Pete Wylie

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Pete Wylie (born 22 March 1958, Liverpool) is an English singer/songwriter, best known as the leader of the band variously known as Wah!, Wah! Heat, The 5,000 Names of Wah! or even The Mighty Wah!.

Active from 1979, they garnered critical acclaim for the singles "Better Scream" and "Seven Minutes to Midnight" (both as Wah! Heat), the latter being single of the week in the NME, Sounds and Melody Maker, and the album Nah Poo! The Art of Bluff (as Wah!). Their biggest hit single was "The Story of the Blues", which was released in late 1982, and ultimately reached Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The Mighty Wah! also had a Top 20 hit with the song "Come Back" in 1984. Both tracks were chosen by the late BBC Radio 1 Radio DJ John Peel, as his 'single of the year'. The album, A word to the Wise Guy was critically acclaimed but sold poorly and the band were dropped by WEA.

By 1986, having ditched his backing ensemble, Pete Wylie had a solo hit with "Sinful!", ostensibly produced by Ian Ritchie, but with major input from Zeus B. Held. "Sinful" became the title track of his 1987 solo album, which included the enigmatically titled "FourElevenFortyFour".

In 1990 a single called “Imperfect List” was released under the name of “Big Hard Excellent Fish”. The spoken-word track is a list of 64 least favourite people and things read by Josie Jones. The list was written by Wylie and the track was recorded by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, although Wylie is not credited on the record. The list ranges from 'Adolf Hitler' to 'lost keys'. In 2004 “Imperfect List” was used by Morrissey at shows prior to his appearance on stage. The track appears on Morrissey’s video of live performance “Who put the M in Manchester?”.

Creative cracks had begun to appear by 1991, when the collaboration with The Farm on "Sinful! (Scary Jiggin' With Dr Love)" did little for either of the rival camps.

Previous to the various incarnations of Wah!, Wylie formed the band The Crucial Three with Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope who also went on to further fame with Echo and the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes respectively.

On 11 November 1991, Wylie suffered a near fatal fall when a railing gave way in Upper Parliament Street, Liverpool. He fractured both his spine and his sternum.

On 13 January 1999, Wylie appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and pleaded guilty to "causing fear of violence" to Michelle Bass, his ex-girlfriend, and John Mitton, her new partner, through unsolicited telephone calls. He was subsequently sentenced to perform community service.

Wylie's "Heart As Big As Liverpool" (1998) is popular within the city and especially with Liverpool Football Club supporters. It is used in the official Hillsborough tribute video and features on Songs of Strength & Heartbreak, a 2000 album credited to The Mighty Wah!

The year 2000 also heralded a compilation album entitled The Handy Wah! Whole.

Wylie then joined Dead Men Walking, featuring Mike Peters of The Alarm, Kirk Brandon of Spear of Destiny and Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. They toured extensively, performing old songs as well as new, including Wylie's "Your Mother Must Be Very Proud." However, Wylie left the band in acrimonious circumstances in 2003.

A triumphant London gig with a newly formed Mighty Wah! promised much, but once again Wylie stalled as he was gathering momentum.

Following an invitation from Alejandro Escovedo, Wylie performed (to great acclaim) at the 2006 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

Wylie's latest project is a twin album release with the working titles Pete Sounds and SLiME, both puns on mid-60s Beach Boys projects. Although he has sold demos of some of the new songs at gigs in 2004, he remains without a recording contract.