Last updated: 18 November 2008
Budgie have been covered by Metallica and are one of Wales' greatest rock bands.
After the third album, Never Turn Your Back On A Friend, drummer Ray Phillips left and was replaced in 1973 by Pete Boot. Curiously, Ray later formed a band called Six Ton Budgie.
Members
- Burke Shelley: vocals, bass
- Brian Goddard: guitar, vocals
- Tony Bourge: guitar (1967-1978)
- Rob Kendrick: guitar, vocals (1978-1979)
- John Thomas: guitar (1979-1988)
- Myf Isaac: guitar (1976-1978)
- Ray Phillips: drums
- Pete Boot: drums (1973-1974)
- Steve Williams: drums (1974-1986)
- Jim Simpson: drums (1986-1988)
Boot was only in the band for one album, 1974's In For The Kill, and was replaced that year by Steve WIlliams. Then, in 1976, Budgie signed to A&M and released two further albums.
As the 70s wore on, with the rise of disco and then punk, their muse and their success seemed to wane. But come the end of the Seventies, leather, denim and long hair were back as a musical force with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Alongside Iron Maiden, Saxon and their ilk, Budgie were newly regarded as an influence, and they headlined the Reading Festival in 1980 and 1982.
Around the same time, Van Halen were covering In For The Kill. More albums followed during the course of this renaissance, but as in earlier in their career, they didn't really reach much further than their admittedly loyal fanbase.
Budgie split in the mid-80s as rock once more returned underground. Bourge and Phillips reunited in the very short-lived Tredegar. But quietly, their influence was remaining steady. Metallica covered Breadfan and Crash Course In Brain Surgery, Iron Maiden did I Can't See My Feelings and Soundgarden recorded Homicidal Suicidal.
A couple of best-ofs seemed to wrap up their career, and in 2001 they played the Legends Of Welsh Rock gig at Cardiff's International Arena. Shelley's son Nat has carried on his father's musical skills with his band Transposer, which later became The Kabuki Mono.
In 2006, the band reformed and released an album called You're All Living In Cuckooland, on Noteworthy Productions, and they performed live once more.
