And Some Fell on Stony Ground

Half Man Half Biscuit
Nigel Blackwell of Half Man Half Biscuit, October 2008
Background information
Origin	Birkenhead, Merseyside, England
Genres	Indie rock, post punk, indie folk
Years active	1984–1986, 1990–present
Labels	Probe Plus
Associated acts	Attempted Moustache
Website	www.hmhb.co.uk
Members	Nigel Blackwell Neil Crossley Ken Hancock Carl Henry
Past members	Simon Blackwell David Lloyd Paul Wright Carl Alty Ian Jackson

Half Man Half Biscuit (often HMHB) are a British rock band from Birkenhead, Merseyside, active since the mid-1980s, known for satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs. The group comprises Nigel Blackwell (lead vocals, guitar), Neil Crossley (bass, vocals), Ken Hancock (lead guitar), and Carl Henry (drums), occasionally augmented by a brass player. Throughout their career, they have recorded for Probe Plus records.

Half Man Half Biscuit were formed by two friends from Birkenhead, Neil Crossley (previously with local punk band Venom) and singer, guitarist and songwriter Nigel Blackwell (previously with Split Gut and North of Watford) who was (in his own words) at the time "still robbing cars and playing football like normal people do". In 1979, Blackwell was editing a football fanzine (Left For Wakeley Gage); he met Crossley when he went to see the latter's band play. In 1984, when Half Man Half Biscuit were formed, Crossley moved to bass and the two were joined by Nigel's brother Simon Blackwell (lead guitar) and his friend Paul Wright (drums), both previously with a group called Attempted Moustache. The quartet started to rehearse in the Liverpool-based Vulcan Studios, where they soon turned a five-piece, with David Lloyd now on keyboards.

Their debut album, 1985's Back in the DHSS, topped the UK Indie Chart and reached number 60 in the UK Album Chart. Its title was a play on The Beatles' "Back in the U.S.S.R." and also a reference to the DHSS, the government department that dealt with the unemployed, Nigel Blackwell having been on unemployment benefits since 1979. The band's first single, "The Trumpton Riots", topped the British independent chart in 1986, and they went on to perform at Glastonbury Festival. They were post-punk, similar to Josef K or The Fall. The second single, "Dickie Davies Eyes", also topped the indie chart. In late 1986, the band split up, giving as reason "musical similarities". The album ACD, containing previously issued, unreleased and live tracks, followed.