NINE IN A POND IS HERE

I don't intend giving a track-by-track account of this album, since the track listing appears elsewhere here. I will, however, defend the album's faults with an insight from the band's earlier days...

I bought my copy of "Nine In A Pond Is Here" from my friend and (then) IQ bassist Tim Esau which was only meant as a limited edition "fans only" album; a recording mostly of live rehearsals to show us fans the talents of new vocalist PL Menel. There's some weird mucking about going on too, but remember this was a period before IQ were picked up by Peter Mensch for his Squawk label and had to take themselves seriously! Unfortunately, although a great vocalist, Mr Menel was a much more sombre chap and didn't "get" the band's (and fans) humour - cries of "wiggle!" at the Marquee shows were met with bafflement, as I recall... :-)

But then one night, Sinitta, David Essex and the pirate ship were all ejected from the Piccadilly Theatre in London so IQ could perform a showcase set, and the rest as they say, is history...