The Sting-rays explained

The Sting-rays
Alias:	The Bananamen, The Paralyzed Purple Rays
Origin:	Crouch End, Haringey, Greater London, England
Years Active:	–
Label:	Big Beat Kaleidoscope Sound Cherry Red
Associated Acts:	The Earls of Suave, The Sneetches
Past Members:	Keith Cockburn Alec Palao Mark Hosking Bal Croce Jonny Bridgwood

The Sting-rays (often credited The Stingrays) were a British rock band from Greater London which recorded on Ace Records' garage and psychedelic subsidiary Big Beat and Joe Foster's Kaleidoscope Sound in the 1980s.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

Discography

Most of the band's songs were written by Alec Palao and Bal Croce.

Albums

• Dinosaurs (Big Beat, 1983)
• Cryptic and Coffee Time (Kaleidoscope Sound, 1987)
• The Essential (Early) Sting-Rays (Big Beat, 1987)
• From the Kitchen Sink (Big Beat, 2002) compilation

EP's, Singles

• On Self Destruct (Big Beat, 1983) EP
• The Crusher as Bananamen (Big Beat, 1983) EP
• "Escalator" (Big Beat, 1984)
• "Don't Break Down" (Big Beat, 1985)
• June Rhyme (Kaleidoscope Sound, 1986) EP
• Behind the Beyond (Kaleidoscope Sound, 1986) EP

Live

• Stomping at the Klub Foot (1984) (with Restless, Milkshakes and Guana Batz)
• Live Retaliation (Media Burn, 1985)
• Live & Raw (Raucous, 1995)
• Live at the Klub Foot 1984 (Cherry Red, 2010)

Compilation contributions

• Blood on the Cats (Anagram, 1983)
• Revenge of the Killer Pussies (Blood on the Cats #2) (Anagram, 1984)
• (1995)

External links

• http://www.forcedexposure.com/Artists/STING.RAYS.THE.html
• Getty Images: Group photo

Notes and References

1. David Stubbs, Rob Young Ace Records: Labels Unlimited 2008 p.87 "Another example of the type of group Big Beat worked with was The Stingrays. As Alec Palao, the American-based English expat, one time member of the band and subsequent Ace consultant, recalls: "The band was an amalgam of everything we were into, be it rockabilly, garage punk, 1970s punk, surf, northern soul, folk-rock; we were omnivores." The Stingrays were the classic example of a band who had supersized on Ace's ever-increasing and eclectic output of lost music."
2. Martin Jones Lover, Buggers, and Thieves 1900486415 2005 p.153 "This, and the fact that Big Beat were releasing ... ...played a track by then-current psychobilly band The Stingrays."
3. Marc Masters No Wave 2007 Volumes 287-292 p.267 "as punk rock mutated into psychobilly there was a demand for an outlet for the primordial rock music of such acts as Johnny & The Jammers, The Meteors, The Stingrays and The Cramps - and in 1980 the Big Beat label was born."
4. George Gimarc Post Punk Diary: 1980-1982 1997 031216968X p.275 "The Stingrays are proponents of the "back to Billy Haley" sound that has been lurking in English basements for the last two years."
5. The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul 1998 p.369 "...in the UK where his influence on 'trash' guitar groups, notably the Stingrays and Milkshakes, has been considerable."
6. Maximum Rocknroll No.15 1984 "The STINGRAYS look rockabilly, act punk, and sound more 60s than anything else (note their covers ...)"