The Planet Wilson formed in 1985 when the collapsing cloud of two former Red Guitars, Hallam Lewis (guitar & vocals) and Lou Duffy-Howard (bass) mutated into a spinning disc which collided with otherworldly drummer Grant Ardis. Active between 1985 and 1989 and with two acclaimed albums and three lauded singles under their collective belt The Planet Wilson’s intelligent Psycho Afrodelic sound was praised by experts across the known universe.
Keep your telescopes at the ready, The Planet Wilson have been lurking in the shadowy side of the galaxy for long enough and are planning imminent re-releases with digital distribution throughout the planet Earth.
Currently former members of The Planet Wilson and Red Guitars, Hallam Lewis can be found playing his guitar with The Bootleggers in Cape Town and Lou Duffy-Howard is purveying psychedelic sounds in the Loudhailer Electric Company in Hull UK
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“Snaking pop bass lines, twisted vocals, odd un-western rhythms and fragments of African style guitar.” NME
“Inventive and effectively atmospheric – and invigorating truly original sound.” Music Week
“Deserves to be enjoyed by a much bigger audience. Serious, demanding and danceable all at the same time.” The Independent
“Often waywardly dense sense of rhythm and some wonderfully snaking guitar lines. They make a shiveringly good noise.” Sounds
“A kind of Afro meets Devo cocktail. Truly original sound wise, The Planet Wilson had a few things to offer visually too – out of this world! … Not a million light years away from the early spaced out Roxy Music.” Record Mirror
“Quickly becomes compelling, even if you try and resist it, as though it taps into some primal arterial route straight to the brain.” Hi Fi Review
“The Planet Wilson are worth taking time over …there’s back biting comment on modern society, misrepresentation and apartheid to name a few…anyone with a half open mind should take time out to listen to them.” What Hi Fi
Sound commercial potential without any of the usual crass drawbacks.” Underground Magazine
Sounds Single of the Week January 28th 1989, The Planet Wilson ‘Taken for a Ride’
“When that great lost band The Red Guitars called it a day, there was genuine sorrow that their unique sound had perished with them. The Planet Wilson, who include former Red Guitar Hallam Lewis (guitar) and Lou Howard (bass) have kept things low-key and interesting since their formation. But now, with ‘Taken for a Ride’, they have come up with something genuinely massive.
Describing themselves as ‘Psycho Aphrodelic’ (reminding everyone that Lewis was getting into African guitar long before Paul Simon hear the eureka bells a-calling from that continent) The Planet Wilson sound like no one else on earth. Though at times they recall Can, or even Shriekback, that’s usually for only five or ten seconds.
If you invest in the 12-inch of this you’ll get a ten minute mix of the title song, on which every Planet Wilson idea is mooted, starting off as crazy James Chance-meets-Holger-Czukay-solo-albums it lurches into bar-chord guitar boogie, intercepting the odd Afro distress signal along the way.
Lou’s bass playing is unbelievable – not just the tunes she invents, but actual sound of her fingers hitting the strings. Mike Watt of Firehose is probably the only person who could match this, Beats me why those assholes at Houston Central are peering up at Mars when they could be checking out The Planet Wilson.” David Cavanagh, Sounds Magazine
Rich and Lou Duffy-Howard – Visit our Home Page