The band was formed in mid-1989 by singer Liam Maher along with lifelong friend, Darren 'Des' Penney. Des would co-write lyrics and manage the band. The original line up included the late John O'brien on drums, Joe Maher, Liam's younger brother, on guitar and bass player Andrew Jackson. Simon Gannon would guest on keyboard and this line up would play the first two gigs. After a few changes in personnel, the settled line-up included keyboardist Tim Dorney and drummer John Tuvey, with dancer Barry Mooncult adding to their live shows. "Take It" had lyrics from
Joe Strummer. The group appeared on the covers of both
Melody Maker and
NME before releasing the album. followed in November 2012 by Joe Maher. Heavenly Records released a limited vinyl run of "Weekender" in 2021 to coincide with the release of their book
Believe in Magic celebrating the label's 30th anniversary. The much lauded and critically acclaimed film accompaniment to the song "Weekender" that stars Lee Whitlock and Anna Haigh was given a fresh sonic and visual update by director Wiz in 2019 with the intention to re-release it on DVD for the first time.
COVID and lockdown enabled production of a celebration of the song and film with the documentary
I Am Weekender featuring
Lynne Ramsay,
Irvine Welsh,
Jeremy Deller and many more talking about its influence and cultural significance. Directed and edited by Chloe Raunet, the documentary, film and many extras were released in June 2023 by the BFI in partnership with Heavenly Films. Screenings followed in Glasgow, London, Glastonbury, Belfast and New York. Also in 2023,
A Life with Brian was remastered. ==Discography==