The Yachts
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The Yachts were a British power pop band, best remembered for their 1977 single "Suffice To Say".
The group was formed by art students in Liverpool in April 1977 out of an earlier band, known variously as "Albert Dock" or "Albert and the Cod Warriors", who had supported the Sex Pistols on one of their infamous early gigs the previous year [1]. The members of Yachts were :-
- Henry Priestman (vocals, keyboards)
- Martin Dempsey (bass, vocals) (later replaced by first Ray Cooper, then Glyn Havard and finally Mick Shiner)
- Martin Watson (guitar, vocals)
- Bob Bellis (drums, vocals)
- John (J.J.) Campbell (vocals)
They played their first show at Eric's in Liverpool, supporting Elvis Costello. This led to a contract with Stiff Records, where they released one single, the accomplished and witty "Suffice To Say", written by Priestman and Campbell and produced by Will Birch[2]. They also released a novelty single, "Do The Chud", as the Chuddy Nuddies.
With label mates Costello and Nick Lowe, they then joined the newly formed Radar label, and recorded their debut LP in New York with producer Richard Gottehrer. They toured in the USA and Europe with Joe Jackson and The Who, and released a second album with producer Martin Rushent. Both albums were released by Polydor in the USA.
Campbell left the group in 1978, and Dempsey left the following year. Dempsey became a member of Pink Military and It's Immaterial; and Campbell also joined It's Immaterial. The band finally split up in 1981. Priestman then went on to join It's Immaterial, Wah! and, most notably, The Christians, more recently working as a producer with Mark Owen and Melanie C.
