(c’83-’87) Giles Sennett (guitar / vocals), Jim O’Neill (keyboards), Paul Francis (bass), and Richard Perry (drums)
Named for art-funk band Was (Not Was)’s narrative ballad about a man whose life changes after a mysterious incident in the park, indie pop band Zaz Turned Blue, whose members hailed from Fleet and Farnborough, formed in ’83.
Well, that’s not strictly accurate, they actually started out as a songwriting duo, consisting of Sennett and O’Neill, under the Problem Page moniker. After a couple of tracks, such as ‘Will Somebody Find Me?‘, had been written and recorded, Francis and Perry were recruited and they started recording and playing their indie guitar, prior decades pop, influenced tracks such as ‘Slipway’, ‘Observation’, ‘The Same Old Song’ and ‘If I Choose’ as Zaz Turned Blue.
We know the band played at Frimley Community Centre, and on 1 December ’85, the band appeared at The Buzz Club, along with Go! Service, opening for The Blow Monkeys at The Agincourt, Camberley.
In April or May ’86, The Buzz Club held a local band night, that along with Zaz Turned Blue, featured Screaming Hearts, Inspector Tuppence and the Sexy Firemen, and New Tennessee Waltz. It was around this time that Melody Maker staff photographer, Tim Paton became the band’s manager – He also managed The Jeremiahs. Shortly after, Partick ‘Patch’ Hannan would replace Perry on drums, Duncan O’Neill took over bass from Francis, and sax player Liz Paton joined; initially for the studio recording of ‘The Same Old Song’, released under the new band moniker of Butch Minds the Baby. But Butch Minds the Baby only lasted a few months, with the members drifting off to other projects.
Jim O’Neill would reappear in Blue Velvet, and in ’93 he co-wrote with fellow ex-Blue Patrick James, the 21 track “Jukebox and the Midnight Stone” cassette album. Hannan could be found at Blah Street Studio, but also played drums for The Sundays, Star 69, Arnold, and latterly The Gymkhana. Patton went onto Go Go Amigo.
On 8 April 2022, Firestation Records put out, in Germany, a limited edition of 100 vinyl LPs of tracks, compiled by Uwe Weigmann, aided by Jo Bartlet, from Zaz Turned Blue’s mid-’80’s recordings and set lists, titled ‘Another Unfinished Story‘ [FST194]. This was No.8 in Firestation’s FST Series 100 and carried 11 tracks, all written by Sennet and O’Neill, spanning the bands lifespan.
The same year as to the release of ‘Another Unfinished Story‘, O’Neill and Sennett, who was/is residing in Sweden, reignited their songwriting partnership as Zaz Turned Blue. They still record everything live, with programmed drums, just as they did back in ’83.
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