One of their first performances took place at vicar Ray Bevan's (father of Carl) church, and it was when playing live that the band would truly hit their stride. With a sound akin to the Jam, The Who and a touch of the New York Dolls and the Beatles, gigs were often chaotic, but always loud, energetic and most importantly, fun!
Their first single, 'Happy Shopper' (1994) was released on a small independent label and the b-side featured a swipe at the country's obsession with the capital in 'London Breeds'. A second single 'No.1 Pure Alcohol' became a regular live favourite, and a deal with Indolent Records soon followed leading to three more singles. 'Pig Valentine', 'Stay' and 'Talk to Me' showed an increasing confidence in their own songwriting skills, relying on a keen sense of melody as well as the usual raucous guitar riffs that had become their trademark.
The long awaited debut album, 'The Big 3' featured all of the singles and coincided with the Britpop explosion. Although the Dolls were not as contrived as Blur or faux-dumb like Oasis, they were equally as outspoken as both groups when interviewed. Their explosive live gigs had been honed to perfection on an extensive tour of clubs and several festival appearances throughout the previous year, and a huge gig followed when they were asked to support a reformed Sex Pistols in front of 36,000 people.
A brand new single emerged in 1998, but after the release of 'Alison's Room', they were dropped by Indolent despite having recorded an album that remained unreleased for over a year. The band were obviously upset by this and eventually split. 'Joya Magica' finally saw the light of day on Huge & Jolly records in 1999, but this came after the split had been announced, and was hardly publicised at all.
One of many bands whose potential was completely ignored by record label bosses in the late '90's when Britpop waned, the 60ft Dolls were at the forefront of the Welsh explosion that spawned Catatonia and Super Furry Animals, and retained an extremely loyal and loving fanbase until, and despite, their eventual demise.
Parfitt stayed in the music business and managed another welsh band, Terris, before releasing a solo album in 2002. There have been rumours that the band never really split, but no concrete evidence of this has yet emerged.
IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE 60FT DOLLS: The Who, The Jam, The Beatles, The Clash, Manic Street Preachers, MC5, Travis, Oasis, The Buzzcocks, Mott the Hoople, New York Dolls, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young.