Serious Drinking
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Serious Drinking
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = group_or_band
| origin = Norwich, England
| genre = Punk rock
| years_active = 1981–mid-1980s, and intermittently since
| label = Upright, Musical Tragedies, Worker's Playtime, Damaged Goods
| website =
| current_members = Martin Ling
Eugene Rodgers
Andy Hearnshaw
Cathal Kennedy
Pete Saunders
Lance Dunlop
}}
Serious Drinking were an English humorous punk rock band from Norwich, England, whose lyrical themes often covered football and drinking.{{cite book |last=Strong |first=Martin C. |title=The Great Alternative & Indie Discography |url=https://archive.org/details/greatalternative0000stro |url-access=registration |year= 1999 |publisher=Canongate |isbn=0-86241-913-1 }}
History
The band formed in February 1981, taking their name from a Sounds headline to an interview with The Cockney Rejects, with most members having met at the University of East Anglia.{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music|page=246 |year= 1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=0-85112-579-4 }} Band members were Martin Ling (vocals), Eugene Rodgers (vocals), Andy Hearnshaw (guitar, formerly of The Farmer's Boys), Jem Moore (bass), Pete Saunders (keyboards) also known from Dexys Midnight Runners and Lance Dunlop (drums).{{cite book |last=Lazell |first=Barry |title=Indie Hits 1980-1999 |year= 1997 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |isbn=0-9517206-9-4 }} Their debut EP, Love on the Terraces (produced by Madness's Mark Bedford) reached number 9 on the UK Indie Chart in 1982, with follow-up "Hangover" reaching number 4 the following year. Debut album The Revolution Starts at Closing Time also reached number 4, and was followed up in 1984 by a second album, They May Be Drinkers Robin, But They're Still Human Beings. After another single, "Country Girl Became Drugs and Sex Punk", Moore and Dunlop left the band. The new line-up continued with sporadic gigs.
The band were firm favourites of John Peel and recorded four sessions for his BBC Radio 1 show.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/s/seriousdrinking/ |title=Keeping It Peel – Serious Drinking |accessdate=8 March 2008 |work=Keeping It Peel |publisher=BBC }} "Love on the Terraces" also reached number 38 in the 1982 Festive Fifty.
A compilation of their finest moments, Stranger Than Tannadice – The Hits, Misses and Own Goals was released in 1990 on the Worker's Playtime label, to coincide with the 1990 World Cup, with a couple of singles also emerging in the 1990s.
Discography
Chart placings shown are from the UK Indie Chart.
=Singles/EPs=
- Love on the Terraces EP (1982) Upright (#9)
- "Hangover" (1983) Upright (#4)
- "Country Girl Became Drugs and Sex Punk" (1984) Upright (#8)
- "Red Skies Over Wembley" (1993) Musical Tragedies
- "Back Home 1966" (1996) Damaged Goods
=Albums=
- The Revolution Starts at Closing Time (1983) Upright (#4)
- They May Be Drinkers Robin, But They're Still Human Beings (1984) Upright (#16)
- Stranger Than Tannadice – The Hits, Misses and Own Goals (1990) Worker's Playtime
Members
Eugene Rodgers, Martin Ling, Jem Moore, Andy Hearnshaw, Lance Dunlop, Glenville Williams, Karen Yarnell, Cathal Kennedy, Pete Saunders, Simon Charterton, Terry Edwards, Richard Sheldrake.