Adorable in the August '96 Select


Piotr Fijalkowski
Conventry art-rockers, signed to Creation. Enjoyed momentary reputation as great hopes. Famous for claiming that no decent music was made before 1980. Bottom-of-bill, amp-slaying performance at Glasto 1993 still talked about in hushed tones.

What was the peak of your career?
"(Laughs) Oh dear, it's laughably small. Going round the world, playing in Melboure in front of 1,200 people. But, seriously, the real high point came one week into our recording career when we got to 86 in the charts. If we'd known it wouldn't get better for another year and a half we'd have probably given up. It didn't get better. It got worse."

What was your appeal?
"Our cocsureness. However, our mouths turned out to be our Achille's heel."

Favourite memory of pop stardom?
"Being able to do something you got paid for that didn't feel like work. We made some attempts at the hedonistic lifestyle, but it was all rather pathetic.

When did it all start to slide?
"The second week of release for 'Shunshine Smile', but it took a year for us to realise that. You've just got to accept the potential for things going pear-shaped."

Who else did you like at the time?
"The first time I saw Suede, I thought they were brilliant. We used to rant on about it in our interviews, fighting for their cause."

Regrets?
"Actually, my one regret was our first proper Melody Maker interview. Back then, I believed a man could get a decent haircut for three punds. Then I spiked it up with this hair gel which made me look like some 4th-form Johnny Lydon. That was also the last photo session we ever did, so every subsequent metion of me in the press was with this miniature fright wig. I'm now a 4.50 pound man."

What do you do now?
"I sell second-hand bood in Brighton, and I'm also working on a new project. I'll just say that it's very different to Adorable."

Were you an arrogand git?
"I was really confident, but I should have kept my mouth shut. Still, like the Murphy's, I'm not bitter. Alan McGee though twe were teh new Sex Pistols and he wanted us to be what is now Oasis. We weren't. We were just the snotty Bunnymen."


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