Gaye Bykers On Acid formed in Leicestershire, United Kingdom in late 1984 by Ian Reynolds (Robber) and Ian Hoxley (Mary). They were later joined by guitarist and art student Tony Horsfall and drummer Kevin Hyde. Their first gig was at the Princess Charlotte in Leicester in mid-1985. Their first releases - the single Everything's Groovy Baby and the Nosedive Karma EP - were both recorded in Leeds with Jon Langford of The Mekons, and released on the InTape label. They then signed to Virgin Records releasing the albums Drill Your Own Hole and Stewed To The Gills. The vinyl version of Drill Your Own Hole was pressed without a hole in the centre, so it was necessary to literally drill your own hole in order to play it. The album spent one week at number 95 in the UK Albums Chart in November 1987. They also played gigs (dressed in women's clothing) under the name Lesbian Dopeheads on Mopeds, supporting themselves, and thus getting paid twice. They also performed as a fictitious East German thrash punk band Rektüm (they claimed to have jumped over the Berlin Wall), recording an LP Sakredanus and an EP Real Horror Show under the name. However management problems and poor sales meant that they were dropped by Virgin in 1989. They subsequently released the album Cancer Planet Mission on their own record label, Naked Brain. They also recycled and used the band name The Purple Fluid Exchange (PFX) to release their dance cross-over material. It was at this time that Rocket Ronnie joined the band as DJ, sample player and dance advisor. In 1990 they released Pernicious Nonsense, their last studio album, recorded with Jon Langford at the Stone Room Studios and at Alaska St. Studios with house engineer Chelo Zambelli. After difficult tours in the U.S. and UK the band broke up, the final blow being when the label Rough Trade, who distributed their Naked Brain recordings, went bankrupt owing them and many other bands considerable amounts of cash. Two compilation albums were subsequently released on the Receiver record label, From the Tomb of the Near Legendary… (1992) and Gaye Bykers On Acid (1993). A further bootleg compilation of Virgin records studio demo's was sold by their ex-manager (Tracy Lamott) to Cherry Red Records - Everything's Groovy (2001).
