the band front  disco  band  audio  | does a blog have buddha nature?  photos and commentary where are they now? edmund's comments your emails vicky's photos and scans links
some of the emails you have sent :   allan says : "i won the 'wonderful excuse' cd single from ebay and it got me thinking about tfc and whatever happened to them. i saw them live a couple of times in derby around 1989 / 90 and really liked them at the time. i don't know what happened after that really; i no longer seem to have any of their records (only this cd single) and i seem to have all on to try to get anything by them now. i'm trying to list all bands / gigs that have happened in derby over the years on my website, so anyone who went to or can remember the tfc derby gigs then please get in touch! the list so far is here."   martin says : "download some ride mp3s this morning and got rather nostalgic....so i spent all lunchtime trying to remember the names of various groups who i saw live in sheffield between 88 and 91 during my undergrad days. i spent the longest trying to remember which group had the wild looking red cat for their logo...i ended up looking at the nme records of the year lists for that period to revive my memory..it was like scary! anyway, enjoyed your site and hearing final mistake sent a shiver down my spine! i remember rushing down to the local indie record shop when it was released on crackling vinyl!"   chris says : "i still listen to them magic happens is still one of my fave albums. they were great."   neil says : "i thought i'd tell you about my family cat memories i'm a bit sketchy on the dates but some of you that were there might remember them. i saw the family cat when they first played swansea university the stand out point for me at that gig apart from the awesome sound and songs and the fact that we got lost and ended up sitting in on their sound check, was when the lights tripped out and they had to play under the strip lighting so bass player john put his bass through the afore mentioned lighting causing glass to rain down on the security , who then got really annoyed and a slanging match ensued between them and the band. i saw them next at port talbot's wall street with them finishing the set with emf's unbelievable lovely! the last time i saw them was at swansea uni again this time i was lucky enough to play guitar in the support band friction so i got to meet them and quiz them about their rock 'n roll lifestyle , what a nice bunch of blokes they seemed to like us as well . so my last memory of the band is having a slash next to fred in the toilets below the venue. i then joined the sarah records band the sweetest ache for their second album before forming my own band the trams, but supporting the family cat, a band i was into, still remains my favourite live memory (allot better than supporting ludicrous lollipops a few months later and the nail in the coffin of friction)."   rahne says : "came across yr site by luck, and i thought i'd died and gone to heaven! what a joy to hear the band again after so long ... i've been aching to hear 'with a war' for a long time but now i get to hear 'place with a name' instead, which is sooo much better! thanks for the site and the music."   youngster says : "it's showtime you slags!!!! this was by battle cry to the band 2 minutes before they went on stage every night (i had to give kev 2 minutes warning because he always needed a piss!!) i tour managed tfc from around summer 1991-february ish 1994 and they blew me away every single night!! i have many fantastic memories from that period. trying to get jelbert out of bed on a daily basis, late night bagels at mr bagel's bakery with tim after post-gig drive backs to london after dropping the rest of the band off home all over town (dedicated would never shell out for hotels!!), trying to get the t-shirt money to add up because matty matt had got bladdered before the end of the show, the passing of bag's (sound engineer) "duchess of york" around the bus, paying promoters 30 quid for an "extra" case of red stripe because the band had polished off the rider within 5 minutes of coming off stage, the list goes on and on!! there were many memorable gigs and tours - supporting ride in scandinavia and germany in autumn 1992 (the band's one and only european tour, bar odd dates in paris, amsterdam and belgium), and the classic carter usm support tour in december 1992 - but the one on the boat in plymouth was the best. i thought it was going to sink because it was rockin' so much!!!1 i kept a lot of memorabilia from those days (tour itineraries, backstage passes, photos etc) and often get them out to remind me of a fantastic time in my life when anything seemed possible. most people have had discussions in pubs about what they'd do if they won the lottery - personally, i'd make the 5 of them an offer they couldn't refuse to re-form for just one night, just so that i could utter those immortal words once more - "it's showtime you slags!!!!!!" and finally - boys (and that includes frase, matty, mitch, bag, trudi, and all the other lunatics that were ever involved with tfc) - if you're reading this - youngster would love to hear from you again!!!"   dave says : "re: shock and awe tasteless subject header, yes. but it pretty neatly sums up my reaction to finding the wonderful family cat site - made all the better from contributions from the band members themselves. the question all cat lovers want answered, of course, is whether or not there's any chance of a one-off live reunion. has the possibility ever been discussed, do you know? anyway, thanks for providing a warm and welcome rush of nostalgia."   martin says : "found the site today. i was motivated to dig out magic happens today after seeing steve jelberts name in xray mag and wondered if they were the same. wonderful excuse - greatest start to an album/single of all time. i think the nme review at the time was spot on in that 'it rocked like a bastard'. based in cornwall in the early 90's i got to see them a few times, supporting carter at st austell, bristol fleece and best of all at a pub (shirehorse?) at the back of st ives with some of the band's parents looking bemused at the back of the room!. like many others i still get reminded of the band by the fcuk logos in the high street. should have got copyright! i think my girlfriend (now wife) has still got her t shirt somewhere! keep up the good work"   phil says : "i thought that ed's band site was the first & last family site but i am really pleased to see your efforts. i am one of the (chosen) few who apprecaite the cat for what they were. i really think that they were true pioneers in british rock, and that the guitar led 90's owed a hell of lot to the boys from cornwall / yeovil etc. i have every record / cd released plus flexis and some bootlegs. i have recently obtained a cd version of tell 'em via some bloke in seattle for $5! i wish i hadn't, the memory was truly dashed by those terrible production values, rick buckler hang your head in shame. what can't be taken away is my memories of the live sets, groove is in the heart at bristol poly is still my all time live highlight. it's good to read steve jelbert's contributions to the independent, does he write with a permanent fag as he used to play? my favourite track? - kolumbus"   julian says : "finally, i've found a family cat website & its excellent. having found it last week, i have spent the whole week listening every single track i own by tfc - i spent many hours transfering my cd & vynl collection onto 2 cd's a few years ago. what can i say, only that they were my favorite band for years and they still bring the same pleasure when cranking up the volume even now. as for the t-shirts, i still have 2 left and are the only band t's i wear these days (as i aproach 36 later this year, i wonder how much longer!). anyway, thanks for the excellent website. "   mike says : "fantastic site... the web has been missing this for a long time. i was a the family cat nut... from the first time i failed to get into a re-arranged gig at the joiners in southampton, through nearly another 30 gigs. pure genius... hearing the band hone the contents of 'furthest from the sun' over several years on the road was something i'll never forget. mad gigs... dancing onstage with other nutters to their encore murdering of groove is in the heart at the ulu. handing out cans of beer to the audience from the band at a stupid late running gig in chesterfield, the pure joy when a pre-release (terrible quality) copy of furthest passed through my posession. keep up the good work... "   paul says : "just got say well done for doing what needed to be done and creating fc website. i must say i thought i was pretty much alone in still mourning the loss of such a fine band and it so good to know there's loads more of you out there. i still remember seeing them at glasto and on tour with carter. but my favourite was in a cramped little venue in plymouth - the crowd loved 'em and i staggered home with my ears ringing, a fc cap on my head and great smile on my face. but on a different matter i wondered if you know what has happened to pure grain? i've visited the web site, downloaded the new tunes, waited in anticipation of a new release and then nothing. now the web site doesn't appear to exist. any info you may be able to give me would be gratefully received as from tunes i've heard so far it would be too much of a shame to think they would just disappear." paul also sent some pure grain mp3s. cheers paul.   pb says : "listened to 'magic happens' on the drive to work yesterday and still love it. decided to look them up on the net and find out what happened to them. i remember seeing family cat at the old trout in windsor way back when, due to the small-sized venue it holds the title of 'loudest f***in gig ive ever been to' ! shame fc did not get more recognition like another favourite of mine, the icicle works."   steve says : "just surfed on in after i started whistling a family cat tune on the train on the way home (for no reason!)... river of diamonds i think. so, i eventually found thefamilycat.com website. i was a massive family cat fan and have probably everything theyve ever done within reasonable possibility on 7", 12", a few promo and cd (i.e. no demo tapes), from the top of my head i can remember memorable items that i have including the tom verlaine promo, the flexi and the cud single. the website i found useful and its brought back lots of memories. i first saw the family cat in the now demolished pub the (toby) jug in doncaster in 1990 (mustve been there with that bloke graeme who is in your comments page) and then many times around the country including memorably a gig in stoke-on- trent in the wheatsheaf where they did a cover version of unbelievable by emf :) saw them at least 3 or 4 times on every tour and i always used to talk to the guys whenever they did a gig and bumped into them a few times at festivals just wandering around... good to see that tfc havent been totally forgotten cos they deserve more than that. the site looks great and its great that there are mp3s to download cos all my stuff is in the uk. so thanks to whoever you are! you've done em justice. keep it up!"   marc says : "fantastic web site, good to see others know of this band. i was begining to think i was the only one."   pete says : "strangely enough i went into hmv yesterday and asked for a family cat cd only to be told to my horror that none exist. as we speak i am transferring loads of 12 inches and the good album (furthest from the sun) (tell 'em were surfing was shamefully produced don't you think?) onto mini-disk and then it'll go onto a cd.. soon, in the meantime i'm making do with a tape. my band the southampton automatics use 'wonderful excuse' as our getting on stage and putting on our guitars music, being southamptoners we all relate to 'steamroller'. furthermore i was in a band called trip at the same time the family cat were around and our singer cave used to share a house with fred in london. it was the wonderful excuse ep (picked up in a second hand shop) that rekindled my belief that the family cat do indeed make my life wonderful.. luckily i left my fcuk t-shirt at home years ago and it was unearthed recently and not slung out.. like so many of my other stuff.. it must have had an unslingable quality. good luck with your mission."   kev says : "we spent the whole of our life disowning fucking 'surfin' and you put it up for download, what about more 'furthest' and 'magic happens' instead of surfin stuff. re: fcuk, yes they owe us millions and perhaps you could start some sort of campaign."   graeme says : "you've just made an old man very happy!! i've been a family cat fan for years despite being surrounded by less enlighted individuals who pour scorn on on the fcuk boys. ive been surfin the net for a while looking aimlessly for anything about the band ...so thanks again. actually got to see the band in a baroom in doncaster me and about 20 others!!! shortly after they had been made famous by john peel! as a footnote i remember seeing them on a tv programme playing 'springing the atom' but not even the addition of a large cello could bring fame !! not to worry que sera sera. thanks again."   neil says : "just stumbled over your site, excellent, they were definitely one of my favourite bands. their songs still creep into the venue in my mind where i happily sing along. always thought they missed a chance not copyrighting the fcuk logo."   eddie says : "i just stumbled across your site and its made my day. i watched them a few times in manchester when i was about 17 or 18. i still have "tell 'em we're sufing" and a few other of their records but they're at my mums house as i don't have a record player anymore. i never really got into their stuff after that album but kept buying it in case they ever got it back. i even remember a 7" - jesus christ, utter crap. they were my favourite band that never made it, i could never understand why, but it was good that they always played small venues (although the band probably wouldn't have seen it that way). i watched them at mcr uni 3 or 4 times. i just d/loaded final mistake and it sounds brilliant, i remember taken by surprise and a couple of others on there were - albert hoffmans bike and another that i can't remember the name of, but i'm humming it - sandbag your heart. didn't they used to do a version of cud's strange kinda love at the end of their set, or am i getting them mixed up with someone else. brilliant site, keep it up."   vicky says : "just found your website and just had to drop you a line. my how it takes me back. i have got to say i used to be a bit of a family cat nut. i have just ordered a second hand copy of "furthest..." after my 10 year old vinyl copy has finally given up the ghost. the end of an era, i'm sure you'll agree. i still think of the band whenever i see that french connection gimmick thing?" << vicky also sent a load of photographs, you can see them here   dave says : "well done son!!!! i remember the cat! saw them at least 8 times! wonderfull band! and ive still got the sweatshirt!!! i went to alexander palace to see the stranglers, was an all dayer, first band on was the family cat ,,,, blew me away!!! they were the best band on that day! better than that petrol emotion , better than the god fathers, and better than the stranglers,, after that i was hooked!!!!!!"   phil says : "nice work! i've been looking for a decent family cat site for ages."   paul says : "cheers. you've made my day. every now and then i flick through the old vinyl collection and tonight i pulled out the 12inch of steamroller quickly following by tell em we're surfin. saw them quite a bit. even hitched up from coventry poly to a a gig at manchester (academy i think i was). mental gig. i remember the bass player looking down into the mosh pit in complete dis-belief, shaking his head and saying 'f**king hell' to himself."