Darren Brown (musician)
| Wiz | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Darren Mark Brown |
| Born | 18 January 1962 London, England |
| Origin | Farnborough, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 6 December 2006 (aged 44) Tooting, South London, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, Punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter, Vocalist |
| Instruments | Guitar, Vocals |
| Years active | 1982–2006 |
| Website | http://www.spiny.co.uk/megacityfour/ |
Darren Mark Brown (18 January 1962 - 6 December 2006), known as Wiz, was lead-singer and guitarist of English indie punk band Mega City Four in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and later bands Serpico and Ipanema from 2002 to 2006.
Mega City Four consisted of guitarist/vocalist Wiz, his brother and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Danny Brown, bassist/vocalist Gerry Bryant and drummer Chris Jones.
The group were noted for their hard-working ethics and extensive touring ethos. They performed some gigs around their local town of Farnborough before making their vinyl debut in September 1987 with “Miles Apart”/“Running In Darkness”. The single led to a round of gigs with bands such as Senseless Things and Snuff.
The band continued to tour extensively around the UK, across Europe and over to North America, working with bands including Les Thugs, Midway Still, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and Doughboys, amongst many others. The band also had the opportunity to perform in festivals such as the Reading Festival 1990/1992, Glastonbury Festival 1993, and Phoenix Festival 1994, as well as others. The band's second studio album, Who Cares Wins (1990), was followed by a compilation of their early 7" singles, called Terribly Sorry Bob (1991). The band subsequently moved to a major record label, Big Life Records, to record two further studio albums, Sebastopol Rd. (1992) and Magic Bullets (1994). After falling out with their record label, they moved to Fire Records to record their final studio album, Soulscraper (1996). In addition to their studio albums, the band also released a live LP, a Peel Sessions disc, and an impressive number of singles.
Wiz had already played with Ned's Atomic Dustbin in 1995, filling-in for original guitarist Rat for a tour and promo events in the United States of America. Mega City Four had been together for over a decade when they broke up in early 1996. Wiz moved to Montreal and joined Canadian alternative rock band Doughboys, replacing guitarist Jonathan Cummins for the remainder of the band's then tour. He co-wrote two songs each on their albums, Turn Me On (1996) and Crush (1993), including "Shine".
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