PHYNE THANQUZ - S / T

Up until the present, not a lot of people knew if Phyne Thanquz was a real band or just an elaborate hoax. There was one ridiculously rare 7" single entitled “Into The Sun” (with “Curse Of The Gods” on the B-Side). It came out on a label called ERC in 1981. Just recently a copy of the single was sold for well over 600 Euros. It really is an extremely precious artifact of the glorious New Wave Of British Heavy Metal period. Apart from the participation of a certain Dr. Death, there was not a lot of information to be found on the record as to who actually played on the single. Dr. Death is no other than Stewart Menelaws who helped to supply us with all the details regarding this last big secret of the immortal N.W.O.B.H.M. era. “Phyne Thanquz was not a joke at all”, Stewart Menelaws starts to unfold the band's history. “We played at many night clubs, rock venues and rock festivals over a seven year period. The stage act comprised a fairly large lighting and special effects show.” Phyne Thanquz is indeed quite a strange name which probably added to the mystique surrounding the band. Originally, it only stood for “fine thanks” but soon (surely in part due to the single's cover artwork) followers started to attach different interpretations to the moniker. Stewart Menelaws explains: “Due to the band’s growing occult overtones, stage act and branding, the name took on a sinister feel making many people think there was a deeper secret behind it. The name was thought up by one of the early roadies/band photographer and while I personally hated the name, it stuck. Although some of the band members (who changed a lot) got into the whole 'occult' stage act thing, dressed up as zombies/walking dead etc – there was no deep spiritual or supernatural interest. I myself on the other hand was a different story. After facing death twice on a hospital bed at 16 years of age and suffering from ill health for a further 15 years my fascination with death and the supernatural was the motivation behind the songs written.” This enduring period of ill health also led to Stewart's pseudonym Dr. Death: “I got the nickname from a biker fan. After major surgery as a teenager I lost a great deal of weight and my face was gaunt with sunken eye sockets and high cheek bones. The graphic artist who designed the skull image on the single cover based it on myself. As I went deeper into occult interest I slept in a coffin (also used for the stage act) and we began using heavy make-up effects such as death masks – so the name fitted.” As already mentioned earlier, Phyne Thanquz's sole single was released in 1981 via ERC. ERC actually stood for Edinburgh Recording Company with the band originally coming from the capital city of Scotland. Stewart Menelaws takes over the story: “ERC was a local Edinburgh based studio – I don’t know that much about them. Phyne Thanquz was banned from various venues for many reasons. At times places were smashed to pieces in violent frenzies; the police would be called on occasions. Managers were threatened, agents were abused and the band’s occult overtones saw them being exorcized from one venue (they actually got a priest in to do this). Simply, the band had a reputation as being dark and strange and best not mention them – bit like a bad omen.” Marshall Bain is listed as the producer of the single. Stewart explains: “Marshall Bain owned ERC studios and he put that onto the single without our knowledge. We were not bothered either way. Marshall always seemed a little bit nervous when we were in his studio. ERC is no longer. In the late 1980s I collected all the demo reels and marketing materials, photographs and burned everything in a bid to erase the memory.“ Apart from Dr. Death (aka Stu Menelaws) on guitar/vocals, the following musicians played on the single: Amanda Hodge (keyboard), Bod (aka Bryan Dodds) on drums and Mark Patrizio (former Exploited member) on bass. In the past, it was rumored that Phyne Thanquz was somehow associated with John Mortimer's Holocaust. However, this was probably due to the fact that both bands come from Edinburgh. Stewart makes it clear: “We were not influenced by Holocaust in any shape or form. As far as I am aware, we were around long before they appeared; in fact I only got to hear of them near the time Phyne Thanquz began to break apart. Personally my only influence was Jimi Hendrix, Bach and also The Pink Fairies.” During the late 1970's and early 1980's Phyne Thanquz had a healthy biker following when they appeared live. There's one gig Stewart Menelaws remembers vividly: “At a certain gig a West Coast Angel told me that one of the Hells Angels from the London area wanted to see me … thankfully it was just to slap me on the back to say we were 'shit hot, man'! We had one West Coast Angel roadie bury a crowbar into a punter’s head which resulted in a huge gathering of town's folk wanting to hang us all from the roof beams … that was a pretty tense moment. One of the local Hells Angels chapters were fans and roadies for Dog but there were growing tensions with other bike groups which made things troublesome at times. The last gig we were to play at 'The Glenburn' was packed with various bike clubs and there was a tense atmosphere which resulted in the place being smashed up while we played a song to accompany the riot as the police arrived in force. Most of our roadies were bikers, both patch bearers and not. Venues we played were 'The Glenburn', 'The Nite Club', 'The Glen Pavilion', 'The Odeon', 'The Calton Studios', 'Niki Tams', 'The Kinema', 'Twisted Wheel', 'Craigmiller Rock Festival', 'The Palace', 'The Laughing Duck', 'The Green Tree', 'The Astoria', ‘Sneaky Pete’s’, ‘Clowns’ plus various town halls and other venues. We were one of the few bands in Scotland at that time with a full 1.5K PA rig (that was big in those days) and lighting rigs. Occasionally we would hire these out to other bands.” Following Phyne Thanquz, Stewart Menelaws put together a band simply called Dog: “Yes, Dog was put together by myself (now named General Beetashoon,) Bod (now named Harry Harlot) and bass player Ross Mason (aka Bandit) after Phyne Thanquz broke up. It was the band that Phyne Thanquz should have been from day one but with so many changes in line-up (drums/ bass/vocals) it kept messing up the band's original roots. Dog also dropped the stage act and make-up and simply looked like three filthy bikers with a wall of Marshall stacks behind them.” Record Label: High Roller Records Style: Metal