Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine biography

Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (frequently shortened to Carter USM) are an English indie rock band formed in 1988 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style of power pop, fusing samples, sequenced basses and drum machines with rock 'n' roll guitars and off-beat wordplay-loaded lyrics. They reached the height of their fame in 1992. Over the following years the band took on new members, topping out as a six-piece, but struggled to regain their earlier popularity. They initially split up in 1998 after releasing seven albums.

Starting out: 1988-1990

Based in Lambeth in South London, England, Fruitbat and Jim Bob originally played in an indie band called Jamie Wednesday, which released two singles - "Vote For Love" and "We Three Kings of Orient Aren't". Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine was formed in 1988, when Fruitbat and Jim Bob were the only band members to turn up for a charity gig at the London Astoria, and went on stage to perform as a duo with backing tapes. The debut single "A Sheltered Life" was released later in 1988 on the Big Cat label, but it was not until the second single "Sheriff Fatman" in 1989 that the band began to receive recognition. The song was written about a South London slumlord and was followed by the album 101 Damnations - a critical account of life south of the River Thames, full of black humour, cynicism, wordplay and puns. The album went straight to the top of the indie charts.

The band's gigs became well known for a wall of white stage lights that threw off enormous heat and contributed to the sweaty, stage-diving crowd scenes that became part of the band's image. Such scenes are depicted in the video In Bed With Carter, filmed at the Brixton Academy.

Rough Trade: 1991

In 1991 - having signed to Rough Trade Records - Carter USM released the album 30 Something which, thanks to non-stop touring, entered the UK Albums Chart at number eight. The accompanying '30 Something' long-sleeved t-shirt became a defining image of the early 1990s indie generation. One of the singles released from the album, "Bloodsport For All", an attack on racism and bullying in the army, was released at the start of the Gulf War and consequently banned by the BBC. Spurred on by infamy, Jim Bob and Fruitbat toured Japan, Yugoslavia and the United States (with EMF) and made a second-on-the-bill appearance at the Reading Festival, where some people feel they upstaged the headline act, James. The band also made its first Top Of The Pops appearance with the single "After the Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way)", a song about child abuse that would become more famous for its subsequent legal battle with The Rolling Stones' publisher over the use of the lyrics "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" in the chorus. The band also hit the headlines when Fruitbat rugby tackled the children's TV presenter Phillip Schofield in front of millions of television viewers at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party in 1991.

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