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The Corn Dollies

The Corn Dollies emerged in 1987 when the three original members, Steve Musham (voice/guitar), Tim Sales (guitar), and Jack Hoser (drums) were joined by Californian bass player Steve Ridder, and released their first single, 'Forever Steven' on their own Farm Label. The two tracks on the single, and a number of other unreleased tracks, were produced by Robert Forster of the Go-Betweens at HAMMA Studios in Dalston, London. The single received critical acclaim, racking up 'single of the Week' status in Sounds and Record Mirror, and bought the band to the attention of Medium Cool label boss Andy Wake. Originally brought in to add violin during a recording session, Jono Podmore joined the band on a full-time basis.

The band recorded and released a number of singles for Medium Cool, before the label's demise, after which they, and most of MC's roster, moved to Nick Ralph's Midnight Music. Midnight had already released a successful compilation of the band's Medium Cool material in France, where, along with Spain, the band built a strong following. Originally, The Corn Dollies seem to have been influenced by The Byrds, Go-Betweens, and REM, but later recordings and live appearances saw them creating a much harder, less acoustic sound, seemingly at odds with the band's bucolic name. They probably suffered because they eventually didn't really fit into the 'twee' indie bracket and didn't always have much in common with the bands they were often identified with. The later singles, 'Map of the World' and 'Joyrider', bear little relation to the strummings of 'Forever Steven' and 'In Bethpage'.
With Steve Ridder having to return to the USA, the band seemed to reach a natural conclusion, and after recording a third unreleased album ('Past Caring'), called it a day in 1991.

Joe Lion

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