title: Superboy

text: He was officially introduced as Superboy in "Superman" (vol. 4) #6 (November 2016). Jon co-stars with Damian Wayne in the DC Rebirth comic book series "Super Sons" as Superboy and Robin. The series began publication in February 2017 and ended its 16-issue run in May 2018. A 12-issue limited series, "Adventures of the Super Sons", which debuted in August 2018, told more of the boys' adventures together. Jon frequently appears in "Superman" and "Action Comics" with his parents. He is also a member of the current version of the Legion of Super-Heroes.


title: Superboy

text: Several other versions of Superboy originating from different parts of the Multiverse have also appeared in DC Comics.


title: Superboy

text: In 1985, during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event, another Superboy was created. This Superboy hails from the parallel Earth known as Earth-Prime, where Superman and the other DC superheroes only exist as fictional comic book characters. Brought over from his dimension by Superman to aid in the universe-spanning battle at the heart of the Crisis, Superboy helps the Earth-Two Superman (Kal-L) defeat the Anti-Monitor, the villain who spawned the Crisis. With their home dimensions destroyed, Superboy, Superman of Earth-Two, his wife Lois Lane, and Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-Three journey to a "paradise dimension".


title: Superboy

text: Published two decades later in DC's 2006 "Infinite Crisis" miniseries, Superboy, Alex, Kal-L, and Lois are retroactively revealed to have been watching the DC Universe since they entered this "paradise". Unhappy with what they have been seeing, they decide to take action, and return to the post-"Crisis" DC Universe. Feeling that this world's heroes were inferior, he feels no qualms about committing wanton acts of destruction, kidnapping and murder. In the end, Superboy-Prime is pulled into the core of a red sun by both Superman of Earth-Two and Superman (Kal-El) of the main DC Universe. They crash land on Mogo, the Green Lantern that is a living planet. Under a red sun, their powers rapidly vanish. On Mogo, Superboy-Prime beats the Earth-Two Superman to death before he is defeated by Kal-El. The Green Lantern Corps put Superboy-Prime in a maximum-security prison on their home world of Oa and guard him round-the-clock. While incarcerated, he carves the "S"-symbol into his chest and vows to escape.


title: Superboy

text: One year later, Superboy is released from his prison by the newly formed Sinestro Corps and joins them, becoming one of their heralds and wearing a Sinestro Corps uniform beneath his Anti-Monitor inspired armor. Now calling himself Superman Prime, he becomes involved in the war between the Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps and later in the events of "Countdown to Final Crisis". In the "" miniseries, Prime leads an expanded Legion of Super-Villains into battle against Superman and versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes from three parallel Earths in the 31st century.


title: Superboy

text: The Superboy-Prime character was the inspiration for Kurt Busiek's miniseries "", which begins as a story about a teenage boy, named Clark Kent after the comic book character, who exists in the "real world" where there are no superheroes and discovers that he possesses powers similar to Superman's. In the first press reports about Clark's life-saving superdeeds, the press refers to Clark (whose identity is unknown) as "Superboy".


title: Superboy

text: The one millionth clone of Kon-El, he lives in the 853rd century and is a member of Justice Legions S, which consists exclusively of Superboy clones, and T, a future version of Young Justice. Also known as Superboy OMAC, an acronym for "One Millionth Actual Clone" of Kon-El, this Superboy resembles the original OMAC (One-Man Army Corps) in appearance. He was part of 1998's DC One Million crossover event and reappeared the following year in "Hypertension".


title: Superboy

text: During an adventure in Smallville while he is still a youth, Clark Kent of "All-Star Superman" is aided by the time-spanning Superman Squad featuring the present Superman in disguise as the Unknown Superman, Kal Kent, and the 5th-dimension Superman. While aiding the Squad, Clark misses a chance to save the life of Jonathan Kent.


title: Superboy

text: In writing about the version of Superman in his series, writer Grant Morrison said, "Ma & Pa Kent—one dead. We're going with the version where Pa Kent has died. That's the day Superboy becomes a man." Dialogue between several characters implies that young Clark is a costumed adventurer, but he is never referred to as "Superboy".


title: Superboy

text: The Superboy character has been the subject of a legal battle between Time Warner, the owner of DC Comics, and the estates of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.


title: Superboy

text: While he was stationed overseas, Detective Comics (the forerunner of DC) directed Shuster to draw a Superboy comic strip for publication in "More Fun Comics". No notice was given to Siegel, and no consent from him was granted. Siegel sued for copyright infringement, and won. A court-appointed special referee declared the character of Superboy unique, and not derivative from the character of Superman. But appeals by both Siegel and National Comics Publication (the new name of Detective Comics) led to a consent decree in which the parties agreed that Superboy was the sole property of National Comics.


title: Superboy

text: In 1969, Siegel and Shuster sought to recover their copyright to Superman, as the original 28-year copyright for the character had expired. In "Siegel v. National Periodical Publications, Inc.", 364 F. Supp. 1032 (S.D.N.Y. 1973), "aff'd", 508 F.2d 909 (2nd Cir. 1974), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held that the 1948 agreement assigned not only the original 28-year copyright term but also the 28-year copyright renewal term as well to National Periodical Publications (Detective Comics' successor).


title: Superboy

text: In 1976, Congress enacted a new Copyright Act. This law extended existing copyrights for 19 years, but it also gave creators of works the right to seek to recover their copyright when the extension was up.


title: Superboy

text: In 1997, Joanne Siegel (Siegel's surviving wife) and Laura Siegel Larson (Siegel's daughter) filed a notice exercising their rights to terminate DC Comics' copyright on the Superman character. The date of termination was 1999, but DC Comics provided Joanne Siegel with certain benefits that induced the parties to keep negotiating. A tolling agreement was signed to allow negotiations to keep moving. The Siegels, Shusters, and DC Comics began drafting an agreement, and this agreement now referenced the Superboy character and some indicia as well. On October 19, 2001, Larson's attorney issued a letter in which he claimed that the heirs "accepted D.C. Comics offer of October 16, 2001 in respect of the 'Superman' and 'Spectre' properties." Further negotiations broke down in 2002, and the Siegel heirs filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California claiming their half of the Superboy copyright.


title: Superboy

text: On March 23, 2006, Judge Ronald S.W. Lew of the District Court for the Central District of California issued a summary judgment ruling that Siegel's heirs had successfully reclaimed the copyright to the Superboy character and related indicia as of November 17, 2004. Judge Lew's decision left the parties in the unenviable situation of the Siegels owning the copyright to Superboy, but Time Warner owning the trademark—leaving neither party fully able to take advantage of their respective properties alone.


title: Superboy

text: At a subsequent trial in October 2006, Time Warner (now the parent company of DC Comics) defended itself against a copyright infringement suit by the Siegels by arguing that Judge Lew's summary judgment was incorrect. In "Siegel v. Time Warner", 496 F. Supp. 2d 1111 (C.D.Cal. 2007), Judge Stephen G. Larson vacated Judge Lew's summary judgment and ordered a new trial on the issues. Larson's ruling did not determine whether Superboy was such a unique character that the character enjoyed its own copyright protection. He said it was up to future litigation to determine whether the differences between Superman and Superboy were trivial and did not create a copyrightable character. Attorney Jesse J. Kruger, however, noted that character reboots and retcons could create enough differences so that any future version of Superboy might avoid a claim by the Siegels.


title: Superboy

text: The legal dispute affected DC Comics' treatment of the various incarnations of Superboy. In the "Secret Origin of the Teen Titans" back-up story (March 28, 2007) in the weekly "52" limited series, an illustration of Superboy was changed into Wonder Girl. In the "Sinestro Corps War" storyline in the Green Lantern titles and in the "Countdown to Final Crisis" limited series, the Superboy-Prime character was referred to as Superman-Prime, a development that came about in part because of the legal dispute.


title: Superboy

text: On March 26, 2008, in "Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.", 542 F. Supp. 2d 1098, 1145 (C.D. Cal. 2008), Judge Larson ruled again that the Superboy character was not a work for hire. Larson also held that the 2001 settlement documents did not constitute a contract terminating the Siegel heirs' claim to the Superman and Superboy works. The Siegels regained the copyright to the Superman character, story, and indicia as they appeared in "Action Comics #1" (but not prior to or after that). Judge Larson later expanded his ruling to allow the Siegel heirs to claim additional plots, Superman characters, costuming, and indicia.


title: Superboy

text: In January 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals returned all rights over the Superboy character and other indicia to DC Comics. The appellate court held in "Larson v. Warner Bros. Entertainment", No. 11-56034, D.C. No. 2:04-cv-08400-ODW-RZ (9 Cir. January 10, 2013), that the District Court for the Central District of California erred when it said in 2008 that DC and the Siegel heirs had not reached an agreement in 2001 resolving the dispute over the copyright. The court of appeals remanded the case back to the district court with an order to find that a contract existed. Copyright attorney Dallas Kratzer said that the Ninth Circuit's ruling "rendered moot all of the other questions in this lawsuit." "The Hollywood Reporter" said the ruling likely precludes any further attempt by the Siegel heirs to terminate DC Comics' copyright ownership of the character, although an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is not barred. The Ninth Circuit also ruled that DC Comics could move ahead with a tortious interference lawsuit against Siegel attorney Marc Toberoff, whom DC accuses of interfering with the 2001 settlement.


title: Superboy

text: On remand, the District Court for the Central District of California found that the 2001 agreement had terminated the Siegel heirs' rights to Superboy. The Siegel heirs appealed, arguing that the 2001 agreement did not cover the Superboy copyrights because the rights (at that time) were not the Siegels' to grant. They also argued that the agreement alienated their copyrights contrary to law. Finally, the heirs argued that Joanne Siegel had rescinded the 2001 agreement in 2002, an action in which DC Comics had agreed. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all these arguments.


title: Superboy

text: Joe Shuster died in 1992. After his death, DC Comics and his sister, Jean Shuster Peavy, entered into an agreement in which the company paid Shuster's debts, made "survivor payments" to Shuster's brother (Frank), and paid Jean $25,000 a year for the rest of her life. Jean Shuster Peavy and Frank Shuster agreed to turn over all copyright interest in Shuster's Detective Comics characters to DC Comics. The agreement also barred the Shuster family from asserting these rights in the future. The agreement did not, however, specifically mention Superman or Superboy.


title: Superboy

text: In 2003, the Joe Shuster estate filed suit to recover Shuster's copyright interest in Superman, Superboy, and other characters. DC Comics counter-sued, arguing the 1992 agreement barred any such claim. In 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held in "DC Comics v. Pacific Pictures Corp.", No. CV 10-3633 ODW (RZx), 2012 WL 4936588 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2012), that the 1992 agreement's broad, all-inclusive language was more than adequate to cover the Superman and Superboy copyrights in which Shuster had an interest. Thus, the estate was barred from seeking their termination under the Copyright Act. Whatever interest Shuster had in Superboy stayed with DC Comics. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Shuster family's appeal in October 2014, leaving the district court's ruling intact.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: There have been more than 300 limited-edition seasonal and regional flavors of Kit Kat chocolate bars produced in Japan since 2000, many exclusive to the country and not produced elsewhere. Nestlé, which operates the Kit Kat brand in Japan, reports that the brand overtook Meiji Chocolate as the top-selling confection in Japan from 2012 to 2014. The company's marketing campaign, which partnered with Japan Post to sell the bar in 20,000 post offices, won an award in 2010. The campaign encouraged associations of the product's name with the coincidental cognate , translated as "You will surely win", and could be mailed as a good luck charm for students ahead of university exams.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: Kit Kats were introduced to Japan in 1973 when British confectioner Rowntree's made an agreement with Japanese confectioner and restaurant owner . In 2014, they were the top-selling confection in the country. The Kit Kat brand took the number one sales position from Meiji chocolate in 2012, though Meiji remains the leading confection company in Japan overall.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: In 2004, the green tea flavor was introduced. Since then, the product has been sold in more than 300 seasonal and regional flavors. The top-selling flavor of the candy bar in 2010 was soy sauce. Nestlé attributes the success of the flavor varieties to the tradition of , in which regional specialties are brought back for family and co-workers from trips away. The company believes the limited-edition seasonal models create a "scarcity and rarity of value" for customers.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: The business model was created to solve a problem the company found in Japanese convenience stores, which frequently rotated items and flavors off of shelves. By producing smaller runs of flavors, the company was better able to control its production costs. It was also economically viable in Japan because there is no initial product fee for listing new products in Japanese convenience stores.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: Kit Kats in Japan are produced at Nestlé-owned factories in and . The milk chocolate used for Kit Kats is made from whole-milk powder and Nestlé buys most of its cacao beans from West Africa.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: Marketing for Kit Kats in Japan is believed to have benefited from the coincidental false cognate with , a phrase meaning "You will surely win" in Japanese. Some market research has shown that the brand is strongly correlated to good luck charms, particularly among students ahead of exams. Kit Kat's "Lucky Charm" advertising campaign in Japan won the Asian Brand Marketing Effectiveness Award in 2005.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: Nestlé and the Japan Post launched a campaign in 2009, allowing people to write messages and mail the chocolate bars from 20,000 post offices. The special packages included a space to write a message of encouragement and affix a stamp. The promotional packages were sold out within a month. The campaign won the Media Grand Prix in 2010's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: The Kit Kat Chocolatory, with recipes designed by chef , opened in 2014, and had expanded to seven branches by 2015. The company claims it has served more than 1 million customers and earned more than 2 billion yen. These shops sell high-end Kit Kat products such as raspberry-infused dark chocolate, orange-chocolate rum, cherry blossom and green tea. A variety of 's flavors have been introduced as seasonal products, including flavors such as plum, passion fruit, chilli, ginger and kinako soybean powder. In 2016, Nestlé introduced a Kit Kat, which combines powder with white chocolate.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: Some varieties are restricted to a specific region associated with that particular bar. Others are limited-run varieties, with excess supply saved for year-end "happy bag" specials. In 2015, 500 single-finger bitter chocolate bars were sold with gold leaf wrapping for about $16 in high-end retail shops.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: Notable varieties include (red bean), (purple sweet potato), brown sugar syrup, (green tea), and soy sauce.


title: Kit Kats in Japan

text: The cafe shop Pronto has introduced croissants incorporating Kit Kats. Pizza chains Napoli and Strawberry Cones introduced dessert pizzas with bakeable Kit Kat toppings in March 2014.


title: The Bad Touch

text: "The Bad Touch" is a song by American alternative rock band Bloodhound Gang. It was released in September 1999 as the second single from their third studio album, "Hooray for Boobies", which was released the following year in the United States and United Kingdom. In most territories, the song was released as the first single from the album, as "Along Comes Mary" was issued only in German-speaking Europe.


title: The Bad Touch

text: "The Bad Touch" became a hit in Europe throughout late 1999 and early 2000, reaching number one in Flanders, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden. Outside Europe, the song peaked at number five in Australia, number four in New Zealand, number nine in Canada, and number 52 in the United States. The song was remixed by many artists, including God Lives Underwater, KMFDM, and Eiffel 65.


title: The Bad Touch

text: The song's video features the band dressed in "MonkeyRat" costumes with oversized ears, in numerous locations in Paris, (including the Place de l'Estrapade, Avenue de Saxe, and Champ de Mars), and the Eiffel Tower is visible in many shots. During the video, the band uses blowguns to shoot tranquilizer darts into the buttocks of four passing young women, then carry them away. They then use a fishing rod to dangle a croissant in front of a group of chefs, enticing them to follow. The band members dance around for a few seconds and then lure three chefs into following them. The band members swallow several mealworms before finding two effeminate gay men in a café, who are then beaten over the head with baguettes and knocked unconscious. A mime artist played by actor Jordan Prentice is captured in a net then thrown into a cage with the four women, three chefs and gay couple in a parody of animal-collectors capturing frightened specimens. The band leap around the cage, taunting their captives. As the song draws to an end, the prisoners are released and all dance together in formation in the street. The mime artist escapes and is run over by a speeding Renault 5 car driven by Lüpüs Thünder.


title: The Bad Touch

text: The uncensored version of the video shows the band playing with and eating a brown semi-liquid food, with the implication it is diarrhea, and a beginning which features them feigning sex in a doggy-style position rather than dancing as in the clean version. The violent capture of the gay couple is also missing from some versions.


title: The Bad Touch

text: A scene in the video featuring a pair of gay men, who share french fries and are subsequently beaten by the band members with baguettes, was cut after it premiered. GLAAD complained about the scene to MTV stating "a gay-bashing scene in any context in today's climate is not acceptable". MTV reviewed the video and suggested to Geffen Records the scene be cut. Lead singer Jimmy Pop commented: "I would give any gay man two tickets to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of his choice if he could describe exactly who's going to become violent based on that scene."


title: Human sex pheromones

text: No study has led to the isolation of true human sex pheromones, though various researchers have investigated the possibility of their existence. Sex pheromones are chemical (olfactory) signals, pheromones, released by an organism to attract an individual, encourage it to mate with it, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction.


title: Human sex pheromones

text: While humans are highly dependent upon visual cues, when in proximity, smells also play a role in sociosexual behaviors. An inherent difficulty in studying human pheromones is the need for cleanliness and odorlessness in human participants. Experiments have focused on three classes of putative human pheromones: axillary steroids, vaginal aliphatic acids, and stimulators of the vomeronasal organ.


title: Human sex pheromones

text: Axillary steroids are produced by the testes, ovaries, apocrine glands and adrenal glands. These chemicals are not biologically active until puberty when sex steroids influence their activity. The activity change during puberty suggest that humans communicate through odors. Several axillary steroids have been described as possible human pheromones: androstadienol, androstadienone, androstenone, androstenol, and androsterone.


title: Human sex pheromones

text: Androstenol is the putative female pheromone. In a 1978 study by Kirk-Smith, people wearing surgical masks treated with androstenol or untreated were shown pictures of people, animals and buildings and asked to rate the pictures on attractiveness. Individuals with their masks treated with androstenol rated their photographs as being "warmer" and "more friendly". The best-known case study involves the synchronization of menstrual cycles among women based on unconscious odor cues, the "McClintock effect", named after the primary investigator, Martha McClintock, of the University of Chicago. A group of women were exposed to a whiff of perspiration from other women. Depending on the time in the month the sweat was collected (before, during, or after ovulation), there was an association with the recipient woman's menstrual cycle to speed up or slow down. The 1971 study proposed two types of pheromone involved: "One, produced prior to ovulation, shortens the ovarian cycle; and the second, produced just at ovulation, lengthens the cycle". However, recent studies and reviews of the methodology have called the validity of her results into question. A 2013 meta-review of existing studies showed that the syncing of ovarian cycles likely did not exist.


title: Human sex pheromones

text: Androstenone is postulated to be secreted only by men as an attractant for women and is also thought to affect their mood positively. It seems to have different effects on women, depending on where a female is in her menstrual cycle, with the highest sensitivity to it during ovulation. In 1983, study participants exposed to androstenone were shown to undergo changes in skin conductance. Androstenone has been found to be perceived as more pleasant to women at a woman’s time of ovulation. It is hypothesized that this may be a way for a male to detect an ovulating female who would be more willing to be involved in sexual interaction.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizers, and minimal chord or tempo changes.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Following their debut album "Sound of Confusion" (1986), Spacemen 3 had their first independent chart hits in 1987, gaining a cult following, and through albums "The Perfect Prescription" (1987) and "Playing with Fire" (1989), went on to have greater success towards the end of the decade. However, they disbanded shortly afterwards, releasing their final studio album "Recurring" post-split in 1991 after an acrimonious parting of ways.


title: Spacemen 3

text: They gained a reputation as a 'drug band' due to the members' drug-taking habits and Kember's candid interviews and outspoken opinions on recreational drug use. Kember and Pierce were the only members common to all line-ups of the band. Pierce has enjoyed considerable success with his subsequent project Spiritualized. Kember has since found acclaim for his production work with indie artists, most often under the stage name Sonic Boom.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The creative and song-writing force throughout Spacemen 3's history were Peter Kember and Jason Pierce. They met at the (now defunct) Rugby Art College on Clifton Road, Rugby, Warwickshire in autumn 1982, both aged 16, and became close friends. Pierce was in a band called Indian Scalp, but he left them near the end of 1982 in order to collaborate with Kember. The two guitarists recruited drummer Tim Morris, who played with a couple of other bands and had a rehearsal space at his parental home which they used. Shortly afterwards they were joined by an acquaintance, Pete Bain, on bass. Morris and Bain had previously played together in a band called Noise on Independent Street. Pierce handled lead vocal duties. Now a 4-piece, the band originally adopted the name The Spacemen. Their first live performances occurred around winter 1982/83, playing at a party and then at a couple of gigs they managed to get at a local bar; at the latter their set included a 20-minute version of the one-chord song "O.D. Catastrophe".


title: Spacemen 3

text: In autumn 1983, Pierce, having finished his course at Rugby Art College, started attending an art school in Maidstone, Kent. This prompted Bain and Morris to leave and join a new local band, The Push, being formed by Gavin Wissen. Kember and Pierce recruited a replacement drummer, Nicholas "Natty" Brooker. They continued without a bassist and Pierce would regularly return to Rugby for rehearsals. In early 1984, they only performed at a few local, low-key venues. Still a trio, they changed their name to Spacemen 3. Kember explained:


title: Spacemen 3

text: Despite having played fewer than ten gigs, Spacemen 3 decided to produce a demo tape. In 1984 they made their first studio recordings at the home studio of Dave Sheriff in Rugby. This material – which included early iterations of the songs "Walkin' with Jesus", "Come Down Easy" and "Things'll Never be the Same" – was used for a short demo tape entitled "For All The Fucked Up Children Of The World We Give You Spacemen 3". They got a few hundred cassette copies made and produced their own artwork and booklet to accompany it, selling the tapes for £1 at a local record shop. Spacemen 3's music at this stage had a loose, swampy blues feel; some songs included harmonica and slide guitar, and their style sounded akin to The Cramps. These early demo recordings, which Kember later recalled as being "really dreadful", would later be released unofficially in 1995 on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label, thus providing an insight into the band's embryonic sound.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Around 1984 and 1985, Spacemen 3 were doing gigs every two or three months on the local Rugby/Northampton/Coventry circuit, and had a regular spot at The Black Lion public house in Northampton. Their gigs had an 'anti performance' element: Kember and Pierce would play their guitars sitting down and would barely acknowledge the audience. They would illuminate the stage with some cheap, old optokinetic disco light-show equipment which they had acquired, providing a psychedelic backdrop. Kember:


title: Spacemen 3

text: By summer 1985, Spacemen 3 were headlining at The Black Lion and becoming one of the biggest local bands. Around this time they started to co-host a weekly club night together with another local band, Gavin Wissen's 'The Cogs of Tyme'. 'The Reverberation Club', as it was called, was held at The Blitz public house in Rugby on Thursdays. "50s, 60s and 70s punk" records were played and it soon provided a live venue for Spacemen 3 and various other local bands. At one of their gigs at The Black Lion in 1985, they came to the attention of Pat Fish, the leader of the recording band The Jazz Butcher; he felt Spacemen 3 were "extraordinary" and "like nothing else".


title: Spacemen 3

text: In November 1985, Spacemen 3 played a gig at a leisure centre in Coventry to an audience of fewer than ten people. Nevertheless, encouraged by the support of Pat Fish, they determined that they ought to record a new demo tape. By this time they had reconfigured and honed their musical style, and their repertoire consisted of newer songs and re-worked older ones. "The band's sound had crystallised into the intense, hypnotic, overloaded psychedelia which characterised their early [record] output, and which would serve as a template for their live act throughout their existence" (Ian Edmond, "Record Collector").


title: Spacemen 3

text: At Pierce's instigation, Pete Bain rejoined the band on bass in order to fill out their sound. Despite being a 4-piece again, they would retain the name Spacemen 3. Kember and Pierce opted to upgrade their guitar equipment ahead of recording the new demos. Kember purchased a Burns Jazz electric guitar and 1960s Vox Conqueror amplifier; whilst Pierce bought a Fender Telecaster and a 1970s HH amplifier. Both of their new amplifiers included distortion/fuzz and tremolo; these two effects were key components of Spacemen 3's signature sound.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In January 1986, Spacemen 3 attended the Studio Morocco based at the home of Carlo Marocco at Piddington, outside Northampton, to record their new demo tape. They spent three-and-a-half days at the 16-track studio. Recording live as a group, with minimal overdubs, they managed to get demos for approximately seven songs. Kember and Pierce handled the production. with studio manager Dave Howard dealing with the technicalities. These "fine set of performances" would later be unofficially released as the vinyl album "Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To" on the Father Yod label in 1990 (albeit described incorrectly as "rehearsals in Rugby").


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 managed to obtain a record deal shortly after producing their new demos. Pat Fish had given a copy of the demo tape to Dave Barker, the owner of the independent record label Glass Records, to whom Fish's band The Jazz Butcher were signed. Spacemen 3 signed a three-year, two-album recording contract with Glass Records in early 1986.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 were sent to record their first album, "Sound of Confusion", at the studios of Bob Lamb in the King's Heath area of Birmingham. By this time, they had already started to write some 'softer' songs, but they decided that the album should consist entirely of 'heavier', older material. With a recording budget of less than £1,000, they completed the album in five days, with the last two days dedicated to mixing. Attempts at recording the title song "Walkin' with Jesus (Sound of Confusion)" were unsuccessful and abandoned.


title: Spacemen 3

text: It was originally intended that Pat Fish would produce the album, but due to his touring commitments with his band, The Jazz Butcher, it was instead produced by Bob Lamb. However, Lamb refused to allow Kember or Pierce near the production desk. Kember would later reveal, "He [Lamb] had no affinity with our type of music at all and was quite domineering". Both Kember and Pierce were unhappy with the production on the album, feeling it suffered from Lamb's unsympathetic production; they later said they much preferred their versions on the Northampton demo tape.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The seven-track "Sound of Confusion" album had a heavy psychedelic style with a strong Stooges influence. It was "a full on, fuzzed up drone of relentless guitar pounding" (Ian Edmond, "Record Collector"), with a "rough garage energy " and "minimal, bluntly entrancing riffs". A "NME" review of the 1990 re-release recalled of the album: "It's a lo-fi, mostly low-key affair, the sound of the band finding their feet... It doesn't quite attain the critical mass to transcend its basis in the most rudimentary garage punk of the Sixties... Side Two is pretty much one long tribute to The Stooges... "Sound of Confusion" probably felt like a revelation, to the few who heard it at the time."


title: Spacemen 3

text: "Sound of Confusion" was released in July 1986. The cover artwork included shots of the band illuminated by their light-show equipment. The album was not received well, making little impression at the time, although it went on to reach no. 2 on the UK Independent Chart in 1989. Publicity for the album suffered from lack of funding by Glass Records.


title: Spacemen 3

text: During 1986, Spacemen 3 made live performances every few weeks. These continued to occur at local venues, with the exception of gigs in Chesterfield, Birmingham and, in August, their first appearance in London. The latter gig saw them receive their first reviews in both "NME" and "Sounds".


title: Spacemen 3

text: To follow up their album, Spacemen 3 made their first single: "Walkin' with Jesus". This was recorded at Carlo Marocco's studio outside Northampton. For the title track they re-mixed the version they had previously recorded for their demo tape. For the B-side, they recorded "Feel So Good", a newer composition, and re-recorded a 17-minute "Rollercoaster" (a cover of the 13th Floor Elevators). This single was the first Spacemen 3 record that Peter Kember and Jason Pierce produced; the duo handled all future production. The "Walkin' with Jesus" single was released in November 1986. It received decent reviews from "NME" and "Sounds", and peaked at no. 29 on the UK Independent Chart, and no. 46 in the indie chart published by "Sounds".


title: Spacemen 3

text: It was in 1986 that guitarist Peter Kember started to use his long-term alias 'Sonic Boom'. He had earlier employed the aliases 'Mainliner' and 'Peter Gunn'. Bassist Pete Bain also adopted his alias: 'Bassman' or 'Pete Bassman'.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Towards the end of 1986 the behaviour of Spacemen 3's drummer, Natty Brooker, became increasingly eccentric and bizarre. His refusal to wear shoes, even when playing the bass drum, led to arguments and Brooker left the band. Stewart 'Rosco' Roswell, a housemate of Pierce's and Brooker's, was recruited as the latter's replacement. Although Roswell was originally only a temporary appointment and was not a recognised drummer at the outset, he remained in the band for over a year.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In January 1987, Spacemen 3 commenced work on their second album, "The Perfect Prescription". This was recorded at Paul Atkins' VHF Studios, near Rugby. VHF had been recommended to the band by in-house sound engineer Graham Walker with whom they had worked previously when recording their first demo tape. The first set of demo recordings they made at VHF Studios relating to the new album were dubbed the 'Out of It Sessions'. Procurable only as bootleg, this work shows the transition in Spacemen 3's musical style that was occurring around winter 1986/87.


title: Spacemen 3

text: VHF Studios' 8-track facilities needed updating though, and a deal was agreed that Spacemen 3 would receive a large amount of studio time in return for financing new 16-track recording and mixing equipment at VHF, at a cost of around £3,000. Spacemen 3 would spend over eight months at VHF Studios. Importantly, this allowed them generous time to experiment, and develop and refine their sound and material in a studio setting, assisted by Graham Walker. In the album liner notes of "Forged Prescriptions", a re-release of "The Perfect Prescription", Kember recalled:


title: Spacemen 3

text: Whilst working on the album, "Transparent Radiation"—a cover of a song by the Red Crayola—was recorded, and released as a single in July 1987. "Transparent Radiation" was awarded 'Single of the Week' by "Sounds", and matched the previous single in reaching no. 29 on the independent chart. The B-side included "Ecstasy Symphony", a new experimental piece using an organ drone multi-tracked and fed through various effects (this would presage some of Peter Kember's later work and his interest in analogue synthesisers).


title: Spacemen 3

text: Kember described it as "kind of a concept album, it's about our better and worse experiences with drugs". Produced by Kember and Pierce, they agreed to restrict the amount of guitar overdubs in order that it would be easier to replicate the songs live. "The Perfect Prescription" received little critical attention in the UK, being better received in the United States. However, it represented Kember and Pierce's "collaborative zenith" (Erik Morse), and the album "is practically a best-of in all but name".


title: Spacemen 3

text: "The Perfect Prescription" "marked a serious artistic development, drawing deeper from gospel, ambient, and spiritual music, granting a serenity and depth to their spaced-out garage psychedelia". Although retaining the same minimalist approach, Spacemen 3's sound was now sparser and mellower. Extra textures and complexity were evident, provided by overdubs and additional instrumentation, with the organ sound of the VHF Studio's Farfisa being a significant introduction. The instrumental palette was also extended with acoustic guitar, violin (from local musician Owen John), saxophone and trumpet (from members of The Jazz Butcher) being used on some songs. Much of the album did not feature drums. This was the first album on which Kember contributed lead vocals.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 performed live on about twenty occasions during 1987. This included several gigs in the Netherlands and Belgium in March, and a few dates in London, Sheffield and Leeds later on in the year.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In January–February 1988, Spacemen 3 undertook a six-week tour of continental Europe, encompassing Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium. Comprising nearly thirty gigs, the tour saw tensions and discontent arise between band members. After they returned to England, drummer Stewart Roswell quit.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Relations between Peter Kember and Jason Pierce were beginning to suffer as a result of Pierce's romantic relationship with Kate Radley, whom he had been dating since summer 1987. Kember resented the amount of time his song-writing partner was spending with her at his expense.


title: Spacemen 3

text: A UK tour in spring 1988 used stand-in drummers to fulfil live dates. Roswell's departure was followed by that of Pete Bain at the end of May. A replacement bassist was immediately appointed: Will Carruthers, a friend of the band who had recently been playing in another Rugby group, 'The Cogs of Tyme'.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In July 1988, Spacemen 3's third single, "Take Me to the Other Side", was released, from "The Perfect Prescription" album. The single received good press and was "NME" Single of the Week.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 were keen to be freed from their recording contract with Glass Records who were in financial difficulty and owed them royalties. Although they had produced the requisite two albums, there was still a year remaining on their contract. A deal was reached whereby, in return for providing a live album, their contractual obligations would be deemed to have been met and they would be allowed to leave. Accordingly, "Performance" was released in July 1988. This seven-track live album was a recording of their gig at the Melkweg venue, Amsterdam, on 6 February 1988. (Three previously unreleased songs were excluded.)


title: Spacemen 3

text: Following their departure from Glass Records, Spacemen 3 were without a record deal. The only offer they received was from the prominent independent label Creation Records. However, Creation owner Alan McGee – a keen fan of the band – was only able to offer a one-album deal and with no advance. This was not pursued.


title: Spacemen 3

text: It was at this juncture that Kember and Pierce chose to enter into a contractual relationship with Gerald Palmer, a Northamptonshire businessman and concert promoter who had already been functioning recently as Spacemen 3's "de facto" manager. This tripartite business partnership had the following terms: Palmer would own the master tapes of all future recordings, the rights of which would be licensed to record labels for release; touring and recording costs etc. would be financed by Palmer, who would give Kember and Pierce an advance of £1,000 each; and, in return, all profits would be split 50:50: 50% for Palmer, and 50% for Kember and Pierce and other band members. Significantly, this contract was only with Kember and Pierce, meaning Spacemen 3 as a legal and financial entity would, in essence, constitute only the two of them together with Palmer. In addition, Palmer became Spacemen 3's manager.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Peter Kember had purchased an unusual electric guitar near the end of 1987: a Vox Starstream made in the late 1960s. This guitar incorporated several in-built effects, including fuzz and Repeat Percussion (or Repeater). The latter was a unique tremolo type, almost delay-like effect, and Kember would use it heavily on Spacemen 3's future output. One of his first compositions featuring this effect was the eponymous "Repeater" (a.k.a. "How Does It Feel?"). "Repeater" and two other new songs also composed by Kember – "Revolution" and "Suicide" – were debuted on the European tour in early 1988. All three songs would feature on the next studio album, "Playing with Fire". Around spring 1988 Kember was using his 4-track recorder to develop his ideas and several songs for the next album.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Recording for Spacemen 3's third studio album, "Playing with Fire", started in June 1988. Their new manager, Gerald Palmer, booked ARK Studios in Cornwall for a month. These sessions were not particularly productive however and they left a week early. ARK Studios only had 8-track facilities and some of Spacemen 3's recordings were accidentally wiped by the in-house sound engineer. Rough demos were managed for Kember's "Honey" and Pierce's "Lord Can You Hear Me?". They still did not have a drummer at this point.


title: Spacemen 3

text: New bassist Will Carruthers made his first live appearance with Spacemen 3 at London Dingwalls on 20 June, where they were supported by My Bloody Valentine. It was after this gig that a confrontation occurred between Kember, Pierce and his girlfriend Kate Radley. Tired of Radley's persistent presence around the band of late – at recording sessions, touring and backstage at gigs – Kember enforced an agreed 'no girls on the bus' policy and barred Radley from boarding the tour van, leaving Pierce and Radley to find their own way home.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Recording for "Playing with Fire" recommenced; they returned to VHF Studios, outside Rugby, where they had recorded "The Perfect Prescription". By now, song-writing duo Peter Kember and Jason Pierce were formulating new song ideas entirely separate from one another. Both their personal and working relationships were beginning to disintegrate. Pierce's romance with Kate Radley was impacting on his time with the band and his contributions. Of the eventual tracks on "Playing with Fire", six were Kember's compositions, whilst only three were Pierce's. The recording process for this album was different: individual parts were recorded separately, which meant band members did not have to be present at the same time.


title: Spacemen 3

text: On 19 August, Spacemen 3 gave an unusual live performance. Palmer had booked them to provide 'An Evening of Contemporary Sitar Music' in the foyer of the Waterman's Art Centre in Brentford, London, to act as a prelude to a screening of the film "Wings of Desire". Kember, Pierce and Carruthers were joined by Rugby musician Steve Evans. They played a 45-minute jam, based around a single chord strummed by Evans, featuring riffs from some of the songs from their as yet unreleased "Playing with Fire" material. This performance was recorded and was later released, in 1990, as . The crowd assembled for the film was not impressed, and, according to Pat Fish, one of the patrons remarked to the other: "To think that Elvis died for this!"


title: Spacemen 3

text: After initial plans to use drummers from The Weather Prophets and Thee Hypnotics for the recording of "Playing with Fire", a permanent drummer was recruited in late August: Jonny Mattock. Despite this, he does not appear on "Playing with Fire" – a drum machine was used on all of the songs and no drummer is credited on the album. Mattock had been playing in a Northampton band called The Apple Creation. He was recommended by future Spacemen 3 guitarist Mark Refoy. Mattock made his live debut on 24 August at a gig at the Riverside in Hammersmith, London, and contributed to the new album. The new rhythm section of Carruthers and Mattock would remain constant for the rest of Spacemen 3's existence.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In summer 1988, Spacemen 3 managed to obtain a two-album deal with independent label, Fire Records. Kember and Pierce argued over the choice of song for their first single with Fire. Agreement was eventually reached on "Revolution". At a gig on 15 November 1988, advertised as 'Sonic Boom and Jason of Spacemen 3', only Kember and Carruthers performed; Pierce spent the whole time at the bar with Kate Radley, whom he was now living with.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The single "Revolution" was released in November 1988. The title track was a powerful, anthemic "mind-melting crunch". "'Revolution' was the chest-tearing noise that propelled them from complete obscurity to the cultosphere of young indie rock godz" (Jack Barron, "NME", 29/7/1989). The single peaked in the top 10 of the indie charts, representing Spacemen 3's highest chart position yet, and was voted by radio listeners for inclusion in John Peel's end-of-year Festive Fifty. Awarded Single of the Week by the "Melody Maker", it was extremely well received by the music press whose general attitude towards the band changed at this juncture:


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 "became the indie phenomenon of late 1988" (Erik Morse). They were receiving more media attention and got their first cover story in "Melody Maker" 19 November 1988 issue.<ref name="Melody Maker, 19/11/1988">"Melody Maker", 19/11/1988</ref> Peter Kember effectively became the sole spokesperson for Spacemen 3, giving numerous interviews. These provided for controversy and journalistic focus due to Kember's candid openness about his drug-taking habits and his forthright views on recreational drug use. On one occasion, Kember invited his interviewer to accompany him as he collected his methadone prescription. Kember was regularly described in the music papers, incorrectly, as the "leader" of Spacemen 3, although he had not helped in this portrayal: in the Melody Maker article referred to above, Kember had stated: "This band is my design and the rest are totally into it."<ref name="NME, 29/7/1989">"NME", 29/7/1989</ref><ref name="Sounds, 05/12/1988">"Sounds", 05/12/1988</ref>


title: Spacemen 3

text: Completion of the "Playing with Fire" album was delayed due to recording delays and a dispute about song-writing credits. At a meeting at Fire Records' London office, Peter Kember proffered his name for single writing credits for six of the album's nine songs; however, Jason Pierce countered, demanding joint credits for three of those songs due to the guitar parts he had contributed to them. An argument led to Kember attempting to hit Pierce and a scuffle ensued. An impasse resulted; Pierce threatened to pull his songs from the album if his demands were not met. Manager Gerald Palmer mediated to resolve the feud. At a very tense four-hour meeting, of fierce arguments and recriminations between Kember and Pierce, Palmer finally managed to obtain a compromise with Kember conceding split song-writing credits for 'Suicide'.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In late 1988, Peter Kember was already working on new material for post "Playing with Fire". His productivity meant he had a surfeit of songs, and he advised his bandmates of his intention to produce a solo album. New indie label Silvertone Records offered Kember a generous one-off album deal which he accepted. Kember finished recordings for his debut solo album and single in March 1989, prior to the commencement of Spacemen 3's European tour. Other members of Spacemen 3, including Pierce, as well as other musicians, had contributed sessions. Release of Kember's solo album ("Spectrum") and single – under the moniker of Kember's alias, Sonic Boom – were put on hold in order to avoid a marketing clash with "Playing with Fire".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3's eagerly awaited "Playing with Fire" album was finally released on 27 February 1989. The album's front cover sleeve bore the slogan, "Purity, Love, Suicide, Accuracy, Revolution". "Playing with Fire" was Spacemen 3's first record to chart and one of the breakthrough indie albums of the year. Within weeks of its release, it was No. 1 in both the "NME" and "Melody Maker" indie charts. It was "their most critically and commercially successful album". Reviews were extremely positive and the album garnered wide critical acclaim:


title: Spacemen 3

text: With the exception of "Revolution" and "Suicide", the other songs on the album were mellower and softer than Spacemen 3's previous work, continuing the development of their previous album. ""Playing with Fire"... shows another side of Spacemen 3 – a slower, melancholic, blissfully refined pop band" (Ron Rom, "Sounds"). The band "created glazed, liquid songs with subtle arrangements and sheer reveling in aural joys...["Playing with Fire" is] a feast of sound".


title: Spacemen 3

text: The "Playing with Fire" album was distributed in the United States on Bomp! Records, the label of Greg Shaw, who paid $10,000 for the rights. Spacemen 3 were popular in America and a prospective US tour was planned to start in September 1989. Greg Shaw organised the tour.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In February–March 1989, Spacemen 3 undertook a four-week UK tour comprising 21 dates, coinciding with the new album's release. Comments from gig reviews included:


title: Spacemen 3

text: At the start of the UK tour Kate Radley was again travelling in the tour van, thus causing tension between Kember and Pierce. After several gigs, Kember told Pierce this could not continue. For the rest of the UK dates Pierce and Radley, now living in a new flat together, made their own way to gigs.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The UK tour was shortly followed by an extensive and gruelling four-week tour of continental Europe in April–May 1989. This incorporated 22 dates across the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria and Italy. (Radley was not present on this tour). Setlists remained more or less consistent around this period. For the purposes of live performances, Spacemen 3 played their more powerful or heavier – and therefore mostly older – songs, featuring little from "Playing with Fire"; although the odd softer song was played occasionally. Sets typically ended with the song "Suicide" which could last up to 45 minutes.


title: Spacemen 3

text: At the beginning of 1989 Spacemen 3 had been one of the "hottest indie bands in England" (Erik Morse) and were gaining the attention of major US record labels. However, despite their success in winter 1988–89, their prospects were very different less than a year later. The personal and working relationship between Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, still the principal members of the band, would completely disintegrate, leading Spacemen 3 to eventually disband.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 used the short break between the UK and European tours in spring 1989 as an opportunity to record a new single. Two songs were recorded, at VHF Studios: "Hypnotized", a new song by Pierce, who had recently acquired his own 4-track recorder; and "Just To See You Smile", by Kember. The songwriters spent a day's session on each other's song, although Kember's contribution to "Hypnotized" was not ultimately used. Kember accused Pierce of copying his sounds; he felt the flutter multi-tap reverb on "Hypnotized" was the same as he had employed on "Honey" and "Let Me Down Gently" on "Playing with Fire".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Whilst Spacemen 3 were on tour in Europe in April–May 1989, manager Gerald Palmer prepared the new single for release. Without consulting Kember or Pierce, Palmer mastered the tracks, had the sleeve artwork designed, and selected "Hypnotized" for the A-side. When Kember found out he was furious; however, Palmer refused to postpone the pressing of the single. A resulting feud permanently damaged Kember and Palmer's working relationship.


title: Spacemen 3

text: When Spacemen 3 returned to England from their European tour at the end of May 1989, there was tension between Kember and Pierce. In June, Spacemen 3 played ten UK gigs. Initially, Pierce was making his own way to these dates, but when he instead used the tour van there was a bad atmosphere between the two men.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The single "Hypnotized" was released on 3 July 1989. It was their "most anticipated release yet" (Erik Morse) and immediately charted inside the top 10 of the "NME" and "Melody Maker" indie charts. It was "Sounds" Single of the Week. After two weeks, "Hypnotized" reached No. 1 on the "Melody Maker" indie chart, and No. 2 on the "NME" indie chart (second only to The Stone Roses' "She Bangs The Drums"). It was voted No. 33 in John Peel's end of year Festive Fifty.


title: Spacemen 3

text: A third guitarist, Mark Refoy, had been recruited at the beginning of summer 1989, to play on later live dates and work on the next album. Refoy had been a friend and keen fan of the band for several years, and had contributed to Kember's solo album. He was guitarist in the indie band The Tell-Tale Hearts who had disbanded in 1987. Refoy made his first live performance with Spacemen 3 at their Rugby 'homecoming' gig on 20 July.


title: Spacemen 3

text: On 23 July, Spacemen 3 played their biggest headlining gig at The Town & Country Club, London, a 2,000-capacity venue. On 22 August, they played a warm-up gig at Subterranea, London, for the Reading Festival, their first festival gig. Spacemen 3 played at the Reading Festival on 25 August 1989. This would transpire to be their last ever live performance.


title: Spacemen 3

text: At the beginning of September 1989, Spacemen 3 were about to undertake a substantial tour of the United States – despite disagreement between Kember and Pierce as to whether Kate Radley could accompany them. The tour schedule had been finalised and they were due to be in America for the rest of the year, playing about 50 gigs. The band had grievances with their manager Gerald Palmer, such as perceived lack of monies being received, and summoned him to a meeting at VHF Studios. The meeting, which was secretly recorded, involved intense arguments and accusations, and nothing was resolved. In an interview in 1991, Kember described Palmer as "the most devious guy I've ever had the misfortune to meet".


title: Spacemen 3

text: A few days later Kember and Pierce met Palmer again and sacked him. However, Palmer's partnership agreement with Kember and Pierce meant that he was contractually still effectively one third of Spacemen 3. Palmer had already incurred at least £10,000 in recording expenses for the next album. In response to his dismissal as manager, he decided to withdraw his commitment to finance the imminent US tour, which was therefore cancelled at the eleventh hour. Tour posters had already been printed. The considerable time and money Bomp! Records' Greg Shaw had expended in preparing the tour was wasted.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The official explanation at the time – and that reported in the UK music press – was that the US tour had been cancelled because they had not been able to obtain work permits due to the drug convictions of band members. However, it has since transpired that this was not the case: work permits had been obtained for the band, albeit with difficulty.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Recording for Spacemen 3's fourth studio album, "Recurring", had commenced at the beginning of August 1989, again at VHF Studios. According to Mark Refoy, Kember and Pierce rarely appeared at the studio at the same time and there was "quite a tense atmosphere" between them. When work recommenced after the Reading Festival, Kember and Pierce were recording separately from one another. Pierce contributed guitar parts to Kember's songs, but Kember did not play on any of Pierce's songs. When Kember heard Pierce's demos, he again renewed his claim that he was copying his sounds and effects, and accused Pierce's "Billy Whizz" of being a composition he had written several years prior. The two were now estranged and working completely separately. They agreed to have separate sides of the album for their own songs, all of which they had written and composed individually. Pierce's side of the album is effectively his next project 'Spiritualized', and Kember's side of effectively his next project 'Spectrum' with Richard Formby, Kember's partner in Spectrum playing guitar on his side. The other three band members – Carruthers, Mattock and Refoy – who all went on to join Spiritualized, were called in to contribute sessions when required.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In late September, Kember made a solo performance at a gig supporting The Telescopes. Kember and Pierce agreed to be in the studio together to record a cover of Mudhoney's "When Tomorrow Hits", for a prospective split single with Mudhoney. When Kember heard Mudhoney's version of "Revolution", with altered lyrics, he was offended and this collaborative Sub Pop release was called off however. The recording of "When Tomorrow Hits" was the last occasion Kember and Pierce would work together. Disconsolate Will Carruthers left the band at this point, fed up with the discord and lack of remuneration.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Recording for the album proceeded slowly and was still ongoing in Autumn 1989, by which point Kember had used two to three times the amount of studio time as Pierce. According to band members, Kember's behaviour was becoming increasingly obsessive and erratic. He was regularly missing booked studio slots. In late October, Kember's debut solo single, "Angel" was released. It received a lukewarm reception.


title: Spacemen 3

text: On 14 November 1989, the four remaining Spacemen 3 band members met to discuss finishing the album and arranging future live dates. The meeting was unproductive. Reportedly, Kember and Pierce both said little. Jonny Mattock told Kember he was difficult to work with. Mattock and Mark Refoy, both peeved, left the meeting prematurely and effectively resigned from Spacemen 3. In December, Gerald Palmer attempted to mediate between his business partners, Kember and Pierce, meeting them individually because Pierce reportedly refused contact with Kember.


title: Spacemen 3

text: During 1989, Gerald Palmer had been courting interest and offers from US major record labels. Palmer had been postponing a decision hoping the US tour would lever improved offers. Negotiations with Dedicated Records, a satellite label of BMG, had been ongoing for several months. The poor intra-band relations had remained secret for the sake of outward appearance. By October 1989, the latest offer from Dedicated was a five-album, multimillion-dollar deal, with a £60,000 advance. Palmer had expended £15,000 on legal fees, and because he had managed to negotiate out the standard Leaving Member Clause, Kember and Pierce were in a 'win-win situation'.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In December, the three met to arrange signing the Dedicated record deal. Pierce insisted that Kember sign an agreement stating that the two of them had equal rights to Spacemen 3, to mutually protect them by preventing either party potentially claiming ownership of the Spacemen 3 name should the other quit. Coerced by the attraction of his portion of the Dedicated advance, Kember signed it. Mattock claims Kember attacked Pierce in the street the next morning. At the beginning of 1990, Kember and Pierce attended the London offices of Dedicated separately to sign the record contract. A few days later, at a dinner (at the Paper Tiger Chinese restaurant in Lutterworth, Leicestershire) with Dedicated executives, Kember and Pierce were cordial with the other guests but didn't talk with one another. The pretence was kept up until the end; Palmer did not inform Dedicated about the band breaking up until March.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In late 1989, Jason Pierce, dissatisfied with his mixes at VHF Studios, took his recordings for the "Recurring" album to Battery Studios, London. Assisted by engineer/producer Anjali Dutt, Pierce completed final remixes of his songs in January 1990. However, Peter Kember's side of the album was far from ready, and he resorted to calling on the help of Richard Formby, a producer. According to Formby, when he arrived, Kember's recording was only half done; some songs were incomplete, and two had to be re-recorded from scratch.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In January 1990, Kember's side project and debut solo album, "Spectrum" (Sonic Boom), was released. Recorded nearly a year previously, Kember had used the project as a vehicle for a group of melancholic themed songs, having decided to save his more upbeat work for Spacemen 3 and "Recurring". The "Spectrum" album was advertised as being by the "founder member/leader of Spacemen 3".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Also in January, Pierce was developing ideas for forming a new band or side project of his own. He invited Spacemen 3 compatriots, Refoy, Carruthers and Mattock, to jam and rehearse with him at a small church hall and his flat. Initially it was informal, but this was the origin of Pierce's Spacemen 3 'splinter' band, Spiritualized, comprising all the same members as Spacemen 3 except for Kember. In February 1990, this new grouping recorded "Anyway That You Want Me". This was recorded at VHF Studios; the purpose of these sessions was kept secret from Kember who was still working there. Speaking in 1991, Pierce explained the purpose of starting Spiritualized:


title: Spacemen 3

text: Kember continued on completing his "Recurring" material. His indecision and constant remixing was prolonging the recording of the album. Gerald Palmer was still funding the studio time, and warned Kember to finish. Eventually, intolerant of any more delays, Palmer attended VHF Studios. He seized Kember's tapes, carrying out a previous threat, and chose the final mixes for release. There were reportedly dozens of different mixes for each song.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In June 1990, Spiritualized released their debut single, "Anyway That You Want Me". This was a cover of a song by The Troggs which Spacemen 3 had demoed in 1988 during their "Playing with Fire" sessions. The single's cover sleeve, which had no text on it, controversially bore a sticker saying "Spacemen 3". Furthermore, adverts for the single featured the Spacemen 3 logo.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The release of the Spiritualized single was the first Kember had definite knowledge of the band's existence. The circumstances surrounding the single and its marketing prompted Kember to announce that he was leaving Spacemen 3 and that the band no longer existed. Kember, interviewed in 1991:


title: Spacemen 3

text: In the latter half of 1990, Pierce's new band, Spiritualized, toured around the UK. They performed songs from the then as yet unreleased "Recurring", as well as new material. Spiritualized signed a record deal with Dedicated and recorded their debut album in winter 1990/91.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In January 1991, the Spacemen 3 single "Big City"/"Drive" was released. Both songs from the double A-side single were from the soon-to-released "Recurring". Kember and Pierce had been due to be at the studio for the mastering of the single, however Pierce did not attend. At that point the two had hardly spoken face to face in over six months. Kember decided to fade out several minutes of Pierce's song from the single, "Drive".


title: Spacemen 3

text: The last Spacemen 3 album, "Recurring", was finally released in February 1991. Although the band had not officially disbanded, for all intents and purposes it was a posthumous release. The two sides of the album – one by Kember (A-side), the other by Pierce (B-side) – reflected the split between the band's two main personnel.


title: Spacemen 3

text: The songs on "Recurring" had been composed in 1989. It expanded on the sounds of the previous, "Playing with Fire" album. Musically, it was richer and lusher, but Kember and Pierce's respective halves of "Recurring" were distinctly different and presaged the solo material which they were already working on by the time of the album's release. Kember's side demonstrated his pop and ambient sensibilities; Pierce's side indicated his sympathy for gospel and blues music and his interest in lush production.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In 1991 Kember and Pierce were pursuing their musical careers with their own bands, Spectrum and Spiritualized respectively. The release of "Recurring" prompted renewed press speculation about the future of Spacemen 3. No official statement explained why, or confirmed whether, Spacemen 3 had broken up.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Most members of Spacemen 3 have continued to produce music and record either collaboratively or in solo projects. Peter Kember (alias 'Sonic Boom') has had a solo career releasing music under the monikers Spectrum and E.A.R., and has also done production work for MGMT, Panda Bear, Dean & Britta and The Flowers of Hell. Jason Pierce (alias 'J. Spaceman') remains the leader and creative force, and only constant member, of the alternative band Spiritualized who have achieved significant critical acclaim and commercial success. Both Kember and Pierce continue to perform some Spacemen 3 songs live (e.g. "Transparent Radiation", "Revolution", "Suicide", "Set Me Free", "Che" and "Let Me Down Gently" [Kember]; and "Take Me to the Other Side", "Walkin' with Jesus", "Amen" and "Lord Can You Hear Me?" [Pierce]).


title: Spacemen 3

text: Will Carruthers, Jonny Mattock and Mark Refoy formed Spiritualized with Pierce in early 1990. Carruthers left the band after the first album in 1992; followed by Mattock and Refoy in 1994. Refoy then fronted Slipstream who released two albums. Refoy played guitar for the Pet Shop Boys on their live tour in 2007. Will Carruthers took a hiatus from the music industry after leaving Spiritualized; but subsequently has worked with Kember, recorded two solo albums as Freelovebabies, and has most recently toured with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Carruthers, Mattock and Refoy have also collaborated on projects together.


title: Spacemen 3

text: After leaving Spacemen 3 in 1988, both Pete Bain and Sterling Roswell (aka Rosco) joined the neo-psychedelic band the Darkside who released several albums. Following the end of Darkside, Bain formed Alphastone, and has assisted Kember on some of the latter's solo projects. As of 2010 he provides vocals and guitar in The Urgz. Stewart Roswell (alias Sterling Roswell) released a solo album, "The Psychedelic Ubik", in 2004.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In the early 1990s, early Spacemen 3 drummer Natty Brooker played bass under the alias Mr Ugly in a garage rock band The Guaranteed Ugly, with Gavin Wissen. They released two albums. Brooker provided cover artwork for Spacemen 3's "Recurring" album and early Spiritualized releases. Brooker died of cancer on Friday 18 April 2014.


title: Spacemen 3

text: A partial and unofficial 'reunion' of Spacemen 3 occurred on 15 July 2010 at a benefit gig dubbed 'A Reunion of Friends', organised for former Spacemen 3 drummer Natty Brooker (diagnosed with terminal cancer) at the Hoxton Bar and Grill in London where there was a retrospective exhibition of his artwork. Will Carruthers said of the event, "This is as close as you'll get to a Spacemen 3 reunion, trust me." The participants were: Peter Kember (keyboard/guitar/vocals); Will Carruthers (bass); Jonny Mattock (drums); Mark Refoy (guitar); Jason Holt (guitarist from Kember's touring Spectrum band); and guest appearances from Pat Fish (vocals), and Kevin Shields (guitar) of My Bloody Valentine. They played a 45-minute set comprising the songs 'Walkin' with Jesus', 'Revolution' and 'Suicide'.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Sonically, Spacemen 3's music was characterised by fuzzy and distorted electric guitars, stuttering tremolo effects and wah-wah, the employment of 'power chords' and simple riffs, harmonic overtones and drones, softly sung/spoken vocals, and sparse or monolithic drumming. Their earlier record releases were guitar 'heavy', sounding Stooges-esque and "a bit like a punked-up garage rock band"; whilst their later work was mostly sparser and softer with more textural techniques and augmented by organs, resulting in "their signature trance-like neo-psychedelia". Kember described it as "very hypnotic and minimal; every track has a drone all the way through it".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 were adherents to the "minimal is maximal" philosophy of Alan Vega, singer for the American duo Suicide who were known for their ominously repetitive music. This minimalist musical approach typically represented compositions consisting of the repetition of simple riffs based around the progression of only two or three chords, or simply using just one chord. Kember has articulated the maxim: "One chord best, two chords cool, three chords okay, four chords average".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 had the dictum "taking drugs to make music". In interviews, Kember often stated the importance of recreational drug use in his lifestyle and in inspiring his and Pierce's song-writing. Kember candidly admitted to his frequent drug taking—including cannabis, LSD, magic mushrooms, MDMA, amphetamine and cocaine—and being a former heroin addict. Much of Spacemen 3's music concerned documenting the drug experience and conveying the related feelings. In "NME" 2011 list, the '50 Druggiest Albums' of all-time, Spacemen 3's Northampton Demos release, "Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To", was ranked No. 23.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Kember was a keen record collector from the age of 11 or 12; some of the first records he purchased included albums by The Velvet Underground. Pierce: "When I was 14, I bought The Stooges' "Raw Power" and I listened to nothing but that for a year". Spacemen 3's early gig posters would often make explicit references to their sound being inspired by The Stooges, The Velvet Underground and The Rolling Stones. In 1988, Kember said, "Groups like Suicide or the MC5 are like my favorite stuff in the world". Pierce said, "Early on, we were listening to The Stooges, then came Suicide, then we'd start listening to Sun Ra, and pick up on all these lateral threads that ran between them".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 were "fanatical musical magpies". In addition to the proto-punk of New York's The Velvet Underground and Suicide, and Detroit's The Stooges and MC5, Kember's and Pierce's musical influences included: US 1960s psychedelic rock, such as The 13th Floor Elevators; US 1960s garage rock; 1960s British Invasion bands; rock and roll; Buddy Holly; surf music; The Beach Boys; early, seminal electronic music, e.g. Silver Apples, Delia Derbyshire and Laurie Anderson; krautrock; The Gun Club, The Cramps and Tav Falco's Panther Burns; early Chicago blues, e.g. Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf; early Delta blues; gospel and early Staple Singers; Otis Redding; the production techniques of Brian Wilson, Joe Meek and Phil Spector; and the avant-garde jazz and free jazz of Sun Ra and John Coltrane.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Spacemen 3 recorded and performed numerous covers and re-workings of other bands' songs, particularly earlier on in their history, and this was indicative of their influences. Examples include songs by the following bands and artists: The Stooges, MC5, The Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Roky Erikson, The Red Krayola, Glenn Campbell (of The Misunderstood), The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Suicide, Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones, The Troggs, The Yardbirds, and The Sonics. The song "Hey Man" (a.k.a. "Amen") is based on the melody of a gospel traditional, interpolating the lyrics of Fixin' to Die Blues by Bukka White. The song "Come Down Easy" is derivative of a blues traditional. Spacemen 3 performed an instrumental song live with a pronounced Bo Diddley style rhythm, dubbed "Bo Diddley Jam". The Spacemen 3 song "Suicide" was a clear acknowledgement of one of their influences: when performed live it was usually introduced as "this song is dedicated to Martin Rev and Alan Vega – Suicide".


title: Spacemen 3

text: Kember was also interested in drone music and everyday ambient sounds such as those created by electric razors, washing machines, lawnmowers, planes, motor engines and passing cars.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Their musical style has been described as neo-psychedelia, space rock, psychedelic rock, alternative rock, garage rock and blues rock.


title: Spacemen 3

text: "Spacemen 3 were one of the most revolutionary UK guitar bands" (Ian Edmond, "Record Collector"). They produced "some of the most visceral and psychedelic music of all time...and set a sonic template that influenced a generation, inspiring countless bands" (Julian Woolsey, "Rock Edition"). Writing in spring 1991, just after the band had split, "Vox" Stephen Dalton referred to Spacemen 3 as "one of the most influential underground bands of the last decade".


title: Spacemen 3

text: In 1998, a tribute album to Spacemen 3 was released by the Rocket Girl label. "A Tribute to Spacemen 3" included covers by bands such as Mogwai, Low, Bowery Electric and Bardo Pond. The album liner notes stated: "There are so many current bands who draw their influences from Spacemen 3 that now seems an appropriate time to show tribute to this underrated band."


title: Spacemen 3

text: In 2004, US journalist Erik Morse's biography of the band's life and work, "Spacemen 3 & The Birth of Spiritualized", was published.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In the two decades following the break-up of Spacemen 3, a large amount of previously unreleased recordings has been released, adding significantly to the Spacemen 3 canon. This material includes: live recordings; demos; earlier iterations of certain songs; alternate versions of many songs; some unfinished work; and some entirely previously unreleased songs. These releases have been both official and unofficial, and some have been issued by the Kember/Palmer-affiliated label Space Age Recordings.


title: Spacemen 3

text: "Losing Touch with Your Mind", an unofficial release of 1991, was a compilation of alternate song versions and rare releases. The 1993 re-release of on the Sympathy for the Record Industry label – which included the intriguing live 44-minute Eastern-inspired drone music performance at the Watermans Art Centre, Brentford, London, of August 1988 – was augmented with a previously unreleased recording of a jam.


title: Spacemen 3

text: 1995 saw the unofficial release of the band's first demo tape: "For All the Fucked Up Children of This World We Give You Spacemen 3". Dating to 1984, this provided an interesting insight into the band's earliest work and "rougher" sound. These recordings pre-dated the other early demos previously made available on the 1990 unofficial, Father Yod release entitled "Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To".


title: Spacemen 3

text: The 1994 re-release of the "Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To" (Northampton Demos) album included several previously unreleased alternate song versions and other bonus tracks.


title: Spacemen 3

text: Two live albums were released in 1995: "Live in Europe 1989" (also released in 1995 as "Spacemen Are Go!" on the Bomp! label, but without 'Take Me to the Other Side' and an alternate take of 'Suicide') which represented the first release of the band's live work from their lengthy 1989 contintental tour; and "Revolution or Heroin", a bootleg of performances from the band's 1988 gig at the University of London Students Union. The former has been described as "far better than the more ragged earlier Spacemen 3 live album, 1988's "Performance"".


title: Spacemen 3

text: In 1999, Spacemen 3's third studio album, "Playing with Fire", was given a special, 10th-anniversary re-release. This official double disc release comprised all the original recordings together with previously unreleased alternate versions, demos and covers (e.g. The Perfect Disaster's "Girl on Fire" and The Troggs' "Anyway That You Want Me") from the same studio sessions. This re-release has been described as the "definitive" version of the "Playing with Fire" album.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In 2004, Spacemen 3's second studio album, "The Perfect Prescription", was also given the special re-release treatment. The double disc official release, entitled "Forged Prescriptions", comprised alternate mixes of the original album tracks together with previously unreleased alternate versions, demos and covers (e.g. The Spades' "We Sell Soul" and The Troggs' "I Want You") from the same studio sessions. Kember's liner notes explain that the alternative mixes represent the more multi-layered versions which he and Pierce agreed not to use because they would be unable to satisfactorily reproduce their sound live.


title: Spacemen 3

text: A bootleg called the "Out of It Sessions" comprises demo recordings of early iterations of songs from "The Perfect Prescription" album.


title: Spacemen 3

text: In 2005, Kember produced and released his own limited edition, double disc album, "How the Blues Should've Turned Out". This wholly comprised previously unreleased material, including alternate versions, rough demos, unfinished work etc.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The subscapularis is a large triangular muscle which fills the subscapular fossa and inserts into the lesser tubercle of the humerus and the front of the capsule of the shoulder-joint.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: It arises from its medial two-thirds and from the lower two-thirds of the groove on the axillary border (subscapular fossa) of the scapula.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: Some fibers arise from tendinous laminae, which intersect the muscle and are attached to ridges on the bone; others from an aponeurosis, which separates the muscle from the teres major and the long head of the triceps brachii.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The fibers pass laterally and coalesce into a tendon that is inserted into the lesser tubercle of the humerus and the anterior part of the shoulder-joint capsule. Tendinous fibers extend to the greater tubercle with insertions into the bicipital groove.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The tendon of the muscle is separated from the neck of the scapula by a large bursa, which communicates with the cavity of the shoulder-joint through an aperture in the capsule. The subscapularis is separated from the serratus anterior by the subscapularis (supraserratus) bursa.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The subscapularis is supplied by the upper and lower subscapular nerves, branches of the posterior cord of the brachial plexus. (C5-C6)


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The subscapularis rotates the head of the humerus medially (internal rotation) and adducts it; when the arm is raised, it draws the humerus forward and downward. It is a powerful defense to the front of the shoulder-joint, preventing displacement of the head of the humerus.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The Gerber Lift-off test is the established clinical test for examination of the subscapularis. The bear hug test (internal rotation while palm is held on opposite shoulder and elbow is held in a position of maximal anterior translation) for subscapularis muscle tears has high sensitivity. Positive bear-hug and belly press tests indicate significant tearing of subscapularis.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: There is no singularly imaging device or technique for a satisfying and complete subscapularis examination, but rather the combination of the sagittal oblique MRI / short-axis US and axial MRI / long-axis US planes seems to generate useful results. Additionally, lesser tuberosity bony changes have been associated with subscapularis tendon tears. Findings with cysts seem to be more specific and combined findings with cortical irregularities more sensitive.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: Another fact typically for the subscapularis muscle is the fatty infiltration of the superior portions, while sparing the inferior portions.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: Since the long biceps tendon absents itself from the shoulder joint through the rotator cuff interval, it is easily possible to distinguish between the supraspinatus and the subscapularis tendon. Those two tendons build the interval sling.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: Mack et al. developed an ultrasonographic procedure with which it is possible to explore almost the complete rotator cuff within six steps. It unveils clearly the whole area from the subedge of the subscapularis tendon until the intersection between the infraspinatus tendon and musculus teres minor. One of six steps does focus on the subscapularis tendon. In the first instance the examinator guides the applicator to the proximal humerus as perpendicularly as possible to the sulcus intertubercularis. Gliding now medially shows the insertion of the subscapularis tendon.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The subscapularis tendon lies approximately 3 to 5 cm under the surface. Quite deep for ultrasonography, and therefore displaying through a highly penetrative 5 MHz linear applicator is worth a try. And it really turned out to ease a detailed examination of the muscle which just abuts to the scapula. However, the tendon of primary interest does not get mapped as closely as desired. As anatomical analysis showed, it is only by external rotation possible to see the ventral part of the joint socket and its labrum. While at the neutral position the tuberculum minus occludes the view. Summing up it is through an external arm rotation and a medially applied 5 MHz sector sonic head possible to display the ventral part of the joint socket and its labrum with notedly lower echogenicity.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: The following sectional planes are defined for the sonographic examination of the different shoulder joint structures:


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: Primarily in abdominal imaging, tissue harmonic imaging (THI) gets more and more valued and used additionally to conventional ultrasonography.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: THI involves the use of harmonic frequencies that originate within the tissue as a result of nonlinear wave front propagation and are not present in the incident beam. These harmonic signals may arise differently at anatomic sites with similar impedances and thus lead to higher contrast resolution.” Along with higher contrast resolution it has an elevated signal-to-noise ratio and significantly reduced inter- and intraobserver variability compared with conventional US. Additionally it is possible to nearly eliminate ordinary US artifacts, i.e. side-lobe, near-field artifacts, reverberation artifacts. As aforementioned THI has already led to enhanced abdominal, breast, vascular and cardiac sonography.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: For musculo-skeletal aspects THI has not been used that much, although this method features some useful potential. For example, for the still tricky discrimination between the presence of a hypoechoic defect and/or loss of the outer tendon convexity/non-visualization of the tendon, that is between partial- and full-thickness rotator cuff tears.


title: Subscapularis muscle

text: In comparison to a checking MR Arthrography Strobel K. "et al." has arrived at the conclusion that through THI it is possible to achieve a generally improved visibility of joint and tendon surfaces, especially superior for subscapularis tendon abnormalities.


title: Ugg boots

text: Ugg boots are a unisex style of sheepskin boot originating in Australia. The boots are typically made of twin-faced sheepskin with fleece on the inside, a tanned outer surface and a synthetic sole. The term "ugg boots" originated in Australia, initially for utilitarian footwear worn for warmth, and which were often worn by surfers during the 1960s. In the 1970s, the boots were introduced to the surf culture of the United Kingdom and the United States. Sheepskin boots became a fashion trend in the U.S. in the late 1990s and a worldwide trend in the mid-2000s. In Australia, they are worn predominantly as slippers and often associated with daggy fashion sense and bogan culture.


title: Ugg boots

text: Prior legal disputes between some manufacturers of sheepskin boots arose as to distinguish whether "ugg" is a protected trademark, or a generic term and thus ineligible for trademark protection. There are more than 70 registered trademarks that include the term "ugg" in various logos and designs in Australia and New Zealand, as the term is considered a generic reference to a type of shoe. Outside Australia and New Zealand, UGG is a brand manufactured by the California-based Deckers Outdoor Corporation, with most of its manufacturing based in China and with registered trademarks in over 130 countries worldwide including the US, UK, Canada, all European Union members, and China. Despite the difference in capitalisation and pronunciation, Deckers Corporation actively asserts its "UGG" trade mark () against Australian traders who sell their "ugg boots" overseas.


title: Ugg boots

text: Noteworthy manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand are EMU Australia, Uggs-N-Rugs and Ugg Australia. While Deckers is often referred to as the leading manufacturer of the footwear style outside Australia, Deckers refers to its boots as the "UGG-brand" boot, and associates it with a "California lifestyle". Following an investigation by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission into allegedly misleading and deceptive use of "Australia" in its branding, Deckers has rebranded from "UGG Australia" to "UGG".


title: Ugg boots

text: There are different claims to the origins of the ugg boot style. Artisanal sheepskin boots were known in rural Australia during the 1920s, and were reportedly worn by shearers as they found them resistant to wool yolk (lanolin), which would rot their ordinary boots. However, the date of commercial manufacturing began remains unclear. The boots were reportedly being manufactured in 1933 by Blue Mountains Ugg Boots of New South Wales. Frank Mortel of Mortels Sheepskin Factory has stated that he began manufacturing the boots in the late 1950s. Surfer Shane Stedman of Australia has stated in interviews that he invented the ugg boot. Perth sheepskin boot manufacturers Bruce and Bronwyn McDougall of Uggs-N-Rugs have manufactured the boots since the late 1970s.


title: Ugg boots

text: The origin of the term "ugg" is also unclear. Stedman registered the trademark "UGH-BOOTS" in Australia in 1971, and in 1982 registered the "UGH" trademark. Frank Mortel claims that he named his company's sheepskin boots "ugg boots" in 1958 after his wife commented that the first pair he made were "ugly." Some accounts have suggested that the term grew out of earlier variations, such as the "fug boots" worn by Royal Air Force pilots during World War I.


title: Ugg boots

text: The 1970s saw the emergence of advertising using the UGG and UGH terms both in trade names and as a generic term in Australia. The "Macquarie Dictionary" of the Australian language first included a definition for "ugg boot" as a generic term for sheepskin boots in its 1981 edition. (After Stedman complained to the editors of Macquarie, subsequent editions indicated that "UGH" was a trade mark.)


title: Ugg boots

text: In the 1970s, ugg boots became popular among competitive surfers. Sheepskin footwear accounts for around 10 percent of footwear production in Australia.


title: Ugg boots

text: Surfing helped popularise the boots outside Australia and New Zealand. Advertisements for Australian sheepskin boots first appeared in Californian surf magazines in 1970. By the mid-1970s, several surf shops in Santa Cruz, California and the San Fernando Valley were selling a limited number of boots purchased by the shops' owners while visiting surfing events in Australia. In 1978, a Western Australian manufacturer of sheepskin boots, Country Leather, advertised outside Australia for distributors to sell its sheepskin boots, which were made from sheepskin sourced from Jackson's Tannery in Geelong, Victoria. Seeing the popularity of the boots among American surfers, Australian surfer Brian Smith, then living in Santa Monica, California, and colleague Doug Jensen bought boots from Country Leather but were unhappy with the brand and decided to register UGG as their own trademark. Family friends invested $20,000 into the new venture and the group set up Ugg Imports. Due to other business commitments, in 1979 Jensen handed over his share of the company to Smith. In 1987 Smith registered Ugg Holdings Inc. and in 1985 registered a U.S. trademark on a ram's head logo with the words "Original UGG Boot UGG Australia." In 1995, Ugg Holdings purchased Stedman's various trademarks. As for the ugg name, Smith stated: "We always called them uggs, long before it was trademarked."


title: Ugg boots

text: Shoe manufacturer Hide & Feet in Newquay, England began manufacturing sheepskin boots in 1973, and in 1990 Nick Whitworth and his wife Kath bought the business and registered "UGG" as a trade mark in the UK. Due to increasing popularity and sales, in 1991 the company changed its name to "The Original Ugg Co." In 1999, Whitworth sold the company name and the British UGG trade mark to Deckers Outdoor Corporation, renaming his company the Celtic Sheepskin Company.


title: Ugg boots

text: By 1994, UGG boots had grown in status among surfers in California with 80% of sales in southern Orange County where Ugg Holdings saw an increase in sales of 60 percent on the previous season. Smith's UGG boots gained international exposure when they were worn by the United States Olympic team in Lillehammer for the 1994 Winter Olympics. Australian manufacturers also saw an increase in exports of sheepskin boots to the United States, although Ugg Holdings retained an estimated 80% market share. By the end of the year, Country Leather had opened its own shop in Redondo Beach to promote an expansion of the brand from its established surf market into mainstream footwear sales and Ugg Holdings began sourcing UGG boots directly from Jackson's Tannery, which had changed its name to EMU Australia. In early 1995, Smith promoted the UGG AUSTRALIA brand on the Rush Limbaugh show, which spurred sales while the brand gained further exposure when the San Diego Chargers started wearing them. According to retailers, it was not just the footwear that attracted consumers, but the "made in Australia" tie-in as the boots were a unique product only available from Australia and Australian products were at that time very popular. In August 1995, Smith sold Ugg Holdings to Deckers Outdoor Corporation for $14.6 million. In 1996 Deckers registered the various trademarks for "UGG" in the U.S.


title: Ugg boots

text: Australian ugg boots are not considered fashionable in their countries of origin and are worn for warmth and comfort. Ugg boots in Australia are worn predominantly as slippers and associated with daggy fashion sense, bogan behaviour and the outer suburbs when worn in public. According to Australian fashion stylist Justin Craig: "The only people who get away with wearing them are models, who give out the message: 'I'm so beautiful, I can look good in any crap. The Deckers UGG brand emerged as a fashion trend in the US through Deckers' actions to promote it as a high fashion brand. Deckers solicited endorsements from celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lopez, and product placements in television series such as "Sex and the City," and films such as "Raising Helen". This marketing campaign "led to an exponential growth in the brand's popularity and recognizability." The company reported US$689 million in UGG sales in 2008, almost a 50-fold increase from 1995. Deckers aggressively pursues sales of ugg boots by Australian traders overseas. In 2010, worldwide sales of ugg boots by Australian manufacturers combined equalled only 5.9% of Deckers "UGG"-branded sheepskin boots sales, with UGG dominating the world market.


title: Ugg boots

text: Traditional Australian ugg boots are made from sheepskins with fleece attached. The fleece is tanned into the leather and the boot is assembled with the fleece on the inside. Some ugg boots have a synthetic sole, commonly made from Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). The stitching is often prominent on the outside of the boot. The natural insulative properties of sheepskin gives isothermal properties to the boots: the thick fleecy fibres on the inner part of the boots wick moisture and allow air to circulate, keeping the feet at body temperature and allowing the boots to keep feet warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather. Produced by a number of manufacturers, they come in a variety of colours, including black, pink, blue, chestnut, and fuchsia. They are available in both pull-on and lace-up varieties and their height can range from just above the ankle to above the knee.


title: Ugg boots

text: Some variations of ugg style boots have also been made from kangaroo fur and leather. There are also synthetic boots. Although derided as "fake" by some in the industry, their lower price made them appealing to large retail chains such as Myer.


title: Ugg boots

text: Sheep-skin is a by-product of processing sheep for human consumption. That is, sheep are not specifically killed for their skins. Because it is a by-product, the supply of sheep-skin is limited by the number of sheep processed for the meat industry. The rise in the popularity of "UGG"-branded ugg boots has been the "driving force" in recent shortages, which have seen sheep-skin prices from 2010 to 2012 increase by up to 80%.


title: Ugg boots

text: As one of many clothing products made from animal skin, sheepskin boots have been the subject of criticism by the animal rights movement, and producers have responded by improving animal welfare. Animal rights groups call for the boycott of sheepskin boots and their replacement with synthetic alternatives. In 2007, Pamela Anderson, realizing that the boots were made of skin, called for a boycott on her website. In February 2008, the Princeton Animal Welfare Society staged a campus protest against the fur industry, particularly attacking the sheepskin boot industry.


title: Ugg boots

text: The trademarking of the UGG name has been the subject of dispute in several countries. Deckers Outdoor Corporation has won disputes in the United States, the Netherlands, and Turkey. In Australia and New Zealand, ugg is a generic term. The trademark for "Ugh-Boots" has been removed from the trademark registry for non-use. Outside Australia and New Zealand, UGG ("written in capital letters") is a registered trademark of Deckers Outdoor Corporation.


title: Ugg boots

text: The first trademark application for UGG in the United States was filed by Brian Smith's company in 1984. In the 1990s, Smith and then Deckers secured additional registrations in the U.S. and other countries. In 1999, Deckers began asserting its new trademark and sent out cease and desist letters to Australian manufacturers that were selling sheepskin boots outside of Australia via the internet. By the early 2000s, demand for UGG boots was soaring with Australian and U.S.-based manufacturers selling sheepskin boots over the Internet. There was confusion among consumers between generic ugg boots made in Australia and Deckers' UGG brand boots. Deckers' law firm Middletons of Melbourne began a serious effort to halt the Australian companies' sales by sending cease and desist letters to a number of Australian and U.S.-based manufacturers, preventing them from selling sheepskin boots using the UGG trademark on eBay or from using the word in their registered business names or domain names. Deckers initiated numerous domain name actions under the UDRP.


title: Ugg boots

text: In response to these actions by Deckers, some Australian manufacturers formed the Australian Sheepskin Association to fight the corporation's claim, arguing that "ugg" is a generic term referring to flat-heeled, pull-on sheepskin boots. One of these manufacturers, Perth's Uggs-N-Rugs, who had been manufacturing ugg boots since 1978 and selling them online since 1996, appealed to Australian trademark regulators. The officer who heard the case stated that the "evidence overwhelmingly supports the proposition that the terms (ugg, ugh and ug boots) are interchangeably used to describe a specific style of sheepskin boot and are the first and most natural way in which to describe these goods." In 2006 Uggs-N-Rugs won the right to use the term UGG BOOT/S and variations such as UGH BOOT/S within Australia. Deckers retained the trademark rights to their UGG logo in Australia as trademark protection only applies to the way the mark appears in its entirety and not the words it contains. IP Australia also ruled that the trademark "UGH-boots" (with hyphen) should be removed from the trademark register for non-use as Deckers had only been using the UGG logo, not the UGH marks. This 2006 ruling applies only in Australia and Deckers still owns the trademarks in other jurisdictions such as the US, China, Japan and the European Union.