Tiny Monroe
NJ (Vocals)
Richard Davies (Guitar)
Steven Walker (Guitar)
Garry Becker (Bass)
Dan Neumann (Drums)
Later
Alex Culpin (Bass)
Jon Solomon (Drums)
Following a number of respectable tour supports, they were picked up byt Lush manager, Howard Gough's 'Laurel' label and proceeded to release 'VHF855V' (NJs license plate number) in early 94.
Dominated by NJ's sensual vocals, debut album 'Volcanoes' (1996) had a pop feel with synth florishes
Paraphrased from the great indie discography.
Formed in Camden,
TINY MONROE Cream EP (4 trk Uk 7/10/CDS" inc Cream Bun)
7"/10"/CDS
Laurel2
1.Cream Bun
2.Jealousy
3.Brittle Bones
4.Sonic Blue
Open Invitation (2 trk UK 7")
2.Another Station
3.Mirror
Lau10cd, 12"
She (2 trk no'd UK 7")
2.The parties over
Lau9cd
3.Really Happy
TINY MONROE VHF 855V (v. ltd. UK no'd debut 7", sealed poster slv LAUREL 1)
Laurel1
2.Under The Skin
Volcanoes LP
1.She
2.Cream Bun
3.Love Of the bottle
4.Open Invitation
5.Snake In The Grass
6.vhf 855v
7.Brittle Bones
8.Secret Place
9.Skin Beach
10.Women In Love
11.Bubble
Tiny Monroe are an unusual group in 1996; immediate impressions are made by their callow guitarist in suit and shock of spiky hair, giving him the look of recent John Rotten; and blonde- bleached slim oriental female singer clad in glittery teeshirt and tight sequinned pants. The rest of the band leap around furiously as Ms Monroe (surely not her real name!) high kicks and slinks around the stage and moves with an unsettlingly alluring manner. Their set varies enormously from rock to semi-reggae and at times is almost cabaret. In fact they are musically light years away from any of the current trends in UK indie music in just about every sense. There is an air of careless menace about Tiny Monroe which is unusual in a band these days. The guitarist coaxes strange effects from the guitar rather hitting power chords or guitar harmonies which are the vogue. Consequently, they were a bit over the heads of much of the audience. They didn't seem bothered by this however and performed with a committed but insouciant attitude. If you were looking for a comparison I'd mention early Siouxsie & The Banshees for stage persona, early Roxy Music for style and musical references. They've been around for a couple of years on the fringes of things but Tiny they will surely not remain for long.
The singer with Tiny Monroe, the first of these bands, strolled past our dishevelled caravan. She is, she told me when the spirit of research sent me flying across the grass, called NJ. NJ is, let me tell you, a wildly charismatic performer and Tiny Monroe live are much more robust than Tiny Monroe on record.
TINY MONROE Cream E.P. (1994 UK 4-track Laurel label 7" featuring Cream Bun, Jealousy, Brittle Bones and Sonic Blue, picture sleeve LAUREL2)
MONROE,TINY CREAM BUNS 7" 11.69
OPEN INVITATION CD:SINGLE 19.89
OPEN INVITIATION CD:SINGLE 9.35
SHE CD:MAXI CD:MAXI, CD:SINGLE 9.24 (3)
SHE * THE PARTY'S OVER 45RPM 7.00
VHF 855V 7" 11.69
VOLCANOES CD 29.83
TINY MONROE CREAM CD:SINGLE 1.85 (2)
CREAM BUN 10" 1.87
CREAM BUN E.P. CD:SINGLE 5.00
CREAM BUN EP CD:SINGLE 7.39
CREAM E.P. 7" 10", 7" 1.85 (3)
CREAM EP CD 10", 10":EP, 7", CD, CD:MAXI, CD:SINGLE, EPSTEREO 5.59 (14)
CREAM EP - 4 TRACKS 7" 1.85
CREAM EP - FINISHED COPY PROMO CD:SINGLE 5.59
CREAM EP. 7" 3.15
OPEN 7" 4.68
OPEN INVITATION CD:SINGLE 7", 7":SINGLE, CD, CD:SINGLE 3.03 (19)
OPEN INVITATION / ANOTHER STAT CD:SINGLE 4.30
OPEN INVITATION- CD:SINGLE 3.55
OPEN INVITATION/ANOTHER STATIO 7" 6.17
OPEN INVITATIONS 7" 5.61
PARTY¹S OVER VINYL 5.61
SHE CD:SINGLE 7", 7":45RPM, CD, CD:SINGLE 0.84 (14)
SHE / THE PARTY'S OVER / REALL CD:SINGLE 4.30 (5)
SHE..THE PARTYS OVER + REALLY CD:SINGLE 9.71
SHE/THE PARTY'S OVER 7" 10.59
VHF 855V 7" 15.40 (2)
VHF 855V/UNDER THE SKIN LAUREL 7" 6.17
VOLCANOES CD 7.00 (6)
VOLCANOES - PROMO TAPE CASSETTE 3.72
Found this on the Elastica Website:
September 12 1993 : Gig with Collapsed Lung, Tiny Monroe and Credit to the Nation for "In the City" week in Manchester
