Profile – DR PHIBES & THE HOUSE OF WAX EQUATIONS
Dr Phibes & The House of Wax Equations – Liverpool based band in late 80s/ early 90s but had a Deeside singer, Howard King (gtr,voc) (ex In Line With Sphere, Abstract) who formed the band at college in Crewe with Lee Belsham (bass) (also The Expanding Men) and Keith York (drms). They rel a pile of stuff on their own 50 Seel Street label (the name was taken from the squat they were living in). Played Glastonbury & also The Bistro, the NME loved them, Radio One’s John Peel and Mark Radcliffe adored them.
Tragically Howard King’s mental health deteriorated and he was tried and convicted at Caernarfon Crown Court for murdering his mother at their Connah’s Quay home in Feb97.
Sadly Lee Belsham died of cancer (18.05.17).
[By Pete Cashmore (orig published in The Guardian)]
This is a strange tale, about a strange band with a strange name who played strange music.
The post-Madchester years were an odd time to be a young indie fan, with many of the most popular bands being not just really pretty bad, but funny as well. Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Sultans of Ping FC, The Frank and Walters – you can guess what they sounded like without even hearing their music.More