Post Description

Ultrasound - Everything Picture

Ultrasound were a British indie band who were active in the late 1990s. Although the band"s focal point (in particular for reviewers) was their tall, obese singer/guitarist Andrew "Tiny" Wood, the main songwriter was guitarist Richard Green, with the line-up completed by drummer Andy Peace, keyboardist Matt Jones and bass player/second singer Vanessa Best.

Three-fifths of Ultrasound originally met at Wakefield College, Yorkshire, England in 1989. Andrew "Tiny" Wood (a mature student) and Richard Green (a 16-year-old classical cellist) met on the Popular and Commercial Music course, where they also befriended Andy Peace. Moving on to a music degree course in Newcastle, they encountered future bass player Vanessa Best.

Following a succession of brief-lived bands, Wood, Green and Peace teamed up with guitarist and songwriter Paul Hope, an old ally and bandmate of Wood"s who"d worked with him in a band called Step TLV. Joined by Hope"s flute-playing wife Rachel Theresa, the four put together a psychedelic rock band called Sleepy People. For the next two years the band toured around the UK playing in various small venues around the UK and gaining underground attention. Wood, Green and Peace all appear on Sleepy People"s 1994 cassette album Blunt Nails In A Sharp Wall (originally a cassette release, but reissued in 1999 on Org Records).

Wood and Green left Sleepy People in 1995, taking keyboard player Pete Haslam with them. They also reconnected with Peace (who"d left the band some time previously). Moving to London, they formed a new progressive/art-rock band called Pop-A-Cat-A-Petal, which began earning underground attention (in particular after supporting cult band Cardiacs). At this point, Green played bass (as he had in Sleepy People) and Wood doubled on guitar and harmonium as well as lead vocals. The band released a self-titled cassette EP on Org Records in 1995, but did not prosper. Tiny was later to comment "Pop-A-Cat-A-Petal had a bit too much prog-rock about it."

Vanessa Best (who"d moved to London and was singing back-up vocals in a George Michael tribute band[3] ) was then added to the Pop-A-Cat-A-Petal line-up as bass player, with Green moving to lead guitar. With the subsequent departure of Haslam, the band began to reduce their more obvious progressive rock influences in favour of a stronger element of 1970s glam rock and a more pronounced "indie" outlook. The band changed their name to Ultrasound at around the same time

Tracklisting

 CD1

"Cross My Heart" 
"Same Band" 
"Stay Young" 
"Suckle" 
"Fame Thing" 
"Happy Times (Are Coming)" 

 CD2

"Aire & Calder" 
"Sentimental Song" 
"Floodlit World" 
"My Impossible Dream" 
"Everything Picture" (with "Best Wishes" = hidden track)