Ffa Coffi Pawb (trans: Coffee Beans for Everybody) formed in 1986 and boasted an unchanged line-up until their dissolution in 1992. They were one of Wales' favourite indie bands but, because they performed in the Welsh language, were barely noticed beyond the confines of their homeland. Of course, Peel played them, and there were even one or two appearances on obscure TV shows in England, but other than that, very little in the way of recognition.
So how come you may have heard of them? Well, two of their members went on to form bands that became much more well-known. Drummer Dafydd Ieuan became a founder member of Catatonia with ex-members of Y Cyrff and an unknown singer by the name of Cerys Matthews. He later quit to team up with his brother Cian Ciaran and former Ffa Coffi Pawb bandmate Gruff Rhys to form Super Furry Animals.
Sega Segur was a single from Ffa Coffi Pawb's third and final album 'Hei Vidal!' from 1992. Listening to it, you can totally hear how Gruff and Daf may well have influenced the sound of their later band. It would be three years before SFA would release their first recordings, but you could have sneaked Sega Segur onto either of those first two EPs and you probably wouldn't have noticed it was a different band!
The other two members of Ffa Coffi Pawb didn't leave the biz after the band split. Rhodri Puw joined Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Dewi Emlyn became tour manager for both SFA and Gorky's.
Very excited to hear the news that Super Furry Animals are touring in December, playing both the first two albums in their entirety. The final date is in Cardiff. Guess who'll be in the thick of it....!?!?
Also, FYI, their name is also a pun on F*** Off to Everyone, and they had to change their original name which was Ffa Coffi Mistar Urdd, which was specifically insulting to the children's character associated with the Welsh Youth League Urdd Gobaith Cymru. Childish, but funny.
ReplyDeleteGood post again, Robster. Have you included Y Cyrff yet? Or, on a more recent wave, Pretty Vicious?
Thanks for that. I was kind of aware of the pun, but my Welsh is too poor to be able to elucidate it properly so avoided the topic to save face! As for the other bands you mentioned:
DeleteY Cyrff - http://isthis-thelife.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/welsh-wednesday-73.html
Pretty Vicious - http://isthis-thelife.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/welsh-wednesday-86.html
I'm going to see Pretty Vicious next month at their sell-out show in Cardiff. Really looking forward to that one.
This is great. You're dead right, it could've passed for early SFA with ease. Talking of whom - have you bagged any tickets for December yet? Picked up mine in the pre-sell this morning. Counting the days.
ReplyDeleteTwo tickets for Cardiff in the bag. £70 well spent, I think!
DeleteSFA were in Seattle back in February and the tickets were $18.50. Kind of tells you their standing on this side of the pond. Must seem ridiculous to you fellas.
ReplyDelete