Jamie Wednesday was a British 80's jangle-pop band that released eight songs on three records between 1985 and 1987. At first they were called The Ballpoints and then Dead Clergy and finally settled on Jamie Wednesday.

The band consisted of:

James Morrison - acoustic guitar, lead vocals

Leslie Carter - bass guitar, backing vocals

Dean Leggett - Drums and percussion

Lindsay Lowe - Trumpet

Simon Henry - Saxophone

The story is that James and Dean and Lindsay and Simon were in the studio rehearsing or recording or something and they needed a bass guitar player. Leslie was in the studio recording with another band and James saw him. James had known Leslie from before and in fact they had performed together. James asked Leslie to come and play bass for Jamie Wednesday.

They recorded and released two EPs and contributed to two compilations on the Pink Records label but they never sold well and the band remained virtually unknown. In an interesting sidenote, Jamie Wednesday are responsible for the name of the band Pop Will Eat Itself when an article about Jamie Wednesday in the NME, written by David Quantick mentioned that pop music is ever-recycling its ideas and that eventually, pop will eat itself.

Jamie Wednesday split up in 1987 just before a scheduled appearance at an opening gig. James Morrison and Leslie Carter stuck together and filled in for that gig. Thus was Carter USM born. James and Leslie became Jim Bob and Fruitbat respectively.

Dean Leggett went on to play drums for a band called Bob - a band which has played with Carter USM many times. Lindsay and Simon were a couple and Fruitbat reckons they still are. Last he heard, they were playing in a jazz band.

More, including discography...

REVEREND GUS
Gus and the Government Records

Before Carter there was a band which had all the rubbish members of Carter, and replacing their good members (the drum machine) with real, live human fools. The lyrics were as appalling, just the rythmn section were terrible. And they released one single whose title today brings a chill dread to my heart. You thought comedy titles were dead, well meet the song that killed them.

"We Three Kings Of Orient Aren't". Let us examine said title. There were not three members of Jamie Wednesday. They were not kings. They were not from either the orient (for which read the inscrutable east in the simplistic South London mindset), or from Leyton Orient - football team of the East London region served by the Waltham Forest borough. So the song stressed three things which the band blatently were not. You get the feeling maybe it came from a back of a beermat discussion in a boozer.

TANYA HEADON / I HATE MUSIC WEBLOG
FreakyTrigger.com