shed 7’s rick witter: do you remember the first time?

First record you bought? 

The first record I bought if memory serves me was Shawaddywaddy with Under The Moon Of Love.

– First gig you went (who, where, when)?

Other than watching local acts in pubs in my youth, the first ‘proper’ gig I went to was The Stone Roses at Alexandra Palace in 1990.

– First band you fell in love with?

The first band I fell in love with were The Soup Dragons around the time of their first album which was called ‘This Is Our Art’. Go have a listen…

– First song that inspired you ?

The first song I was inspired by was the entire Smiths back catalogue

– First song you wrote (any good?) 

The first song I wrote was with Paul when we were about 11. It was called ‘Creature Of Dreams’ and was basically the demonstration button on a Casio keyboard with me sounding about 4 singing about…. Well, creatures of dreams.

– First gig you played (how did it go?) 

The first gig I played was about the same time as the above song. Myself and Paul played the song to about 12 German exchange girl students in Paul’s living room.

– First time you thought, “hang on, we are onto something here…”?

The first time I thought, hang on we are on to something here was in Paul’s living room whilst playing to 12 German exchange students.

– First musical hero?

My first musical hero was probably Elvis Presley.

Originally released on 1st April 1996,A Maximum High is Shed Seven’s crowning recorded achievement to date, charting at number 8 and remaining on the Official UK Album Charts for a triumphant 37 weeks. The record spawned five hit singles: ‘Where Have You Been Tonight?’, ‘Getting Better’, ‘Going For Gold’, ‘Bully Boy’ and ‘On Standby’, with the York band making appearances on Top Of The Pops no less than four different times during a momentous year.

In 2021, to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of A Maximum High, Shed Seven were proud to release two new versions of their magnum opus.