Tenpole Tudor

Tenpole Tudor
Rebellion Punk Festival, Blackpool, August 2008
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Punk rock, new wave
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Stiff Records Recall Records
Members	Edward Tudor-Pole
Past members	Bob Kingston Dick Crippen Gary Long Mick Matt Sean Paul

Tenpole Tudor are an English punk band fronted by Edward Tudor-Pole. The band first came to prominence when Tudor-Pole appeared in the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle and on three of the singles released from the soundtrack. The band then went on to have hits in their own right with songs like "Swords of a Thousand Men" and "Wünderbar". The band has been active intermittently since 1977.

Tenpole Tudor formed in 1977 when Tudor-Pole (vocals/saxophone) met guitarist Bob Kingston, bassist Dick Crippen, and drummer Gary Long. They played regularly for several years until Tudor-Pole himself (under the moniker of Eddie Tenpole) came to prominence by appearing in the 1978 film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. He was originally billed as a replacement for Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten — performing the songs "Who Killed Bambi?", "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" and a cover version of "Rock Around The Clock" for the film and subsequent soundtrack — however, manager Malcolm McLaren and the remaining Sex Pistols instead decided to abandon the group and go their own ways.

Tenpole Tudor recorded a single on WEA Records with the A-side being "Real Fun" and the B-side "What's In A Word". "Real Fun" is available in live form on two different CDs, but the single was never released on CD. Tenpole Tudor returned in 1980 and signed a recording contract with Stiff Records, with whom they released the single "3 Bells in a Row" (which is a slightly different version of the one later found on the album Eddie, Old Bob, Dick, and Gary).