With Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Wonderstuff and Pop Will Eat Itself all reforming, another chart act from Brum's past has also got back together: Fuzzbox! We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Going To Use It, to use their full name, arrived in the mid-80s with the four girls - sisters Maggie and Jo Dunne, Tina O'Neill and Victoria Perks - smashing into the Top 40 with such hits as International Rescue and Pink Sunshine, and touring the world before splitting in 1991. Now, with the release of a 21-track 'best of' cheekily entitled Look At The Hits On That, IT tutor Maggie, retail manager Jo and trainee teacher Tina are back in the studio writing and recording new material with Scottish production team Bis. "We did ask Victoria, who is still singing, but so far, she has said no," Maggie reports of the reunion, hinting that new material could be in the shops as soon as February. "It's still early days yet, but we are working on new tracks including a single which will be a very surprising cover version. "I can't say what as it's a secret," she says, adding gigs will follow. "As we're all working, we won't do a full tour, just a few dates, then a break, then a few more dates. We're all too old for all that touring. I need my cocoa and bed," she laughs. And if you wonder what 21st century Fuzzbox will sound like, look no further than the new remixes on the compilation. "The remix of Fast Forward Futurama is nearer to what our new sound is going to be like." Forming in 1985, the brightly coloured quartet took their name from a fuzzbox guitar effects pedal, making their live debut at The Barrel Organ in Digbeth. "My favourite Birmingham show," Maggie recalls. "We expected the audience to be gobsmacked, and they were, but we never expected to get an encore!" Initially signed to the local Vindaloo Records label, they were one of the many bands championed by the late, great DJ, John Peel. "I remember vividly the first time we were played on his show. It was such a huge moment for us," Maggie says. "The best radio session we ever did was for the John Peel Show too. We did an a cappella version of Bohemian Rhapsody, and listeners were calling in, many to complain, although some people thought it was brilliant and subversive. It was just amazing! "He was so universally liked and admired, it's absolutely tragic," she says of the veteran broadcaster's death in October. * Look At The Hits On That by We've Got A Fuzz-box And We're Going To Use It is out now on WSM. | 
