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Biography
Refimprove|date=February 2011Infobox musical artist | name = Mega City Four| image =| caption =| image_size = | background = group_or_band| birth_name =| alias =| origin = Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough , Hampshire , England| genre = Pop rock , Punk rock , Metal_music|Metal | years_active = 1987& ndash;1996| label = Primitive Decoy Big Life Fire Records|Fire | associated_acts = Doughboys (band)|Doughboys Serpico Ipanema (band)|Ipanema | website =| current_members =| past_members = Darren Brown (musician)|Wiz Danny Brown Gerry Bryant Chris Jones Mega City Four were an England|English indie music|indie / pop punk band (music)|band who were popular in the United Kingdom|UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mega City Four consisted of guitarist / singer|vocalist Darren Brown (musician)|Wiz , his brother and rhythm guitar ist/vocalist Danny Brown, bassist /vocalist Gerry Bryant and drummer Chris Jones. According to Uncut (magazine)|Uncut magazine, the group "earned a reputation across the globe as an exciting live band".cite web | date = 2006-12-08 | title = Mega City Four singer dies | url = http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/mega_city_4/news/9160| publisher = uncut.co.uk | accessdate = 2006-06-08
History
Wiz and Bryant were in a band together at school called 'Stallion', who performed two shows together (one at Cove Secondary School, where "Stallion will come for you" stickers were handed out, and the show was ended when the school cut the power) before Wiz decided he wanted to form a new band with Bryant and Danny Brown, named 'Capricorn', after the brothers' shared star sign .
Mega City Four were formed in 1987 and the band's career started with performing gigs around their local town of Farnborough, Hampshire|Farnborough before making their gramophone record|vinyl debut in September 1987 with "Miles Apart"/"Running In Darkness". The single (music)|single led to a round of concert|gigs with fellow punk rock|punk -influenced bands like Senseless Things and Snuff (band)|Snuff .
"Miles Apart" and "Running" were reissued (separately) in 1988 on the independent record label|label Decoy, along with the more melodic "Distant Relatives" and "Less Than Senseless". A healthy following latched on to them, and supported the band's 1989 debut album , Tranzophobia .
The band continued to concert tour|tour extensively around the UK, across Europe and over to North America , working with bands including Les Thugs , Ned's Atomic Dustbin , Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Doughboys (band)|Doughboys , amongst many others. The band's second studio album, Who Cares Wins (1990), was followed by a compilation album of their early 7" singles, called Terribly Sorry Bob (1991). The band subsequently moved to a major record label to sound recording and reproduction|record two further studio albums, Sebastopol Rd. (1992) (recorded by Jessica Corcoran at London's Greenhouse Recording Studios) and Magic Bullets (1993). After falling out with their record label, they moved to Fire Records to record their final studio album, Soulscraper (1996). In addition to their studio albums, the band also released a live album , a John_Peel#Peel_sessions|Peel Sessions disc, and a number of singles. The British music journalism|music journalist , Martin Roach, wrote a biography of the band, "Mega City Four: Tall Stories and Creepy Crawlies", published in 1993.
The band had been together for over a decade when they broke up in early 1996. Wiz moved to Montreal and joined Canada|Canadian alternative rock band, Doughboys (band)|Doughboys .
Wiz and Bryant continued playing together in Serpico after the demise of Mega City Four. After Serpico, Wiz went on to form Ipanema (band)|Ipanema , who were still playing and recording until late 2006.
Having just returned from a tour of the United States , Wiz collapsed at a band rehearsal. It was announced on 7 December 2006 that Wiz had died at St. George's Hospital , Tooting , South London from a thrombus|blood clot on the brain on 6 December.cite web | date = 2006-12-07 | title = Condolences for Wiz - Mega City Four | url = http://www.furtive-mts.com/wiz| publisher = furtive-mts.com | accessdate = 2006-06-07
The Forward 4 Wiz trust was set up in April 2007, in memory of Wiz’s approach to music and life.
British band Muse (band)|Muse released a cover version|cover of the Mega City Four song "Prague", as a A-side and B-side|b-side to their single "Resistance" on 22 February 2010. This was dedicated to Wiz, as Muse had been inspired by Mega City Four's music.
Discography
Albums
Tranzophobia (June 1989) ( UK Albums Chart|UK #67)
Who Cares Wins (album)|Who Cares Wins (October 1990)
Terribly Sorry Bob(album)|Terribly Sorry Bob (April 1991)
Peel Sessions (Mega City Four album)|Peel Sessions (1993)
Soulscraper (album)|Soulscraper (1996)
Singles and EPs
"Miles Apart" / "Running in Darkness" (March 1988)
"Clear Blue Sky" (November 1988)
"Less Than Senseless" (March 1989)
"Awkward Kid" (October 1989)
"Finish EP" (1989)
"There Goes My Happy Marriage EP" (1990)
"Words That Say" (September 1991) ( UK Singles Chart|UK #66)
"Stop EP" (January 1992) (UK #36)
"Stop" - Live Single (January 1992)
"Shivering Sand" (May 1992) (UK #35)
"Shivering Sand" - Live Single (May 1992)
"Iron Sky" (May 1993) (UK #48)
"Wallflower" (July 1993) (UK #69)
"Wallflower" - Live Single (July 1993)
"Skidding" (September 1995)
"Superstar" / "Chrysanth" (1995)
"Android Dreams" (February 1996)cite book
| first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 359
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.megacityfour.co.uk/ Unofficial Mega City Four website
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=user.viewprofile& friendid=59598869 myspace page for Mega City Four
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=user.viewprofile& friendid=32629211 myspace page for Wiz
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=user.viewprofile& friendid=12096956 myspace page for Ipanema
http://www.f4wt.org The Forward 4 Wiz Trust
https://www.facebook.com/groups/7354258759/ Facebook Group
Category:English indie rock groups Category:English alternative rock groups Category:Musical groups established in 1987 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1996
