Utterly bizarre that someone like me used to occasionally buy Smash Hits magazine, but this was back in the mid 90's when the pages would often consist of top quality bands such as Blur, Oasis and Pulp. Often I would buy Smash Hits for the free tapes, which as well as a load of appalling teenybopper shite, would also feature one or two good tracks. One particular cassette featured this track from Welsh trio 60ft Dolls, and years later I ended up rediscovering this fine tune, although I have still yet to hear any of their albums. They were formed in Newport in 1992 by Richard J. Parfitt and Michael Cole, who met through Donna Matthews (later of Elastica). Their 1996 debut album, 'The Big 3' was called "as close to soar-away rock perfection as it's possible to imagine" by the NME and "pure, unadulterated, no nonsense, emotional, tuneful, impassioned, purposeful, hedonistic rock 'n' roll" by Melody Maker. The brilliant 'Stay' reached number 48 in the singles chart.
The band toured extensively in the UK, Japan and Europe, including several summer festival appearances as well as opening for The Sex Pistols at their 1996 Finsbury Park reunion gig. But they were dogged by alcohol problems, and after an exhaustive three tours of the USA in 1997, never toured again. They released their second album, 'Joya Magica' in late 1998 and split soon after.
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