Cardiacs


Cardiacs were an English rock band formed in 1977, originally as Cardiac Arrest, led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More, Napalm Death and Radiohead.
Cardiacs released eight studio albums plus a number of live albums, compilation albums and singles between 1980 and 2007, and are best known for the 1988 minor hit single "Is This the Life?" They are also noted for attracting strongly diverse responses: they remained one of Britain's leading cult rock bands during their four-decade-spanning career, but also attracted virulent critical attack.
Cardiacs were placed on indefinite hiatus following the 2008 hospitalisation of Tim Smith, after a cardiopulmonary arrest which subsequently led him to develop the rare neurological disorder dystonia. Smith continued to receive medical treatment and rehabilitation, before his death in July 2020.

Musical and lyrical style

Cardiacs' music is noted for balancing the attack and 'raw energy' of punk rock with the intricacies and technical cleverness of early British progressive rock. The band also incorporates elements of other musical forms such as ska, mediaeval music, folk music, heavy metal, hymns and corporate anthems. The music magazine Organ once commented that "one Cardiacs song contains more ideas than most other musicians' entire careers."
The broad combination of styles in the band's music has sometimes been referred to as "progressive punk" – or "pronk" – and has led to Cardiacs being labelled the primary exponents of this musical style. Tim Smith rejects the term, and prefers the description "psychedelic" or simply "pop". Musicians that the band have cited as influences include XTC, Van der Graaf Generator, Gong, early Split Enz, Devo, Gentle Giant, Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias, early Genesis, Deaf School and Wire. Smith has stated, "I don’t know what influences us really, I wouldn’t say that we are influenced by any actual bands in particular". Tim Smith has denied that Gentle Giant was an influence on the band, but Sarah Smith says that they were.
Earlier lineups of the band were sextets and octets employing extensive use of saxophones, percussion and live keyboards. From 1991 onwards, the band was a rock power quartet centred on two guitars. Vocally, Cardiacs employ a distinctive singing style centred on Tim Smith's lead vocals and choral sections involving most or all of the band. Smith's singing style has been described by music critics as 'skittish'; it has also been commented that his singing voice sounds very similar to his speaking one. The band's music is written almost entirely by Tim Smith, although contributions have been made by other group members.
Smith is also responsible for the majority of the band's lyrics, which are written in a cryptic fractured form of English alternately hailed as poetic or nonsensical. He has generally refused to discuss their content, preferring to keep the words and their inspirations shrouded in mystique and allowing for fan interpretations. Smith has also sometimes employed a cut-up lyrical approach drawing on the works of, William Blake, Charles Kingsley, William Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot. Two favourite cut-and-paste sources are Pedro Carolino’s English As She Is Spoke and the nineteenth-century Irish poet George Darley. Fans have also spotted references to the films The Night of the Hunter and Eraserhead in Smith's words and music videos.

Performance style and mythology

Cardiacs are also renowned for their startling performance style, which has been historically integrated with a vague and oppressive band mythology. The latter involves Cardiacs' record label and supposed management company, the Alphabet Business Concern - a repressive, controlling organisation which supervises Cardiacs' recording work and live appearances. Several early 1980s video releases by Cardiacs – in particular The Consultant's Flower Garden and the clip for To Go Off and Things – provided video "evidence" that Alphabet ran Cardiacs' internal affairs in the manner of an Edwardian children's home.
The Alphabet Business Concern shares some similarities with the "Cryptic Corporation" supposedly responsible for managing The Residents. As with the Cryptic Corporation, there is a strong probability that the Alphabet mythology is entirely fictional and that the band control all aspects of their work themselves. Alphabet's original representatives - or representative characters - were Cardiac's "sordid, waxy" manager The Consultant and his assistant and band advisor "Miss Swift", both of whom made onstage appearances with Cardiacs during the 1980s. In the late 1980s both The Consultant and Miss Swift left the Cardiacs organisation and were replaced by Mark Walmsley, who played a less public role.
In performance, Cardiacs generally reject standard rock band posturing. In keeping with the Alphabet mythology, the band's shows have instead featured behaviour which has been described as "therapeutic, surrealist pantomime", compared to absurdist theatre, and labelled "not so much theatrically eccentric as completely fucking neurotic". During any given performance, Tim Smith rants between and during numbers, acting out bizarre childlike ideas and emotions. During the 1980s the band perfected a detailed stage act involving shabby lift attendant costumes, badly-applied clown make-up, Tim Smith's bullying of other band members, and a final formal presentation of champagne and flowers by The Consultant and Miss Swift complete with confetti, taking place to "a euphoric sweep of saxophone and keyboards that wouldn’t seem out of place in a '70s cigar advert." During the 1990s, the theatrical elements of the live show were toned down and the uniforms replaced by formal suits, although certain rituals were retained.

History

Cardiac Arrest (1977–1980)

Brothers Jim and Tim Smith grew up in Chessington, Surrey, UK and formed their first musical groups in neighbouring Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. In 1975, a teenaged Tim was playing guitar in a nameless "punky-psychedelic" instrumental band with two of his schoolfriends – Mark Cawthra and David Philpot. The sound of Philpot's Korg synthesizer was to have a strong impact on Smith and the development of the Cardiacs’ sound.
The band which would eventually become Cardiacs began life in 1977. The initial lineup was Michael Pugh on lead vocals, Tim Smith on guitar and backing vocals, and Peter Tagg on drums. The lineup was completed by Jim Smith, who joined on bass guitar and backing vocals. The Smith brothers, Tagg and Pugh played their first live concert in 1978 at The Kaleidoscope in Kingston upon Thames, under the name of The Filth. By the time of their second concert the band had changed their name to Cardiac Arrest.
Cardiac Arrest produced a seven-song demo at Elephant Studios in London and subsequently expanded to a sextet, adding Colvin Mayers and Ralph Cade. The band honed their craft playing a mixture of pubs, youth clubs, schools, hotels and free festivals. In the early years, the band's line-up was flexible according to availability and circumstances – for example, Cardiac Arrest played the 1979 Stonehenge Free Festival as a three piece of Tagg, Mayers and Tim Smith. A subsequent concert at Surbiton on 6 July 1979 apparently featured "about eight to ten people on stage".
The debut Cardiac Arrest release was a 7" single recorded at Elephant Studios called "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus", released in 1979 on Tortch Records. Later in the year both Peter Tagg and Ralph Cade left the band and the multi-instrumental Mark Cawthra was drafted into Cardiac Arrest to play drums. Michael Pugh also left the band shortly afterwards, and Tim Smith took over lead singer duties as well as guitar playing. By this time Cardiac Arrest operated like a jazz band or football side, keeping various musicians in reserve to cover absences. Many of these people had other roles as part of the technical crew. Future Cardiacs percussionist Tim Quy first performed with the band at Snoopies nightclub in Richmond at the start of 1980: this period also saw the arrival of saxophonist Sarah Cutts.
Later in 1980, Cardiac Arrest released a self-produced cassette album called The Obvious Identity. The album was produced by Tim Smith with the punk/DIY ethic in mind: as he had little cash to invest in the project, it was recorded onto as many old cassette tapes as he could find. An anonymous member of the band has been quoted as commenting that "the recordings were so shit it wouldn’t matter if they were copied onto washing up sponges". Eventually, 1000 cassettes were recorded, but only sold at concerts to save on expenditure. Shortly afterwards, the band discovered that another band was using the name Cardiac Arrest. After a number of experiments with alternative names, they finally decided to rename themselves Cardiacs and played their first concert under that name in April 1981.

Early Cardiacs (1981–1983)

In 1981, Cardiacs self-released the cassette album, Toy World, featuring both new material and recordings dating back to the Cardiac Arrest period..
During 1981, Colvin Mayers left the band to join The Sound. Sarah Cutts briefly covered live keyboards as well as saxophone, before Mark Cawthra swapped drums for keyboards and Dominic Luckman was recruited from the road crew as the new drummer. At around the same time percussionist Tim Quy became a full-time member. In July 1983, Tim Smith married Sarah Cutts – taking his surname, she was henceforward known as Sarah Smith.
In mid-1983 Mark Cawthra left the band, to be replaced on keyboards by William D. Drake. Tim Smith had previously met Drake in 1982 at the debut performance of Drake's band Honour Our Trumpet Following Cawthra's departure, Smith returned Drake's favour by inviting him to join Cardiacs. Drake played his first concert with the band on 31 August 1983. Later in the year, Cardiacs added Marguerite Johnson and Graham Simmonds, and for about a year the band worked as an octet. Both Johnson and Simmonds left during the following summer, although Simmonds stayed on as Cardiacs' sound engineer.
At some point in 1983, Tim Smith produced two issues of a comic alternatively called "Peter and His Dog" and "Peter and His Dog Spot".

The "classic line-up" established: ''The Seaside'' and ''Seaside Treats'' (mid-1984–1985)

By autumn 1984, the band lineup had settled as the sextet generally referred to as "the classic line-up" – Tim Smith, Jim Smith, William D. Drake, Sarah Smith, Tim Quy and Dominic Luckman.
The first Cardiacs release featuring the "classic" line-up was their third album, The Seaside. The album was released on Cardiacs own record label, Alphabet. The bizarre and sinister "Alphabet Business Concern" mythology now began to become a significant part of Cardiacs' artistic presentation, and the band members would promote and add to it at every opportunity. The band evolved an elaborate and theatrical stage show, involving "bandsmen's uniforms, make-up, Sarah's music stand, Tim's mile-wide grin". The finale included sprayed champagne, confetti cannons, appearances by The Consultant and Miss Swift and a mock-heroic/distressed exit for Tim Smith.
Between 5 November – 21 December 1984, Cardiacs performed their first major British support tour, supporting Marillion at the personal invitation of Marillion’s vocalist, Fish. Whilst the tour afforded the band a new level of publicity, generally they were not well received by Marillion's fanbase. On most dates of the tour, the band was pelted with a variety of makeshift missiles. During the 13 December show at the Hammersmith Apollo, Fish himself was indignant enough about the Marillion fans and their hostile behaviour to come onstage during Cardiacs' set and berate the audience about it. The band eventually ducked out of the last three days of the Marillion tour.
A Cardiacs spin-off project – Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake – emerged in 1984. As the name suggests, this featured Tim and Sarah Smith plus William D. Drake and consisted of a quieter, more acoustically-orientated take on Cardiacs' music. The project released a self-titled cassette album which was only available via the Cardiacs fan club. Later on, the project would be renamed The Sea Nymphs.
On 1 April 1985, an attempt was made to film Cardiacs at a live concert at the Surbiton Assembly Rooms. The band had been approached by film-maker Mark Francombe and his colleague Nick Elborough, both of whom were at that time students at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. Francombe and Elborough offered to film the band for free as part of their coursework project. However, when the band viewed the resultant footage, they decided against releasing it. Instead, they retained Francombe and Elborough for a new video project which would become Seaside Treats, named after the 12" single that was released at the same time. As well as containing three music videos, Seaside Treats contained a ten-minute film named The Consultant’s Flower Garden. The latter featured Cardiacs in bizarre, comedic situations which continued to propagate the absurdist Alphabet Business Concern mythology which surrounded the band.

On the verge of success: ''Big Ship'', ''A Little Man and a House'' & ''On Land and in the Sea'' (1986–1989)

In 1986, Cardiacs released the mini-album Big Ship. The band played the Reading Festival on 24 August, releasing the very rough audio footage as the Rude Bootleg album.
In March 1987, a British tabloid newspaper, The Sunday Sport, ran a story claiming to be an exposé and revealing the supposedly incestuous relationship between Tim and Sarah Smith, in which the couple were portrayed as brother and sister. The headline ran, "In the bizarre world of music... anything goes – even incest.". Band manager Mark Walmesley is thought to have started the whole rumour to gain some publicity for the band, predating the superficially similar strategy later employed by The White Stripes twelve years later..
On 17 April, the band's music video for "Tarred and Feathered" was broadcast on Channel 4's groundbreaking music show, The Tube, giving Cardiacs their first exposure on national television. Later in the year, Cardiacs released a 12-inch single called "There's Too Many Irons In The Fire". In October, a live-in-the-studio session was recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio Leeds, followed in December by a similar session on BBC Radio 1 for Janice Long's Night Track show.
In 1988, Cardiacs released their fourth studio album, A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window. The single from the album, "Is This The Life?", saw brief chart success due to exposure on mainstream radio, and garnered the attention of a wider audience when it entered the Independent Top 10 in the UK. The band followed up this burst of success with another single, a cover of The Kinks' "Susannah's Still Alive" with a video directed by Steve Payne. Strange Fruit Records also released a 12-inch vinyl EP of the band's BBC Radio 1 session from the previous year, under the title Night Tracks . By this time, Cardiacs concerts were drawing hundreds of audience members and they were well on their way to becoming a hit underground band. On 15 May, the band played a concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, which was recorded for later release as Cardiacs Live.
Later in the year, Cardiacs recorded tracks for what would become their fifth studio album, On Land and in the Sea which was released in 1989. The album successfully consolidated the intricate style and unusual songwriting vision of A Little Man and a House..., but the stable line-up which the band had enjoyed for four years was now beginning to weaken.

The "classic line-up" fractures – ''Maresnest'' and multiple departures (1989–1991)

Over the following two years, the Cardiacs lineup began to disintegrate. Sarah Smith left the band suddenly in April 1989 and was not replaced, removing saxophone from the standard Cardiacs sound. Although Sarah would not rejoin the band, she would retain a long-term connection with Cardiacs by playing on future albums and would very occasionally appear as a special guest for live concerts. Tim Smith brought in a second guitarist – Christian 'Bic' Hayes, formerly of Ring and The Dave Howard Singers – and the new two-guitar line-up toured extensively around the UK and Europe for the rest of the year. During this period, the band also released Archive Cardiacs, a collection of material from the 1976–83 period.
Cardiacs toured and gigged intermittently during 1990, culminating in a shared concert with Napalm Death at Salisbury Arts Centre on 30 August. The Cardiacs half of the concert was filmed and released as the video Maresnest. The band performed as a seven-piece, with Sarah Smith making a one-day return as a band member. Although the concert has achieved legendary status amongst Cardiacs fans, it was also an occasion on which everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Among other things, Tim Smith's guitar fell apart and keys fell off Sarah Smith's saxophone.
After the Salisbury concert, Tim Quy left the band to pursue other projects. Like Sarah Smith, he was not replaced: the removal of live tuned and untuned percussion from the lineup further altered the established Cardiacs sound. Quy's departure was commemorated by a message at the end of the Maresnest video stating "this film is dedicated to Tim Quy who left our world 30/8/90"..
The band was quiet for the first four months of 1991, during which time two more members departed. William D. Drake played his final concert with the band on 2 May at The Venue in New Cross. Christian Hayes played his own final gig as a Cardiac in Oxford on 16 May: although Cardiacs and Levitation were friendly with each other and had even toured together, Hayes had finally found it impossible to balance the demands of both bands. Both Hayes and Drake would continue to be associated with Cardiacs, and would occasionally guest with the band at selected live concerts many years later.

The power quartet established: ''Heaven Born and Ever Bright'' and the Rough Trade debacle (1991–1994)

Although the band had historically been well-used to line-up changes, Cardiacs were profoundly affected by the multiple departures taking place between 1989 and 1991. A particular blow had been the departure of Drake, whose virtuoso keyboard skills and compositional input had made him one of the backbones of the band. Drake was considered irreplaceable and Cardiacs opted not to look for a new keyboard player, remaining as a quartet of two guitars, bass and drums. While Cardiacs was still able to record more fully orchestrated music in the studio, a lack of suitable personnel meant that the live band had to change drastically. Abandoning several signature musical features, Cardiacs' live music shifted away from the wider instrumentation of the past and moved towards a more guitar-heavy, power-rock sound in line with the remaining quartet lineup. However, the music remained complex, if narrower in focus, and Smith recorded additional keyboard and percussion parts onto backing tapes for the band to play over.
Before 1991 was over, the revitalised band had released a new single, called Day Is Gone, and played several concerts from October to December. This year also saw the release of Songs for Ships and Irons, which compiled material from the Big Ship mini-album plus various singles and EPs. Also making an appearance in 1991 was the debut release by the Cardiacs spin-off, The Sea Nymphs. Their debut single, "Appealing To Venus", was a free bonus item with the first 500 copies of Day Is Gone and was subsequently sold through the fan club. The debut Sea Nymphs album, The Sea Nymphs, was released in 1992. Cardiacs remained active during 1992, touring frequently within the UK, including a double-headed tour with Levitation. On one notable occasion, at a 4 June gig at the London Astoria, Cardiacs were supported by future British rock megastars Radiohead, then at the start of their career.
Prior to the departure of Hayes, Cardiacs had recorded an album called Heaven Born and Ever Bright. This was released as the new Cardiacs album in the summer of 1992, the first fruit of a new distribution deal with Rough Trade Records. However, disaster struck when Rough Trade ceased trading shortly after the release of the album. This ensured that Heaven Born and Ever Bright could neither be stocked nor ordered by record shops, with the result that Cardiacs were left thousands of pounds in debt and unable to recoup their recording expenses.
Despite this crippling blow, the band soldiered on, but by July 1993 yet another long-term member – drummer Dominic Luckman – had decided to quit. He played his last concert as a Cardiac member on 20 July at Camden Palace, London. In December 1993, Cardiacs revealed their new drummer, Jon Poole's former Ad Nauseam bandmate, Bob Leith. However, the following year proved to be Cardiacs' quietest year for a long time, with only four concerts played in total.

The comeback: ''Sing to God'' & ''Guns'' (1995–1999)

After three years without any new releases, 1995 saw the release of the Bellyeye single on Org Records. This was a taster for Cardiacs’ most epic recorded effort to date. Sing to God was a double album, due to the sheer amount of material that Tim had written over a number of years. The album was notable for a change in Cardiacs' working methods – whereas most previous material had been written and arranged by Smith, the Sing to God sessions saw extensive contributions from Jon Poole who played a strong role in orchestrating Smith's basic material with detailed riffs and keyboard parts. Drummer Bob Leith also made significant contributions to the album's lyrics.
Sing to God was released in two formats – as a limited edition double CD, and as two separate CDs. At the same time, the band reissued almost their entire back catalogue on CD. This constituted all of the albums from The Seaside onwards, CD issues of live album All that Glitters is a Mares Nest and the Archive Cardiacs compilation, and a new compilation, the Cardiacs Sampler.
In April 1995, Cardiacs performed a BBC Manchester radio session on Mark Radcliffe's show. During May, they toured with Pura Vida and Sidi Bou Said and recorded a live acoustic session for GLR Radio. On 17 June, they appeared as special guests of Blur at their triumphant London Mile End Stadium concert. From 31 October to 18 November, Cardiacs performed a long support stint on Chumbawamba's UK tour.
In June and November 1996, Cardiacs embarked on two UK tours of their own, most significantly filling the London Astoria 2 on 2 November. The June tour was promoted by a second BBC Manchester radio session with Mark Radcliffe, aired on 11 June.
The next two years saw no new music from Cardiacs and reduced live activity. However, there were three more London concerts in 1998 – at one of these the band was joined for an encore by William D. Drake. During the same year Cardiacs also played several performances in Germany and the Netherlands, and made appearances in Brighton and at a festival in St Austell in Cornwall. 1998 also saw renewed activity by The Sea Nymphs, with the "Appealing To Venus" single reissued with extra tracks by Org Records, and a rare concert at the Camden Falcon in north London.
At the start of 1999, Cardiacs played three nights in a row at the Camden Falcon, London between 29 and 31 January: on the final date, Sarah Smith and William D. Drake joined in for the encore. On 20 and 21 March the band played two concerts at the Garage with support from Dark Star and Camp Blackfoot. Cardiacs toured the UK in June 1999 to support the release of their new album, Guns, described by some of the music press as being their most accessible album to date. The band performed another radio session on 13 June for "Inside Tracks". Three more concerts followed in October.

Rare sightings, family gatherings and aborted recordings (2000–2002)

During 1999–2000, Cardiacs began work on a new studio album that remains incomplete and unreleased. Only one song slated for inclusion has ever been released to the public. Another song, the Jon Poole-penned "Silvery", appeared regularly in the band's live repertoire, and was later re-recorded by Jon Poole himself for The God Damn Whores' second album. While Tim Smith's given explanation for the album's nonappearance was that it had been rendered "broken" in some manner, bandmate Kavus Torabi has since stated that, while the band did record around this time, the concept of a "lost album" was apocryphal. Cardiacs concerts were rare over the next few years, although the band played the Glastonbury Festival on 23 June 2000 and played two subsequent Whitchurch Festivals on 5 August 2000 and 3 August 2001.
Counterbalancing the lack of tours, the band set up an annual tradition of one-off large-scale London concerts. These usually took place in November at the London Astoria, and soon became a kind of Cardiacs family gathering in which the band was joined by various guests including former members and newer Cardiacs-inspired supported bands. During these concerts, Sarah Smith, William D. Drake, Christian Hayes and Dominic Luckman all appeared onstage with the band on various occasions, as did The Consultant and Miss Swift. Support bands were always musicians with a professed Cardiacs connection or influence, and included Oceansize, The Monsoon Bassoon, The Scaramanga Six, Stars In Battledress and Jon Poole's hard-rock band GodDamnWhores.

The Garage Concerts, lineup changes and reestablishment (2003–2008)

Between 17–19 October 2003, Cardiacs recorded three special concerts at the Highbury Garage venue in London. As Jon Poole was by now also the bass player for The Wildhearts he was replaced for the concert by Kavus Torabi
For these concerts, the band delved back into their distant past, abandoning virtually all of their available back catalogue in favour of exclusively playing songs that had been performed prior to 1983. These were taken mostly from the cassette albums. A two-volume CD set of recordings from the three shows – The Special Garage Concerts Vol I and The Special Garage Concerts Vol II – was eventually released in 2005. Professional video camera equipment was apparently seen being used to record the band during the concerts, leading to a rumour that members of Org Records had filmed the entire three nights for later video release. This was debunked by Torabi in a 2009 interview, in which he stated that no such recordings existed..
In the autumn of 2004, Torabi officially replaced Poole as Cardiacs' second guitarist, and made his formal debut as a full group member at the annual London Astoria concert on 12 November. A number of other new members were drafted into the Cardiacs line-up at the same time – three backing singers and two percussionists – Cathy Harabaras and Dawn Staple – playing mostly bass drums.
After several years of limited live activity in front of established fans, Cardiacs made another attempt to recapture their momentum and play to fresh audiences by supporting long-terms fans The Wildhearts for the latter's tour between 8–15 December 2004. This tour saw another substitution – drummer Stephen Gilchrist stood in for Bob Leith, who had previous tour commitments with art-punk band Blurt. Smith would later perform as a live acoustic trio with Ginger Wildheart and former Cardiac Jon Poole. Around this time a "Diary" was begun and updated for the majority of 2005 on the official Cardiacs website, chronicling the band's exploits in typical absurd fashion. Three more annual Astoria gigs passed (the 2005 edition having been professionally shot, currently existing in an unedited state awaiting Tim Smith's involvement until 2007 when Cardiacs released their first new material for eight years: the Ditzy Scene single. Released on Org Records as a limited edition of 1,000 copies, Ditzy Scene was also the first release by the new lineup: on record this included Claire, Melanie, Cathy and Dawn, but the 2007 winter tour featured only Melanie and Cathy, both of whom were now playing percussion and singing.

Tim Smith's heart attack and end of band activity (2008–2010)

At the end of June 2008, Tim Smith collapsed from a Cardiopulmonary arrest after leaving a My Bloody Valentine concert. This led to hypoxic brain damage, leaving Smith severely debilitated by the rare condition Dystonia. All Cardiacs-related releases and activity were immediately shelved until further notice. A year of silence followed during which Smith recuperated in private. In June 2009, a new announcement appeared on the official Cardiacs website, letting readers know that, after a year of rehabilitation, Tim Smith's mind had returned to full functionality and that "no part of your favourite pop star’s intellect or personality has been found to be absent whatsoever." It thanked fans for their kind thoughts and made clear Smith's interest in returning to playing music with Cardiacs at such time as his physical rehabilitation allowed. However, it became clear that such rehabilitation would be a long process; and in August 2010, Kavus Torabi stated in an interview podcast that Cardiacs would never play live again.

Ongoing hiatus, fundraisers and related activities; death of Tim Smith (2010–present)

Despite the enforced halt in Cardiacs' work as an active band, the group's influence and presence has been sustained by various concerts and campaigns. While most of these have been primarily aimed at raising money for Tim Smith's medical rehabilitation, they have also served both to raise awareness of the band's work and the growing body of musicians influenced by it.
In December 2010, two tribute CDs, and its limited edition companion Leader of the Starry Skies - A Loyal Companion, were compiled by former Cardiac Christian Hayes and former Spratleys Japs singer Jo Spratley. These were released on Kavus Torabi's record label Believers Roast, with all proceeds going directly to the continuing care of Tim Smith. The albums featured cover versions of Smith-penned material by musicians including The Magic Numbers, Steven Wilson, Oceansize, Robert White/Andy Partridge, Sidi Bou Said and North Sea Radio Orchestra as well as former Cardiacs including Hayes himself, Torabi, William D. Drake, Mark Cawthra and Peter Tagg.
In 2013, after a long period of radio silence, the official Cardiacs website relaunched with many pieces of merchandise for sale. Among other updates, an amendment to the 'History' section of the site humorously addressed Tim Smith's accident, subsequent incapacitation and the band's hiatus:
And so for five years, history ceased to be created by Cardiacs. Unless we consider the undignified shenanigans of Tim Smith who ‘fell’ into a pool filled with shit and is still crawling and scratching his way out of it. The ALPHABET BUSINESS CONCERN wishes it to be known that, whilst maintaining complete control of his artistic output, they disassociate themselves ENTIRELY with his recent illness and, in fact, fail to recognise it as an excuse for not fulfilling his duties.
A message was also posted from Tim Smith's personal Facebook account:
Hello Kidz!. I have been bowled over and knocked back by the outpourings of love, posted on here. Every one of them. You have no idea what this means. Really though. While I would love to respond to each message, you are doubtlessly aware, my body is my enemy and my hands are cunts. Nonetheless it means the world to me, thank you all so much. I am truly blessed.
Sporadic status updates continue to be posted on Smith's Facebook page, which readily accepts friend requests of fans.
In the coming years, various Cardiacs releases would and continue to be added to the online shop, most notably a The Seaside boxset containing the original album remastered and with the original 4 "missing" tracks restored, as well as various supplementary material related to the era.
In 2013 and 2015 events dubbed "The Alphabet Business Convention" were held in celebration of and with all proceeds going towards Tim Smith's rehabilitation. They featured Cardiacs-related groups in performance such as Knifeworld, William D. Drake, and Redbus Noface. Several smaller benefit concerts were held from time to time in this period and moving forward.
In a 2016 feature via The Quietus, Kavus Torabi shed light on several past, present, and future Cardiacs projects.
It was an extraordinarily interesting and brilliant time for me because we’d already talked a great deal about what the plan was for the next few years for Cardiacs. We were going to make a film. Tim and I were planning out loads of treatments and scripts. Tim wanted to share the burden of Cardiacs a bit with someone and I was more than happy to do that. The way things stand, is nearly done but needs vocals and eyebrows and some of them need a few other touches. What there is does sound great but there’s far more stuff completed that hasn’t come out yet, that needs to come out. Tim is a perfectionist, and rightly so. Because his melodies make so much sense of everything, it would be ridiculous to put out these recordings, as exciting as they are, without the melodies. We have talked about people who Tim would approve of adding vocals, under his direction. I think Tim just wants to be well enough to really be producing it. I think his big drive at the moment is to finish off things that were started. There are a lot of loose ends that need tying up.

Later the same year, teaser images began appearing on Cardiacs' website and Facebook group, culminating in the announcement of the long-awaited next Sea Nymphs album, On the Dry Land, whose songs had been recorded around the same time as the first album but were left unreleased for over 20 years. The album released on November 2016 in CD and vinyl formats. The completion of On the Dry Land was made possible thanks to a turn for the better in Tim Smith's health; he was able to return to the studio to supervise production and additional recording necessary to the album's completion between 2015-2016. In an interview with Uncut, Smith revealed that even more Sea Nymphs material beyond On The Dry Land will be released at some point. He also stated that he was "deeply touched" by the efforts of those who had contributed toward the Cardiacs tribute album, Leader of the Starry Skies and that he had since "made a pledge to self to get better".
In November 2016, Jo Spratley gathered several musicians of Cardiacs-influenced origins and "reformed" her and Tim Smith's band, Spratleys Japs, for a one night show in which the band performed the entirety of the Japs' sole album, Pony, as well as the remaining tracks from the Hazel EP. A second show was announced shortly afterward for January 2017, as a double billing with Kavus Torabi's band Guapo.
In December 2016 Tim, Sarah, and William D. Drake were interviewed for Prog magazine, detailing more of Tim's current condition, the sessions behind On The Dry Land's creation and completion and confirming "at least an album's worth" of Sea Nymphs material that is yet to be finished.
Cardiacs will always be here. As for me, I'm still fighting them critters who are trying their best to stop me. But they are losing.

-Tim Smith
In early 2017, a third Alphabet Business Convention was announced, to be held on 26 August, featuring Cardiacs-related and inspired bands, in the spirit of the preceding conventions.
In September 2017, the Alphabet Business Concern released the long-awaited "Some Fairytales from the Rotten Shed" DVD to the public. It features Cardiacs rehearsing early songs in preparation of "The Special Garage Concerts"-era live shows. Prior to this, only four clips had been available to the public via the "abcglobus" YouTube channel, with a nearly-complete version of the DVD having been screened at the 2013 Alphabet Business Convention. During this time, the unreleased film was commonly referred to as "The Bumming Shed video" or "The Garage Rehearsals video".
In January 2018, almost 10 years since Tim Smith's cardiac arrest, an interview and full explanation of his condition were published in multiple major news publications as well as the official Cardiacs website. A donation campaign was simultaneously launched, its goal being to facilitate improved care for Tim with the hope that the proper neurological treatment it would fund would help him regain control of his body, as he had responded positively to similar, but minimal and inconsistent treatment in the past. The initial donation goal of 40,000 GBP was breached in less than 24 hours, and a new goal of 100,000 GBP was instated, which would fund treatment for 1 year.
In March 2018, almost all of the Cardiacs back catalogue was reissued on Bandcamp as digital downloads.
Following twelve years of living with dystonia, Tim Smith died on 21 July 2020, with his death being announced the following day.

Legacy

While the critical status of Cardiacs is wildly mixed, Cardiacs are renowned for their unique performing and songwriting styles and their poetically cryptic, philosophical and abstract lyrics, as well as for their ability to produce a unique, complex and innovative sound with all their musical ventures over and over again throughout their long career. Tim Smith regularly attracts fulsome praise: he has been described in the music press as the "Mozart", "Beethoven" and "Messiaen" of rock and pop music for his complex and innovative compositional skills, as well as being hailed as a genius. The snooker player Steve Davis is also a big fan of the band and attended many of their live gigs.
Cardiacs have had a profound underground influence on over three decades of musicians, including the pioneers of the nu metal and avant-garde metal genres. The band has also influenced math rock artists such as The Monsoon Bassoon and Battles. The band are sometimes credited as having been the inventors of the "pronk" music genre; Tim Smith has rejected the term from the off, stating that Cardiacs are better described as a pop group or a psychedelic rock band.
Musicians who have cited Tim Smith's work as a major influence include Mike Vennart of Oceansize, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, Tool, Korn and Thom Yorke of Radiohead. During the 1980s, Cardiacs were a professed influence or inspiration for Marillion, It Bites and British psychedelic acts such as Ring; during the 1990s, emerging bands and musicians who were Cardiacs fans included Blur, Radiohead, Supergrass Shane Embury of Napalm Death, Storm Corrosion's Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt, The Scaramanga Six, The Monsoon Bassoon, Leech Woman and The Wildhearts. In recent years Cardiacs has been influencing a new generation of underground bands such as Rocketgoldstar, Little Trophy, The Display Team, Liberty Ships, Major Parkinson and Silvery.

Members

Current/final line-up

;Substitute musicians


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Discography

Studio albums

Demos

YearTitleTracksFormatNotes
1978Demo
  1. "When I See That Certain Look in Your Eye"
  2. "I Bit the Vicar"
  3. "Vic Bite 3a"
  4. "Minnow Bandage"
  5. "Pilf"
  6. "Ants"
  7. "Trade Mark"
CassetteDemo tape: recorded as Cardiac Arrest

Singles and EPs

YearTitleLabelCat. No.FormatNotes
1979A Bus for a Bus on the BusTortchTOR 0027"Recorded as Cardiac Arrest
1985Seaside TreatsAlphabetALPH 00212"EP
1987There's Too Many Irons in the FireThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 00612"
1988Is This the Life?The Alphabet Business Concern
Torso		ALPH 008
TORSO 70060		7" / 12"
1988Susannah's Still AliveThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 0097" / 12"
1988Night Tracks Strange FruitSFNT 01312"EP
1989Baby Heart DirtThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 0117" / 12"
1991Day Is GoneThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 01512" / CD
1995BellyeyeOrg RecordsORGAN011CD
1995ManhooThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 025CD
1995Odd EvenThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 026CD
1998Cardiacs/Camp BlackfootOrg RecordsORG056CD
1999SignsThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 028CD
2007Ditzy SceneOrg RecordsORG 419CD

Compilations

YearTitleLabelCat. No.FormatNotes
1989Archive CardiacsThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 000Cassette / CD
1991Songs for Ships and IronsThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 014LP / Cassette / CD
1995SamplerThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 019CD
2002Greatest HitsThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 029CD

Live albums

YearTitleLabelCat. No.FormatNotes
1986Rude BootlegThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 005LP/Cassette/CD
1988Cardiacs LiveThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 010LP/CD
1995All that Glitters is a Mares NestThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 018CD
2005The Special Garage Concerts Vol IThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH CD030CD
2005The Special Garage Concerts Vol IIThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH CD031CD

Videography

YearTitleLabelCat. No.FormatNotes
1985Seaside TreatsJettisoundzJE 140VHS
1992MaresnestFotodisk VideoLFV 116VHS
2013MaresnestThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH DVD 001DVD
2017Some Fairytales From The Rotten ShedThe Alphabet Business ConcernAPLH DVD 002DVD

Related releases

YearTitleLabelCat. No.FormatNotes
1984Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr DrakeAlphabetALPH 003Cassette
1991Appealing To VenusThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 0167"
1992The Sea NymphsThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 021Cassette / CD
1995Tim Smith's Extra Special OceanLandWorldThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH 020CD
1998Appealing To VenusOrg RecordsORGAN044CDReissue
1999PonyAll My Eye And Betty Martin MusicAME CD001CD
1999Hazel All My Eye And Betty Martin MusicAME CD002CD
2001Cardiacs and Affectionate FriendsOrg RecordsORG228CD
2004Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr DrakeAll My Eye And Betty Martin MusicAME CD004CDReissue
2010Believers RoastBR003CD
2010Leader of the Starry Skies - A Loyal CompanionBelievers RoastBR003CD
2016On The Dry LandThe Alphabet Business ConcernALPH CD032/ALPH LP032CD/Vinyl

Other appearances

YearTitleLabelCat. No.FormatTrack featured
1981Slightly Weirdsville FO 005CassetteA Bus For A Bus
1981The Snoopies AlbumRSB1LPIs This The Life?
1985The Riverside Compilation L.P. - Laughing All The Way To The BanksZTHLP 69LPWooden Fish On Wheels
1985All Shapes And SizesPRIME CUT 37"It's A Lovely Day
1985Pirates of The PanasoniksJettisoundzJE137VHSLittle Man And A House
1988Indie Top 20 CD88CD88LP / CD88MC / CD88LP / Cassette / CDIs This The Life
1988Indie Top 20 Vol IV Part 1 - State Of IndependentsTT041 / TT041MCLP / CassetteIs This The Life
1988House Of DollsHOD 0027"Is This The Life
1988SlaughteredLTS 30BLPGoosegash, Buds and Sporn
1989Shangri-La - A Tribute To The KinksILLUSION 03 / COMM8C / ILL CD 300LP / Cassette / CDSuzannah's Still Alive
1989The Best Of The Radio 1 Sessions Vol. OneLPNT100 / CDNT100LP / CDIs This The Life
1993British Rebel MusicHMM 001CassetteGoodbye Grace
1993Lime LizardLIME3CassetteDay Is Gone
1993The Imaginary BoxLPSuzannah's Still Alive
1994Slaughtered - Vol. IISPV 077-25172 CDCDGoosegash, Buds and Sporn
1996PHD Rock Music CompilationPHD PROMO 002CDIs This Life
1996Night Of The BansheeSPV CD 085-38702CDIs This The Life?
1999Organ Radio 5: Suzie Says: Chew On ThisOrg RecordsORG051CDCDFiery Gun Hand
1999Organ Radio 8: Suzie In The Shark PoolOrg RecordsORG055CDCDNo Gold
2000Organ Radio 10: Suzie The Swimmer Gets The Brutal SpeedhornOrg RecordsORG062CDCDAsleep All Eyes Open
2000Misfits Of The Wave, Vol.1 - Bullied EurotrashLUST200CDrA Cake For Berties Party, Food On The Wall, A Bus For A Bus On The Bus
2001Organ Radio 19: Hold My Goddamn Finger Suzie, That Big Ugly Shark Is Back In The Pool....Org RecordsORG234CDCore

Musical relations

A black and white A5 booklet of lyrics, drawings and band photographs, created by Tim Smith, was available at Cardiacs gigs for a few years from 1984, appropriately titled 'Cardiacs Book'. Out of print for decades, it was reprinted for its inclusion in the 2015 The Seaside boxset.
No official Cardiacs histories or biographies have been published. The ORGAN fanzine produced a Cardiacs anthology of interviews and reviews in 1993. In November 2006 The Organ announced that they would be putting together a book incorporating the previous anthology, interviews and features that been in Organ since that anthology was published and contributions from fans.