Shack was formed from the ashes of
the Pale Fountains, cult favorites led by Liverpudlian singer/songwriter
Michael Head. Chris McCaffrey,
the Fountains' bassist and
Head's best friend, died from a brain tumor in 1986 and
Head began experimenting with drugs, including heroin, which was especially prevalent in his neighborhood. Despite his drug problems, he formed a new group with his brother
John,
the L-Shaped Room. The brothers later changed the band's name to
Shack and released the debut album Zilch in 1988, with friend and roommate
Ian Broudie as their producer. Though the album's sales were poor,
Shack persevered, recording a new album, Waterpistol, in 1989. However, a fire destroyed the studio and all of the group's tapes, save one copy that the producer had kept; this copy was lost on a road trip in America. The tape was found a year later by the car rental agency the producer had used, and the album was released soon after by the German label Marina. Waterpistol received strong reviews, but the band had disintegrated by then and the
Head brothers went on to back one of their musical heroes, ex-
Love singer
Arthur Lee, while bass player
Pete Wilkinson joined
Cast. The
Head brothers kept working on new music together however and with the support of French promoter Stephane Bismuth, they recorded an album in 1993 under the name
Michael Head & the Strands titled
The Magical World of the Strands. Though it was a critical success when finally released in 1997, it didn't catch on with the masses.
Michael's heroin addiction continued and his creative output slowed until the late '90s, when
Shack began work on their third album,
H.M.S. Fable. Though it was delayed several times by
Michael's stays in detox, the album was released in the U.K. in the spring of 1999 to critical raves, and a U.S. release followed in the fall. The follow-up album,
Here's Tom with the Weather, arrived in 2003, and the
Head brothers, along with drummer Iain Templeton and bassist
Pete Wilkinson, appeared on
Shack's 2006 album,
On the Corner of Miles and Gil, released by
Noel Gallagher's Sour Mash label. ~ Heather Phares