The ex-Streetbanders added Dave Lathwell on guitar and Baz Watts on drums. and all hailed from the
North London and
Hertfordshire area. Organist Ian Kewley lived in
Essex. Q-Tips' name derived from a well-known brand of
cotton swab. Q-Tips' first rehearsals took place in November 1979. Their first concert was on 18 November 1979 at the Queens Arms Hotel in
Harrow. This was followed by another at the Horn of Plenty in
St Albans – a regular gig for Streetband during 1978 – and a total of 16 in their first month of existence. Some personnel changes occurred during the first six months, with Blanchard and Lathwell leaving the band. By 1 April 1980, the band had recorded two tracks, "SYSLJFM (The Letter Song)", and "Having a Party", The professionalism of the band had attracted the attention of several record labels, with
Mickie Most (
RAK Records) confirming on
BBC Radio 1's
Round Table programme that Q-Tips "...are easily the best live band working at the moment". In August 1980, the British music magazine
NME reported that Q-Tips had released their debut, self-titled album. on guitar, and Blandamer was replaced by Nick Payne. This line-up remained for the rest of the band's career. They appeared on
BBC Television's
In Concert,
Rock Goes to College and
The Old Grey Whistle Test in the latter part of 1981. Other television appearance included Saturday morning TV. Q-Tips opened for
The J. Geils Band,
The Knack,
Thin Lizzy,
Bob Marley and the
Average White Band. The band toured with
After the Fire, and supported
The Who on their 12-date UK tour in 1981. In 1981, Q-Tips played the
Montreux Jazz Festival. With poor record sales after the release of two albums and seven singles, the Q-Tips broke up in early 1982 when
Paul Young signed a solo
recording contract with
CBS Records, retaining Kewley as keyboardist and co-writer. In late 1982 and early 1983, Farr, Hughes, Blandamer and Watts toured with
Adam Ant on the UK and
US legs of his
Friend or Foe tour, and Farr, Hughes and Watts remained for Ant's 1984
Strip tour. Young briefly teamed up again with Q-Tips for a reunion tour in 1993. ==Discography==