Music like Shapes

The Shapes were an English punk rock group that formed in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire in 1976. Different in many ways from their peers in the nascent punk subculture, they were known for eschewing the more political stances that were fashionable at the time, instead producing works of a cartoonish and absurdist nature. They were often compared to The Rezillos because of their Gerry Anderson-themed work.

The band was formed by Seymour Bybuss (Ben Browton, vocals) and Brian Helicopter (Gareth Holder, bass guitar), who recruited Nigel Greenway (guitar), Nick Hadley (guitar), and Charlie Pullen (drums). This line-up played their debut gig at Coventry's University of Warwick supporting The Killjoys, and recorded a demo shortly after. They were offered a deal by EMI, but the record company wanted them to change their name to The Racket and mime to a pre-recorded song; This prompted Hadley to leave the band, and they carried on as The Shapes, with EMI bringing them together with songwriter Nick Brind of Joe Public, but this relationship broke down after Brind insisted on singing on the resulting tracks. Pullen was replaced by Dave Gee and the band returned to live performances and recorded more material before Greenway left the band. The remaining trio put an advert in the NME for new members, recruiting Steve Richards (lead guitar) as a result, and adding Gee's friend Tim Jee on guitar around the same time. Feeling that dealing with major record companies was a waste of time, they decided that they would record and release their material under their own independent label, Sofa Records, in order to retain control of their output.