Skeletal Family

Skeletal Family 2023:-






FULL SKELETAL FAMILY BIOGRAPHY

Following the demise of The Elements in Dec 1982, guitarist Stan, bassist Trotwood, sax/key player Karl Heinz & drummer Steve Crane recruited Elements backing vocalist Anne Marie Hurst and became Skeletal Family.

Debut single 'Trees' on the Luggage record label, sold well at gigs and after handing a disc to DJ John Peel he played the single numerous times on his Radio One program.

1984 saw the band sign to York label Red Rhino, record their first John Peel session and release debut Red Rhino single 'The Night'" which entered UK Indie chart at number 41.

Martin Henderson replaced Daniels on drums & the next singles 'She Cries Alone' and 'So Sure' fared much better, reaching number 8 and 2 respectively in the indie chart. A further Peel session was broadcast along with a session on the early evening Kid Jensen show.

Autumn of 1984 saw the release of the bands debut album 'Burning Oil', which topped the independent album chart. The band also toured extensively with fellow Leeds icons The Sisters of Mercy, who were promoting their debut album First And Last And Always on their Black October Tour, 23 dates, commencing in Edinburgh October 4th & culminated at Aylesbury November 2nd 1984.

1985 saw Red Rhino release the single 'Promised Land' and the album 'Futile Combat' both high entries in the indiechart with the band recording their first session for Janice Long.

Inexplicably, with major publishing / record company interest, Anne Marie left the band 1985 to pursue other projects / career moves..

Vocalist Katrina Phillips, who had recorded the single 'Thinking Of You' with Specials lead singer Terry Hall for his band The Colourfield, having a TOTP appearance under her belt, replaced Anne Marie & alongside drummer Kevin Hunter signed a major deal with Chrysalis Records..

With Katrina, they recorded 2 sessions for Janice Long's BBC Radio One show & 2 singles for Chrysalis enjoying chart success with singles 'Restless' & 'Just A Minute'

Although a big draw on the UK/European gig circuit but disillusioned by the relative failure of the Chrysalis deal the band split-up in 1987.

The new millennium saw their old recordings resurfacing on Goth Rock compilations. Cherry Red records also re-released 'Burning Oil' on CD

In 2002, with renewed interest in the band, Skeletal Family reformed with new vocalist Claire Bannister. releasing two CD albums "Sakura" & "Songs Of Love Hope & Despair"

Following Claire's departure in 2009, on the release date of the album "Songs Of Love Hope & Despair", Skeletal Family reunited with vocalist Anne Marie for an eight year period, releasing one album "Day Of All Days" in 2011.

In 2018, following a successful month long USA / Canada nationwide tour, Anne Marie again left Skeletal Family to form the band "Killing Eve"

Undeterred, the remaining members Roger Nowell, Stan Greenwood reunited with founder keyboard / sax player Karl Heinz and with long time band drummer Adrian Ozadzenko continued work on their next album with replacement vocalist Hannah Jessica Smalls.

This line up of the band played well received UK and Irish gigs until the Covid outbreak of 2020 curtailed future dates.

Hannah unexpectedly left the band midway during the outbreak. With work half way through recording sessions, Anneka took over vocal duties and in Autumn 2021 work was completed on the outstanding tracks at Paul Weller's Back Barn Studio, Ripley.

The sixth Skeletal Family album Light From The Dark was released to critical acclaim in April 2023.