The Moors Murderers - Not the brightest day in punk history.

Ian Brady is dead.
Small comfort to the living relatives of the victims.
Especially as the final resting place of one child has never been revealed.

It doesn't really need to be said, but if there was a hell then the majority view is that he is currently residing there, and that is as it should be.

What has this to do with an entertainment blog though?

Well the news reminded me of the notorious story of a band called The Moors Murderers.

Punk fans of a certain age will be well aware of them, but those raised on a diet of Green Day and Rancid may not be, and the wider public could similarly be unaware of their semi-existence too.

So what's the story?

It's now a semi legendary one as the band didn't feature a cast of unknowns, but rather individuals who would go on and become stars, with this foray into trying to shock being a little skeleton that lurked in their cupboards.

Initially, it has to be said, that the band only existed as a joke (albeit not a very humorous one) that was given some life when a german magazine wasn't in on it and did a photo shoot of them.

This then resulted in Steve Strange (pre Visage) deciding that the joke could have legs and he then went on to make the band a reality.

Possibly not the smartest decision he ever made,

Even at this point there possibly wouldn't be much to comment on, but with Soo Catwoman being initially involved, and then them playing a gig that featured Mark Holland on guitar (formerly of Adam and the Antz) and Vince Ely on drums (Later of Psychedelic Furs) and then having a line up that consisted of Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders) Anthony Doughty (Transvision Vamp) and Topper Headon (The Clash) the Moors Murderers ended up cementing their place in Rock and Roll lore.

Rumours of a single having been recorded have been out there for many years. 

The A side being called 'Free Hindley' and the B side being a punk interpretation of the Ten Commandments, but its existence is still to this day hotly debated.

Needles to say that if anyone has it then it will be worth a pretty penny or two, but in an age of there seemingly being everything that ever existed out there to grab from the internet, then it does seem unlikely that it was actually recorded.

The song did exist though, as Chrissie Hynde reveals below.

A misguided attempt to draw attention to themselves pre making waves with less offensive artistic careers?

Certainly, but also an interesting, if ugly footnote in rock and roll history.