Q
December 1994
"WE WERE somewhere between The Beatles and The Bonzos, and didn't take ourselves that seriously," said founder member Martin Newell. The Colchester-based Cleaners From Venus released two albums, Going To England (1986} and Town & Country (1987), both on RCA Germany. Like other Beatlesy concerns, were loved in Germany, ignored in the UK: "We outsold The Smiths in Germany at one point, though we never got the money because of bad deals." Everything fell apart when Newell, on the eve of a German tour, refused to go, citing "mental ill health. I had worked in the studio for a year and never slept, so I burnt out."
Martin Newell (vocals, guitar): Gave up rock n' roll for gardening, and appeared on Sophie Grigson's Channel 4 series Eat Your Greens, Grow Your Greens. Eventually formed the "proto-crustie" Brotherhood Of Lizards with bassist Nelson: "We toured Britain by bicycle, getting paid in vegetables. I became a poet when Nelson left to join New Model Army." Has been successful in his new capacity, with exposure in The Independent and on Radio 4's Loose Ends and two books of poetry (Under Milk Float and I Hank Marvined). Released an album of "wacky pretty tunes", The Greatest Living Englishman (Humbug Records) in 1993 produced by XTC's Andy Partridge, and oversaw a Cleaners compilation, Golden Cleaners (Tangerine Records). Recently toured Japan with Captain Sensible (guitar), Nelson (bass), XTC's Dave Gregory (guitar/keyboards), and Garrie Dreadful from the Captain's band (drums).
Giles Smith (keyboards): Joined the Cleaners in 1985 only to find himself fronting all when Newell backed out of the German tour: "It was a disaster. The president of RCA walked out after three songs which I'd say was a vote of no confidence. After the band were dropped, wrote book reviews for The Independent, transferring to the arts/music pages where he still resides - 'if you can't do it, you write about it.' Is currently writing This is Pop [final title: Lost in Music], a book on the Cleaners 'on failing as a pop star'." If only . . . "I often wish I was playing Wembley. It can't be a bad life being Sting. It's not such a bad life contributing to Q from time to time either."
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[Thanks to Neil]