Formed in London in 1994 the Readers Wifes, AKA Kim Phaggs and Chelsea Kelsey, were among the forerunners of the kind of clubbing eclecticism we take for granted these days. DJs at London’s now legendary ‘Duckie’ their 5 hour long sets mixing ‘80s electro, glam, punk, ska, Motown and Kate Bush were a truly revolutionary proposition back then in a clubland awash with wall-to-wall digital house and samey E-pop – twelve years on the club is still rammed to the rafters every Saturday night. In 2001 Kim and Chelsea decided that they wanted to try their hand at making their own music, or at least the kind of records they could play in their own DJ sets between Marc Bolan and Kraftwerk. An initial track found its way into the hands of Jeremy Kimberley and Mark Satanic, two regulars at the club. Their reworked track was presented to Kim and Chelsea – who were most impressed, and demanded more! The foursome wrote non-stop over the course of a year, emerging at the start of 2002 with a debut single and a series of live gigs that knocked underground London off its feet. The limited edition single ‘Bitch At The Brits/Fuc Dup’ was a scathing attack on the music industry: it sold out within a week. In 2003 The Wifes started working with Siouxsie & The Banshees founder and bassist Steven Severin. He came to see the band play live and a partnership was quickly struck up, with Severin in the producer’s seat. The first result of the collaboration was the 2005 single ‘Scumpop/Black Silk Stocking’ – another limited edition and a chart entry. August 8th 2005 saw the release of the band’s third single and another Severin production, ‘Nostalgia’, with guest vocals from New York cabaret icon Justin Bond (Kiki & Herb). Nostalgia broke into the UK Indie Charts at an impressive number 15, and also made an appearance in the main UK charts. Since the release of Nostalgia the band have been working on their debut album ‘Gaslight’.
