The band was formed over a cab office called Baron Cars in Queens Road, Peckham. The group members are from
Orpington. The band were originally fronted by Max Splodge (formerly drummer in punk bands The Tarts and The Mistakes) and his girlfriend of the time, who was known as Baby Greensleeves. The band won a
recording contract with
Deram Records after finishing runner-up in the 1979 Battle of the Bands contest, even though Deram was planning to cease all activities in the music markets outside of
classical music. The band's first release for Deram in 1980 was "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please". The song consists of a man attempting to order two pints of lager and a packet of crisps from a pub, but he is repeatedly ignored. He becomes increasingly impatient, and time is called before his request is fulfilled. The group often made humorously grandiose
press release claims, such as that their debut
album would be a
triple, including a side of "old material transcribed from their own
cassettes, coupled with their 'Pathetic Movements Manifesto', and including a free Christmas tree with every copy." Splodge got back into the
studio – having lost the rest of his band in 1980 – with help from the
Heavy Metal Kids, whose lead singer and guitarist Gary Holton was a friend of Splodge and sometime member of Splodgenessabounds. Their single "Cowpunk Medlum" (a medley of the theme song of the Western film
High Noon, a section of "
Ghost Riders in the Sky" and the TV series
Bonanza) reached No. 69 in June 1981, but after this, Deram terminated the band's
recording contract. Nevertheless, the new Splodgenessabounds (temporarily shortened to Splodge for legal reasons) released a follow-up single, "Mouth and Trousers", along with the album
In Search of the Seven Golden Gussets on the independent Razor Records. Despite the single getting good
airplay and favourable reviews (being a
ska song rather than their usual punk style), without the backing of Deram Records, it became the first Splodgenessabounds single to fail to chart. A new album,
A Nightmare on Rude Street was recorded in 1991, but sales and reviews were poor. Splodge continued the band with various line-ups also pursuing his career as an
actor and bingo caller, as well as playing with
Angelic Upstarts. In 1999, after going for a DNA blood test, Splodge discovered he was a direct descendant of
Genghis Khan. Splodge penned five songs: "Genghis Khan", "Lulluby of Mongolia", "These Are the Things That Make the Mongols So Great", "Too Mongolia" and "Mongols on the Streets of London" (written with Mat Sargent of
Sham 69). Two subsequent albums ''I Don't Know
(2000) and The Artful Splodger'' (2001) recorded and produced by
Dave Goodman, were released by
Captain Oi! Records. The albums sold well and the band did two UK and European tours, and also appeared in Canada and the United States. A live show in Brighton was released on DVD in 2005 and featured
Motörhead guitarist
Würzel who often guested with Splodge, and also a joint single with
John Otway, "No Offence – None Taken", (available for download only). In 2006, the band appeared on ''
Harry Hill's TV Burp, after being featured on Rock School'' with
Gene Simmons. Splodgenessabounds performed at the end of the show, accompanied by Hill dressed as "The Demon", Gene Simmons. In 2008, Splodge recorded a new song; "You've Been Splodged", this was released on an Oi
compilation album. In 2012, Splodge recorded a Christmas song that appeared on a punk compilation album called
Cashing in on Christmas, which was released on Black Hole Records. Splodge can still be found touring with
Bad Manners and is a regular performer at the
Rebellion Festival. Max also hosts the bingo at the festival which opens the acoustic stage each day. ==Partial discography==