Dementia (1983-85)

This punk act originated in late 1983 when Jimmy McVeigh (vocals, former Reiner Chaos) and Tudor (guitar, vocals, former Public Disgrace, later Gone to Earth, Mr. Toad & the Naught Majorcans, Suicide Stars) − both from Das Reiner − were joined by Pete Hurst (drums, former Dance Ritual, Green Cube, Patterns, later Mr. Toad & the Naught Majorcans) and Mike Poole (bass, later Suicide Stars).

Here is how Breakthrough Magazine described the band:

‘Whilst all four members of the band share the standard punk philosophy, they are by no means the standard band playing 1-2-3-4 Thrash, thrash, thrash. […]. In late ’83 Dementia (named after the 50’s slasher movie DEMENTIA VIII) experimented with two drummers to achieve that wonderful, full heavy drum sound made famous by Gary Glitter but they soon found that Hursty could provide the required sound on his own. As well as Gary Glitter, Dementia are influenced by the New York Dolls, and even pay homage with their own version of ‘Mystery Girls’. […] Dementia hope to be a force to be reckoned with in their own area of music − not just punk, but rock as well. In fact, punk-rock.’

‘Live Dementia provide a visual good show […] The songs are meaty and played well by all the band members.’ (March 1985)

In March 1985 the band released their first and only official record, an eponymous Mini-Lp on Skysaw.

Dementia (1985)

Side A.

- Easy Way Out - Fear - I’m Gonna

Side B.

- Written in Blood - Embarkation - Basic Feelings - Back in the States

Later the same year Skysaw released a tape (also called Dementia) containing all the tracks of the Mini-Lp plus three extra tracks. By early 1986, Dementia were no more: after having sessioned for the folk-punk act Gone to Earth in 1985, Tudor joined them for good; Poole (and later Tudor) joined Suicide Star; Hurst spent some time (again with Tudor ) in Mr. Toad & The Naughy Majorcans.

Dementia

(Major thanks to Pete Hurst himself, who made this post possible!)

(see also http://uk82.150m.com/bands/dementia.html )