi, and others.
After this however, they decided to add more members, Steve Orient on Keyboards and Charlie Anderson on Saxophone. They recorded a session for Dead Good Records under this lineup and a six-track 12" set for release in 1981 which never saw the light of day. 
After this, in Spring 1981 the Ships shrunk back down to a 3-piece lineup and recorded a new single on Recession Records called "Dream", this single failed to garner the attention as the first one did, despite being really quite good, it appeared to be made just a few years too late. The Sinking Ships split in Mid-1981, with the members moving out of Lincolnshire to London. Terry Welbourn performed live under the Sinking Ships for a few years after that, but there were no further record releases after 1981.
Recently, their song "Strangers" was featured on a compilation made by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada. This sparked a wide interest in the song as it was untitled in the compilation and was unknown to some keen searchers looking for a similar sounding 1984 New Wave song coloquially dubbed "The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet" or "Like The Wind". While the artist was eventually found, Sinking Ships claimed it wasn't them who made that song, Despite this, it had envoked a new interest in the band, and they are currently in the process of re-mastering and releasing previously unreleased and released music they've made, which will be distributed on their Bandcamp page and in the form of a 12" vinyl.
== Links to Peel ==
The band were regularly played by Peel in the early 80's, during their whole career. In 1988, Peel revisited the band, and played their 1980 track, The Cinema Clock on his shows.
== Sessions ==
* None recorded.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
* No entries.
== Other Shows Played ==
;thumb|330x330px1980
* 24 November 1980: Strangers (7") Dead Good Records - DEAD 14, Stark Products - STARK 2
* 29 November 1980: The Cinema Clock (7") Dead Good Records - DEAD 14, Stark Products - STARK 2
* 20 December 1980: The Cinema Clock (7") Dead Good Records - DEAD 14, Stark Products - STARK 2
;1981
* 11 April 1981: Dream (7") Recession Records - REC S 1
* 26 April 1981: Dream (7") Recession Records - REC S 1
;1988
* 05 February 1988: The Cinema Clock (7") Dead Good Records - DEAD 14, Stark Products - STARK 2
* 20 February 1988 (BFBS): The Cinema Clock (7") Dead Good Records - DEAD 14, Stark Products - STARK 2
== External Links ==
*Discogs
*Bandcamp
Category:Artists