Family Fodder | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | London |
| Genres | Post-punk, indie rock, psychedelic |
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Labels | The state51 Conspiracy, Jungle Records, Fresh Records, Parole Records, Staubgold Records, Dark Beloved Cloud, Psych.KG |
| Website | www |
Family Fodder is an English post-punk group revolving around songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer/producer, and guitarist/keyboard player Alig Fodder.[1] Formed in London in the 1970s, it has had a sporadic existence ever since, disbanding in the 1980s then reforming. NME described their song "Dinosaur Sex" as a "forgotten post-punk classic".[2]
The first Family Fodder single, "Playing Golf (With My Flesh Crawling)", a joint release between Parole Records and Fresh Records, was released in 1979. In the same year a 12" single was released on Small Wonder Records by the same musicians as Frank Sumatra And The Mob.[3]
A series of Family Fodder singles and 12" EPs followed on Fresh together with the album Monkey Banana Kitchen, often featuring French singer Dominique Levillain. The best-known singles were the indie chart entries "Debbie Harry", "Savoir Faire" and "Film Music".[4] Also released were the mini-albums Sunday Girls and Schizophrenia Party on Fresh, and later the All Styles double-LP on Jungle Records, which Trouser Press hailed as "consistently enjoyable and infused with invention, cleverness, talent and a totally open outlook"[5]
Alig Fodder continued to record and perform as Family Fodder over the years with evolving line-ups as well as under various alter-egos such as DJ Katface, Johnny Human, Vox Humana and The Lo Yo Yo.
Following the release of compilation Savoir Faire: The Best Of[6] on US label Dark Beloved Cloud, in 2000 an early Family Fodder line-up including Levillain reformed to record the album Water Shed for that label. Allmusic called it "one of the better reunion albums of the post-punk generation."[7]
In 2010 Family Fodder released Classical Music,[8] featuring the singing of Darlini, daughter of original vocalist Dominique Levillain.[9] It was followed in 2013 by Variety.
In 2014 German label Staubgold started a series of vinyl and CD reissues, the first being Family Fodder's debut album, 'Monkey Banana Kitchen', followed by 'Schizophrenia Party' and 'Sunday Girls', most featuring bonus tracks. To coincide, original members of the band reformed with a new singer Bee Ororo, and played live dates in Germany, France and Switzerland.
In 2016 an EP titled 'Sex Works' was announced by Jungle Records, followed by a 'lost' album, 'Foreverandever'.[10] In 2018 a brand new album 'Easy Listening (Not)' with new singer Mae Karthauser was issued on CD on Furniture Records. In 2020 the 'Savoir Faire - the best of' album, first issued in the USA by Dark Beloved Cloud in 1998, was reissued as a revamped and remastered vinyl 'Director's Cut' LP for Record Store Day.[11]
Family Fodder songs have been covered by Zion Train, Unrest, and YACHT, amongst others.
Family Fodder appeared with Kommissar Hjuler on several projects for the series FLUXUS +/-, on the German label Psych.KG. He has also collaborated with Psapp, and the artist David Shrigley alongside David Byrne, Hot Chip, Franz Ferdinand and others on Shrigley's album 'Worried Noodles'[12]
