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Blast Furnace & The Heatwaves

Blast Furnace & The Heatwaves was the band of Charles Shaar Murray, who was then working for the New Musical Express. They released a debut EP in 1978 ("Trust Me"; Nighthawk HOT1), which featured two originals and two covers. The band, as listed on the sleeve was Blast Furnace (Murray; lead vocals, lead guitar); Skid Marx (harp and posing); Blitz Krieg (guitar, guitar and guitar); Mr. B. Bop (bass, backing vocals and creative tension); and Tom Tom (drums and t'ing). Backing vocals were supplied by the Dublinaires (Phil Lynott and Bob Geldof). The band were taken to court by disco outfit Heatwave, and were forced to change their name as a result. As a result of the court case the band dropped the Heatwaves part of the name and became "Blast Furnace &" for their second (and last) single ("South of The River"; Nighthawk HOT2). The line-up was Blast Furnace on guitar and vocals; Kevin Allen (bass); John Potter (piano, [ex Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders, who went on to form John Potter's Clay, who has a single/EP called "Speedin On" and later worked with Wilko Johnson), and George Dare (drums). The law suit and the change of name largely scuppered the band, and they had to make some changes to the design of the artwork for the second single.