Bad News have become beloved among musicians and metal fans, like Spinal Tap, because it’s all still really relatable to anyone involved in music – the arguments, the problems, the stupid decisions…
“There's a difference between us and Spinal Tap, though. They're playing an English band, but they're playing that very rare thing, which is some very successful people – Spinal Tap are a big, successful international band. And Americans, I don't think they could handle Bad News – people who are just crap. All the stuff in there, backstabbing each other, and being up against everything that the UK will throw at you, like the van, the motorway, the sausages, or lack of sausages, all that frustration, it's a different humour. And I think English audiences can see themselves in that more. Spinal Tap might be a fantasy about what it would be like if you were a rock star. But Bad News is more like what it's really like down here as a hopeless band. I'm sure Americans can be crap too, but they wouldn't want to make a film about it because they don't like losers, whereas we love them.”
Going back, how did Bad News come about in the first place?
“I was in a double act with Peter. He lived in a van and he had this drum kit, and I play guitar, and we had a rock theatre show, from which Neil and lots of other characters came, before The Young Ones. We were trying to be like Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels – half entertainment theatre, half rock band. We actually did some tours – we supported AC/DC at one gig, and we supported Motörhead! We played lots of characters and we had the experiences of being crap and on tour, so that was Den and Spyder accounted for.
“Adrian [Edmondson, Vim Fuego] had been trying to make it in bands all his life, and can actually play pretty well. I can actually sing – or, I could then – but the way I sing wasn't appropriate. It's better having Adrian's voice, so that’s how he became singer. As for Rik Mayall [Colin Grigson], he wasn’t a musician, he was a comedian. So we told him how to move his finger up and down one string on the bass, but that was just perfect for the character. It made him funnier.
“I can't remember whose idea it was to do it as Bad News. We were making the Comic Strip films, so we put in ideas. And the idea was, ‘Let's do a band’. One thing we found funny was, there was a recording called The Troggs Tape, you know the band who did Wild Thing? It’s them in the studio with the tape running while they argue, and it’s brilliant. It's very Bad News. Like, the drummer can’t play the song – ‘But you already did it once this evening!’ Their complete inability to make the studio work for them is hilarious.”
What I always liked about Den was that he had a certain innocence to him. Vim was the ego-frontman, Colin was a poser who was at odds with Vim, Spyder was cool but crazy…
“…And then poor old Den’s just trying to play the guitar! But musically, that's kind of how it worked live. We needed Rik being funny. Peter's drum fills are not very heavy metal, he's all over the place. And so, rhythm guitar is basically trying to keep the whole machine going. There's no fancy guitar work from me, because Peter and Rik, who should have been the rhythm section, they were just all over the place. But that's so good for the character as well. It's down to Den to actually keep the structure. He's like a workhorse.”