Their first album,
Bad Habits, was recorded and released in 1979 after the success of "Nice Legs Shame About Her Face", which reached number 19 in the
UK Singles Chart. The song was a demo that was not intended for release. It was offered to another band who turned it down before French record label Carrere Records released it in its original form. Ford later commented in
Mojo magazine that "it was a bit of a problem when it was a hit." The album failed to produce further UK chart success, however — the British punk audience turned against the band, dismissing them as inauthentic punks, once it became widely known that they had been associated with the Strawbs. In an appearance on the television programme
Juke Box Jury,
Johnny Rotten derided the Monks as "patronising rubbish" when reviewing "I Ain't Gettin' Any" and as a poor imitation of
the Sex Pistols. with the most notable venue on the tour being a show at Toronto's
Massey Hall. Chris Parren (
keyboards) joined the band for that album, and Willoughby was replaced by
Huw Gower during the supporting tour in 1982.
Suspended Animation went
gold in Canada, while sales of
Bad Habits reached
double platinum certification in 1982. The band later recorded several tracks for a third album to be titled
Cybernetic Sister, but the album was never released. A
CD reissue of
Suspended Animation in the 1990s included six bonus tracks from the aborted recording sessions. ==Legacy==