Namesakes #7: Memphis

Thank you if you voted for Oasis last week. Out of the three Oases I offered, all the votes went to the original band to use that name, the one from 70s California. I was truly shocked that nobody voted for the second, 80s, Oasis, featuring Peter Skellern and Mary Hopkin. 

This week, I’m putting a call in through long distance information for bands called Memphis...

MEMPHIS #1

Our first Memphis dates back to 1982, when they put out this extremely rare funky 7”. Also known as Homegrown Funk and Homegrown Syndrome, they recorded with Ike Turner and were later signed to Arista due to an association with the delightfully named Perry Kibble from A Taste Of Honey. That’s about as much as I can find out about them, but the tune speaks itself.

MEMPHIS #2

I’ll confess that I also struggled to find out much about our second Memphis… until I dipped my toe into the fountain of knowledge that is The Vinyl Villain. JC revealed that this Memphis was the brainchild of James Kirk. Not Shatner, but the ex-Orange Juice guitarist who also wrote Felicity (one of JC’s favourite tunes). After being dumped from the band in ’82, James disappeared for a while, resurfacing briefly as Memphis in 1985, though sadly he only ever released one 7” before going off to retrain as a chiropodist. He would return to music with a well-regarded solo album in 2003, but for today, it’s his Memphis days that concern us…

MEMPHIS #3

Our final Memphis is the only one with their own iffypedia page, and the only one to have recorded more than one 7”. In fact, this Canadian duo, made up of Torquil Campbell from Stars and Chris Dumont from Metric, have released four albums since their 2002 debut and appear to still be going strong.

Are you considering a move to Memphis? Which one takes your fancy? Vote now.