The Scruffs

The Scruffs
Scruffs in 2001, Japanese tour Photo: Macao Nakagami
Background information
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, Tennessee United States
Genres	Power pop
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Verve
Website	The Scruffs.com
Members	Stephen Burns, Zeph Paulson, Rick Branyan
Past members	Bill Mathieu Bill Godley

The Scruffs are an American power pop group founded by writer/guitarist/vocalist Stephen Burns, guitarist David Branyan, and drummer Zeph Paulson in Memphis, Tennessee circa 1975. Though the line up has changed many times over the years since then, The Scruffs have continued to released a number of records, up to and including a pending release in 2011 entitled Kill! Kill!

The constant figure throughout has been singer/songwriter and guitarist Stephen Burns, with a revolving band of musicians in support through the years. The band originally featured Rick Branyan on bass, who left the band in 1976. From 1976 through 1977, Bill Godley replaced Branyan on bass. During this iteration, the band recorded the songs (most penned by Burns or Burns co-writing with David Branyan) that later became its first LP album, and released "Break the Ice" as a single on Power Play records. "Break the Ice" received local airplay in Memphis This iteration of The Scruffs re-recorded its material at renowned Ardent Studios in Memphis and released its first LP album in 1977 on Power Play records, entitled Wanna Meet the Scruffs?.

The group later relocated to New York before disbanding.Many of the members sought various careers such as Rick Branyan who became a Latin teacher at a local private high school in Memphis. David Branyan pursued a solo career recording again at Ardent Studios, before attending Columbia and Yale universities, with some recordings released later in 2000 in France and in the U.S. in 2002 on the Teen Line anthologies.

Although from Memphis, The Scruffs projected an English pop style and were influenced by The Beatles and The Kinks, among others. The Scruffs were occasionally accompanied on stage by former Box Tops and Big Star members, and fellow Memphis power popper Alex Chilton. Although they officially disbanded in 1979, a second album was released after 20 years (although recorded in 1979-80) titled TeenAge Gurls. This release was accompanied by the first CD release of "Wanna Meet the Scruffs?" Additional collections include: Angst, The Early Years, a collection of earlier recordings and MidTown, a release of recordings made by Stephen Burns and various musicians during the 1980s.