Stupidity was an Australian mod band with a heavily soul influenced R&B sound. I first heard their tremendous "Bend Don't Break" on the original 5-4-3-2-1! Countdown compilation, and just loved their sound. Even though I had trouble tracking down their originals in the mid-80s, downunder they were taking off, making a number of appearances on various of the Countdown compilations. From Frederick St., a nice compendium of those tracks, plus a few others of their singles and unreleased material appeared a few years back courtesy of Maximum Insanity Records. The band was very influenced by the mod revival and you can echoes of The Jam, The Truth and Secret Affair throughout. The band's originals were quite good, such as "Try To Not Let It Show" from the Party At Hanging Rock Countdown compilation, and also the unreleased "Turn The Other Cheek". However, their cover of The Undertones "You've Got My Number" was over produced and didn't fit at well with the rest of their catalog. Still, their incorporation of horns, punchy bass riffs, and power chording guitars throughout gave them a distinctive, and distintively 80s-mod, sound. Sadly, the lead singer was killed in an accident in 2000, but apparently his brother has stepped in from time to time, though it's unclear to me how often the band plays anymore. Note: The very fine Tone and Wave blog has posted two Stupidity collections, one of studio tracks, and another of live material.
