Eat At The Forgotten Bandplanet - Homepage
Discography
Gallery

Biography

(1989-93)
Members
Ange Doolittle - Vocals
Paul Nobel - Guitar (1989 -1991)
Max Nobel - Guitar (1989 -1991)
Tim Sewell - Bass
Pete Howard - Drums
Jem Moorshead - Guitar (1991 - 1993)
Maz Lavilla - Guitar (1991 - 1993)

Eat, a London band led by singer Ange Dolittle, started
out as a band devoted to the sound of Louisiana
(Creedence Clearwater Revival, voodoobilly, blues, and
so forth). The sprightly cauldron of the album Sell Me
A God (Fiction, 1989) was fascinating but a little
confusing. Due to Dolittle's addiction, Eat disbanded
and took a while to reform. The singles Golden Egg,
Bleed Me White and Shame announced the new sound of
Epicure (Fiction, 1993), a far more melodic and
structured affair that relies on pop and folk-rock more
than it does on garage verve. Both albums are
intriguing, yet disappointing.
(http://www.scaruffi.com/vol6/eat.html)


Lauded in Britain but virtually unknown in the States,
this Bath-born/London-formed quintet's first LP is a
most impressive debut. Merging elements as diverse as
the Doors, Gang of Four and Big Audio Dynamite, Eat
created an instantly familiar record that ultimately
sounds like no one else. From the spaghetti western
blues crunch of "Tombstone" and "Walking Man" to the
swampy rap of "Stories" and "Things I Need," Eat
marries hip-hop technology to an ersatz bayou-bred
instinct. Lyrically, Sell Me a God conjures up seamy
abstract imagery in the tradition of scuzz-poet Jim
Morrison; what may read as pretentious drivel on paper
sounds just right. (The CD adds two sweaty funk tracks
and a strong, hard take on the Lovin' Spoonful's
"Summer in the City.")

But misfortune frowned upon Eat, and the group
collapsed in 1990, the twin victim of lineup defections
and singer Ange Dolittle's debilitating heroin habit.
Three years later, a recharged Dolittle re-emerged-with
the same rhythm section (drummer Pete Howard and
bassist Tim Sewell), two new guitarists (Jem Moorshead,
Max Lavilla) and the remarkably assured Epicure.
Replacing Sell Me a God's bayou atmospherics with a
dozen glossy, vaguely psychedelic pop gems, this is one
of the decade's greatest rock albums that no one's
heard. An obvious bid for commercial superstardom, the
disc abounds in oblique yet lyrical references to
Dolittle's addiction ("Tranquilliser," "Golden Egg,"
"Fecund") set to churning anthems with soaring
choruses. A meaner R.E.M.? More like an INXS that
matters.

Dolittle threw in the towel during Eat's abortive first
US tour, which found this extraordinary live act
playing to empty rooms. He soon bounced back, fronting
a band called We Know Where You Live, which consisted
of most of the Wonder Stuff, minus singer Miles Hunt.
In an incestuous development, a post-Eat Pete Howard
(who was in the Cut the Crap-era Clash) hooked up with
Hunt, Senseless Things bassist Morgan Nicholls and
(briefly) Cult guitarist Billy Duffy in Vent, playing
steely yet anonymous Therapy?-style hard pop.
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry_90s.php?a=eat


Based in King's Cross, London, Eat first formed in
1986, though their roots were in the picturesque
location of Bath, Avon, rather than the squats of the
capital. With music described as "Louisiana swamp
mindfuck blues", they signed to Fiction Records,
initially on a one-off contract for the Autogift EP.
The band, comprising brothers Paul and Max Nobel
(guitar), Ange Dolittle (vocals), Tim Sewell (bass) and
Pete Howard (drums), soon ingratiated themselves with
their north London following by playing frequently at
the underground Mutoid Waste events, while both Paul
Nobel and Sewell could be found DJing at warehouse
parties during the rise of acid house. There was always
an endearing quality to the band; at a gig at London's
Borderline club in its opening week they handed cash
out to the audience after deciding the entrance fee was
"a rip off". Disc jockey John Peel regularly played one
track from the debut, "Skin", leading to a full
five-album contract with Fiction Records and a second
EP, The Plastic Bag Tour. Pinned around the anti-yuppie
anthem "Babyboom", it further revealed the depth of the
band, with Dolittle's vocals distinctively cast through
a Bullit harmonica microphone. Always a somewhat
fractious band, after their debut album there was a
split between the Nobel brothers and the rest of Eat in
November 1990 (the second album was consequently
delayed). As Dolittle pointed out: "It got to the point
where we just couldn't bear to be in the same room as
each other'. Paul and Max Nobel went on to form TV Eye.
In 1991 the band were re-formed with Dolittle joined by
former members Sewell and Howard, plus guitarists Jem
Moorshead and Maz Lavilla. The cover of 1992's Gold Egg
EP showed Dolittle naked with his genitals airbrushed
out, causing complaints from various councils who vowed
not to put up the posters. The singer also exposed
himself on stage with the Wonder Stuff, a band rarely
outdone in onstage excess. However, despite generally
positive reviews for 1993"s Epicure, much of the
momentum earned on tours with the aforementioned band
and James had evidently elapsed. In 1995 Dolittle
joined with former members of the Wonder Stuff to
become Weknowhereyoulive.


Encyclopedia of Popular Music

Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 2002

Off to London after work to see "Big Yoga Muffin" play.
This is Ange Doolittle's new band. After having
previously fronted Eat and WeKnowWhereYouLive, this is
the first time I've seen him live. Apart from thinking
how much I'd like his hair, the show was fantastic, and
I'm definitly going to be on the lookout for their new
single.


London-based Gang Of Four/B.A.D.-like band who came
originally from Bath. Line-up: Ange Doolittle (vocals),
Paul Noble (guitar), Max Noble (guitar), Tim Sewell
(bass), and Pete Howard (drums).


We toured with them in late 1990 at the time of their `Psycho Couch' EP
and second album that never was. They split shortly after the last date of
their autumn tour (a triumphant sell out gig at the Astoria in London,
26/10/90) unable to resolve the soured relationships within the band. Paul
and Max Noble quit, taking Paul's songwriting
skills with them (he had penned the lyrics and arranged much of the `Sell Me
A God' album)

   Paul Noble formed U.V Ray at the start of 1991 with singer Paul O'Neill
who also wrote with Terry Bickers (lyrics for `Against Nature' from
Levitation's `Need For Not' LP), while brother Max Noble played with arch
anarchist combo We Are Pleb as well as guesting with his brother's UV Ray.
Both Noble brothers also guested with Superfine Dandelion, the loose
aggregation formed by ex Honey Smugglers singer Chris Spence following that
band's demise in August 1991. UV Ray released the `Suitcase' EP (will check
personnel details, and title, I have the EP at home) partly to escape the
clutches of former Fiction label boss Chris Parry ("not a fictional record"
Paul had the cutting engineer etch into the run out groove to prove his
point). UV Ray folded after approximately a year of slow progress at the end
of 1991. The Noble brothers then formed
"the band we should have formed straight after Eat" with Louis Jones on bass
and yours truly on Drums, initially called Bug Squad, we changed the name to
TV Eye and eventually recruited singer Paul Kaye from the aforementioned We
Are Pleb.

   TV Eye made one EP `Killer Fly' for Free Records (Go Discs in disguise)
in early 1993
and toured with Shonen Knife and Thousand Yard Stare. Various conflicting
interests and personal circumstances lead to the end of this outfit before
any real headway could be made, Paul Kaye subsequently went on to TV fame as
Dennis Pennis, while Paul and Louis
refined the band blueprint this time with more longevity as Warm Jets, who
recorded
several EP's and an album Future Signs in 1996 (I think). Never Never was
their biggest single and saw them featured on various TV promotional slots.

   Paul Noble eventually consolidated his interests in other areas of the
music business, and having been involved with Gabrielle from the outset,
eventually became her
musical arranger and band member. Louis and Ed from Warm Jets attempted to
keep the band going but ther current status is unknown. 

   Going back to the Eat split at the end of 1990, Ange Doolittle, Tim
Sewell and Pete Howard formed a Mk II version of the band with Gem Moorshead
and Max Lavilla (?) replacing the Noble brothers on guitars and attempted a
far more indie mainstream sound
than the complex swampy `squat rock' of their predeccessors. two EP's in
1992 `Golden Egg' and `Shame' were followed by an album `Epicure' but
following some headline grabbing attempts (Ange stripping off for encores
that kind of thing...) the band were eventually floored by siger Ange's
heroin addiction.

   Drummer Pete re-emerged with Vent (with Miles Hunt and a bloke from the
Senseless Things), Tim `went straight' and a rehabilitated Ange re-apeared
with WeKnowWhereYouLive. He's currently part of a duo called Big Yoga
Muffin.

PS:  We should not forget that after TV Eye folded in 1993, Max Noble
eventually relocated to Bristol where he joined the Blue Aeroplanes and played
in otherbands on the local scene. I formed an electronic outfit called Radio
Massacre International which has made approximately 20 albums to date and
played in Europe and the US, whilst remaining blissfully free of the music biz
!

Brawling, smart, and sly, Eat became one of the lesser-known treats of late-'80s U.K. rock in its first incarnation, not quite as intense as its near contemporaries the Fatima Mansions, but generally just as loud and whipcrack snarling. The quintet's full-length debut, Sell Me a God, demonstrates that much throughout its hour-long course. With Ange Dolittle's strong but not overwrought vocals up front detailing such things as the travails of "Mr. and Mrs. Smack" or the landscape of bums, drink, and boredom with scratching expensive cars in "Red Moon," the rest of the band finds someplace between early That Petrol Emotion and bluesy rampage to dwell in. To make another connection, if World Domination Enterprises was more full on and bass heavy, Eat still had the chops and groove to make its own particular mark, detailing an urban world just as chaotic and collapsing. The guitar duo of Paul and Max Noble takes definite charge, the brothers playing off each other just enough as the songs fire up and rout along, sometimes with deceptive calm but often with full speed intact. That Dolittle resists the temptation to scream hoarsely over the din, instead trusting on his natural singing gifts to carry through the mix, as on the brilliantly threatening "Walking Man," gives a sense as to the members' ear for each others' abilities. His amusing carny schtick on the surprisingly pretty "Fatman" and a turn as a preacher from hell on "Skin" shows that he can role-play with panache, letting just enough Nick Cave style in without letting it overwhelm him. Rhythm section Tim Sewell (bass) and Pete Howard (drums) hold up their own, the latter able to hit things both simple and straightforward and with extra touches -- building fills, funky percussion in the back, and more -- to keep the tempos and atmospheres constantly shifting. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Formed in the King's Cross area of London by several natives of Bath, Eat mixed hard rock, swampy blues-rock, Jim Morrison-esque poetry, and dance beats to create a singular hybrid. Eat's original lineup was fronted by vocalist/songwriter Ange Dolittle, with brothers Paul and Max Nobel on guitar and a rhythm section of Tim Sewell (bass) and Pete Howard (drums).

AFTER THE BAND
Pete Howard - The Wonder Stuff
Miles Hunt -Vent 414
Ange Dolittle
Wonder Stuff Weknowhereyoulive

Paul Nobel, Max Nobel
Paul Max,TV Eye

Malcolm Treece - Played guitar in We Know Where You
Live with former band-mates Paul Clifford and Martin
Gilks, with Ange Doolittle, former singer for Eat in
April 1995. Has been writing with Miles again following
the split of WKWYL in December 1996

AND ANOTHER BIOGRAPHY:

Based in King's Cross, London, Eat first formed in 1986, though their roots were in the picturesque location of Bath, Avon, rather than the squats of the capital. With music described as "Louisiana swamp mindfuck blues", they signed to Fiction Records, initially on a one-off contract for the Autogift EP. The band, comprising brothers Paul and Max Nobel (guitar), Ange Dolittle (vocals), Tim Sewell (bass) and Pete Howard (drums), soon ingratiated themselves with their north London following by playing frequently at the underground Mutoid Waste events, while both Paul Nobel and Sewell could be found DJing at warehouse parties during the rise of acid house. There was always an endearing quality to the band; at a gig at London's Borderline club in its opening week they handed cash out to the audience after deciding the entrance fee was "a rip off". Disc jockey John Peel regularly played one track from the debut, "Skin", leading to a full five-album contract with Fiction Records and a second EP, The Plastic Bag Tour. Pinned around the anti-yuppie anthem "Babyboom", it further revealed the depth of the band, with Dolittle's vocals distinctively cast through a Bullit harmonica microphone. Always a somewhat fractious band, after their debut album there was a split between the Nobel brothers and the rest of Eat in November 1990 (the second album was consequently delayed). As Dolittle pointed out: "It got to the point where we just couldn't bear to be in the same room as each other'. Paul and Max Nobel went on to form TV Eye. In 1991 the band were re-formed with Dolittle joined by former members Sewell and Howard, plus guitarists Jem Moorshead and Maz Lavilla. The cover of 1992's Gold Egg EP showed Dolittle naked with his genitals airbrushed out, causing complaints from various councils who vowed not to put up the posters. The singer also exposed himself on stage with the Wonder Stuff, a band rarely outdone in onstage excess. However, despite generally positive reviews for 1993"s Epicure, much of the momentum earned on tours with the aforementioned band and James had evidently elapsed. In 1995 Dolittle joined with former members of the Wonder Stuff to become Weknowhereyoulive.

Ange Doolittle has a new band, their page is at:
www.dolittlehaveleftthebuilding.com