Spratleys Japs - Fanny

Artist: Spratleys Japs
Song: "Fanny"
Album: Pony (1998)

Spratleys Japs was a British psychedelic rock band formed by Cardiacs leader Tim Smith and Joanne Spratley. The band is known to have been inspired by the sound of a malfunctioning Mellotron loaned to Tim Smith by Planet Mellotron coordinator Andy Thompson. The Mellotron is used extensively on the Spratleys Japs recordings. (It has since been repaired).

The story behind the band:
(c/o http://www.planetmellotron.com/revs9....)
"The story: summer 1998, and Tim Smith from the rather wonderful Cardiacs asks me if he can borrow my Mellotron. It had just been on loan to ex-Cardiacs keyboardist Bill Drake, and had started showing signs of incipient breakdown, but I drove it down to Tim's studio anyway. Within days it started playing up very badly indeed, eventually needing a complete motor board upgrade, but Tim loved the inherent wobbliness of the sound, and while playing around with it became inspired to write an album's worth of new material. The end result was Pony, featuring Tim's girlfriend Joanne Spratley and various other luminaries of Tim's acquaintance."

The band:
Tim Smith (bass guitar, vocals, Mellotron)
Joanne Spratley (vocals, flugelhorn, Theremin)
Heidi Murphy (electronics devices and synthesisers)Mark Donovan (guitar)
Viv Sherriff (drums)