The Piccadilly Rats

Gaz Stanley And The Piccadilly Rats is a well-known busking band and street theatre performance act in Manchester, England.

Formation

The Piccadilly Rats were formed in early 2013 by Gaz Stanley, Heath Dean and Kenny Wheaver. Basically starting off as a street busking duo / trio, they gradually expanded to a six piece street performance act by late 2013 and became notorious for their rough-and-ready cover versions of old pop and rock standards and their Rat masks (of which the drummer and bass player were often seen sporting whilst they were performing) as well as off-beat play-acting routines sometimes interspersed between actual songs. Although the street theatre aspect of the band was also an integral part of their early performances (due in no small part to two of the members also having acting backgrounds), their increasing popularity and notoriety amongst locals and visitors alike meant that eventually (and especially after the untimely loss of one of their members - see below) they settled mainly on just playing straight rock'n'roll and pop covers.

Band members

Gaz Stanley (full name Garry Stanley Smith) was born on 19 December 1957 at Boundary Park Hospital Oldham, Greater Manchester. He first lived in Middleton and later Harpurhey where he attended Harpur Mount school and later Moston Brook for Boys. After leaving school he started work as a van boy for Barrs soft drinks and then British Rail then numerous other jobs. Gaz Stanley is also a former actor and was first represented by Nigel Martin Smith (former Take That Manager). He had small speaking roles in numerous TV Dramas such as Burn It, Cops, Shameless and That Peter Kay Thing as well as a cameo in the 808 State vs UB40 video for 'One In Ten' from 1992. Gaz Stanley is married with 3 grown up children and 2 grandchildren.

Garry and Heath were later augmented by the arrival of David Copeland (aka Dave the Rave), a former scrapyard depot worker who met Garry busking in the street when the original drummer Heath had momentarily gone AWOL, offering his services; then former hairdresser and general 'vibemaster' Ray Boddington - who was already performing around town in his own right and had become an increasingly regular collaborator in their street line-up. Ray had previously met Gaz Stanley in 2007 on Manchester's Market Street but didn't work with the Piccadilly Rats until 2013, becoming a distinctive presence with his unique dance moves and street attire.

Ray Boddington was born on 30 December 1941 in Levenshulme. At the age of 5 he was admitted to a children's hospital diagnosed with Polio: his prognosis was initially bleak (he was given 12 months) but he made a full recovery after 7 years. At the age of 12 he went to Baguley Hall Secondary Modern and taught himself the harmonica. His father Walter played in the Phil Moss Showband for 20 years, they were the resident band at the Ritz Ballroom in Manchester. His mother was also a talented pianist. At 15, he trained as an amateur boxer at Proctor's Gym in Hulme. He signed for Ace Artists when he was 16 and played on the same bill as Dorothy Squires and Karl Denver. As a teenager, he played at the famous Band On The Wall venue in the late 1950s and also appeared at Bernard Manning's venue the Embassy Club and the Domino Club where he opened for acts Herman's Hermits and the Everly Brothers. Ray also did a summer residence at Butlins Holiday Camp in Rhyl: around this time he met world-famous harmonica player Larry Adler who was very impressed with his style of playing.

By March 2013, they were joined by a third percussionist/drummer - Buster Rabcat (aka Pin / Martin Gray) - a notoriously publicity-shy maverick artist, performer and drummer/percussionist who was born in Wavertree, Liverpool in the 1960s, and moved to Manchester in 1988 at the height of the city's then blossoming club and music scene. Buster had already previously played in a variety of local bands and collectives, most notably the Manchester-based punk band Goldblade (as well as various other acts such as !Basher!, Wedding In Rio, No. 1 Blue Murder and his own Aggrokulture noise project), and who also had a background in street theatre and performance in Manchester since the mid to late 1990s. Finally the collective swelled to six members with the arrival of a local character by the name of Tommy Piggott - forever subsequently known as 'Tommy Trouble' - who was a familiar face around north and south Manchester and also a volunteer involved with the Mustard Tree organisation which helps provide sanctuary and help for homeless, disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Together, the band presented themselves as a quite unlikely attraction on the streets of Manchester during their prime (2013-2014) when they featured not one, not two, but three dancers - sometimes regarded as the *Bez's in the band! (Bez being the famous 'freaky dancer' from local Madchester legends Happy Mondays of course).

Bobby Elliot (real name Robert Branch) joined in June 2018, as announced by the band via Twitter[1], playing bass guitar with the band at various live performances.

Dave Copeland died in December 2014 at the age of 66.[2] The rest of the band played a memorial show in Manchester city centre in his honour to raise funds for his funeral, which took place at Manchester Southern Cemetery in January 2015. Ray Boddington died in April 2019 at the age of 77, after being hit by a tram on High Street.[3]

Appearance and image

Garry hit upon the novel idea that the backing band should best perform disguised in animal masks - so he chose Rat masks and named the band after them. This would of course set his act apart from all of the other street performers in the city and over time this tactic certainly resulted in the band becoming a quite unmistakable presence on the city streets - where they would usually take up residence on the corner of Lever Street and Piccadilly close to the taxi ranks. They built up a loyal following of misfits, homeless folks and social drop-outs as well as passers by and visitors to the football games during weekends, who would often not hesitate to stop by and join in with the antics (usually by singing a rather unhinged rendition of 'Wonderwall' by Oasis and hogging the microphone!!) There was a proposal to have different animal masks over time, thus creating a whole menagerie of supporting characters, but only monkey masks were added to the repertoire - if only for a brief period during early 2014 - when they would actually perform as two bands simultaneously - The Piccadilly Rats and Happy Monkeez. However, this last idea was relatively short-lived as there were internal conflicts between various members of the backing band as to who would perform as what animal, and indeed there were several occasions where the infamous Evil Black Rat Drummer (actually Pin/ Buster Rabcat) would routinely attack fellow bass player/drummer Heath Dean and push him off the drum kit, much to the alarm / bemusement of the watching spectators!! Eventually, the Evil Black Rat had his way and the Happy Monkeez were never to be heard of or seen again shortly afterwards.

As far as the Three Bez's were concerned: Dave would be dressed in whatever he could feasibly be seen in, quite often latterly donning hippy shirts, head scarves and bandanas to incredibly comic effect! Some folks likened him to a rather emaciated cross between famed Aussie comic Paul Hogan and debonair British actor David Niven whom he certainly resembled. Tommy Trouble's star turn would usually involve him dressed in a 1960s Policeman's outfit and wooing the ladies or stroking a large furry or plastic rat; Ray would be seen in his variety of suits, one of which is that of a Union Jack, together with his trademark black gloves and shades, throwing his rather odd Tai Chi-derived shapes.

Television and media appearances

In recent years, Ray Boddington has appeared on TV's X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, The Jeremy Kyle Show and Judge Rinder. The Piccadilly Rats' notoriety started to gain further momentum as a result of their crazy and unhinged performances on the streets of the city centre and by 2015 they became known to an audience of millions when they appeared on ITV's Judge Rinder in 2015 over a row involving a Mankini - and coming third in a Battle Of The Bands competition, thus losing out on the £500 first prize, which Ray Boddington wanted to contest. The entire episode was conceived as a bit of a spoof more than anything, pitching the singer Garry against dancer Ray in the courtroom; but due to the contentious nature of the case being played out (which was 100 per cent genuine as it really did happen) it became one of the most-watched episodes in the entire series, gaining millions of viewers worldwide and winning the street act even more new followers and admirers. The band have also appeared regularly in the local paper the Manchester Evening News and were invited by BBC Radio Manchester in late 2014 to do a short interview and performance live on air for an evening arts programme; however, this arrangement never came to fruition because of Dave Copeland's death in December of that year.

Departure of the band's drummers

Shortly after this infamous Judge Rinder appearance, Buster Rabcat (aka Pin / Martin) quit live street performances with the Rats completely - citing his disillusionment with the publicity and being recognised on the street - and the rest of the group have since continued as a three-piece (Gaz, Ray and Tommy) minus bass player and drummer. He has since re-settled back in his home city of Liverpool, but he continues to manage the band's affairs such as running their Facebook page and being their spokesman, in addition to answering all the 'fan mail', as well as booking gigs for the band in the Manchester area. Save for occasional one-off gigs with his colleagues, he has no plans to return to the street busking set up full- or even part-time. The Rats had already lost their original drummer / bass player Heath by this point as he had simply disappeared and not reported back for duty even before the recording of the Judge Rinder episode. The band currently continue to busk on the streets with the drum stool vacant and invite members of the passing audience to 'jam' with them on the drums. Indeed, quite often they are helped out on drumming duties by two of their loyal friends - both of which are called Alan.

Collaborations

Due to the ongoing absence of their regular drummer(s), the Rats have occasionally taken to playing club / indoor gigs with 'borrowed' members from another well known local Manchester band - namely Death To The Strange - specifically the rhythm section Paul Sewell on bass and Jamie Wilson on drums. This almost supergroup-like collaboration has been self-mockingly dubbed 'Death To The Piccadilly Rats' by their former drummer, now spokesman/gig manager Pin/Buster Rabcat!!. Paul was with the band for their Kendal Calling appearance (see below), and has since played a couple of other shows with them also with his band colleague Jamie in tow on the drums.

Documentary

A documentary on the Piccadilly Rats titled Piccadilly Rats: Live in Moderation has been in production since 2014/15 with much footage of the band's performances on the streets of Manchester and also, more recently, their show on the Sunday of the Kendal Calling festival in July 2016. The film focuses on individual interviews and conversations following the key members of the band: Gaz Stanley, Ray Boddington, Tommy Trouble and Pin/Buster Rabcat set in various locations around the members' home towns. As of July 2019 it was in post-production.[4]

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References
  1. RATS, PICCADILLY (2 June 2018). "PICCADILLY RATS NEW BASS GUITARIST BOBBY ELLIOT pic.twitter.com/ZcGvKqGkev". @GPiccadillyRats. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. Slater, Chris (18 December 2014). "Piccadilly Rats dancer and 'Manc legend' dies aged 66". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  3. Rucki, Alexandra; Halle-Richards, Sophie (18 April 2019). "'My heart is shattered': Piccadilly Rats frontman Ray Boddington dies in hospital with family at his bedside". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  4. Pellant, Georgina (3 July 2019). "Exclusive: sneak preview of new film about cult Manchester buskers the Piccadilly Rats". I Love Manchester. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
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