In the early 1990s a magical meeting of musical minds at the school gates, waiting for the children to come out, is where Foo Foo began. Squeezing in rehearsals and songwriting sessions between looking after children, shopping, cleaning, cooking and all the hundred and one other things that mothers do, Foo Foo considered themselves to be the

REAL Mothers of Invention.

 

Foo Foo mainly played gigs all around the South/South West of England

and were very pleased to be described as 'better than chocolate' by

the late, great Jackie Levin. 

Many of their songs started life in the car on the way home from a gig and their material was basically their own take on life, love and laughter...

with the emphasis firmly on laughter.

Their style was a positive infusion of ska, swing, blues, a little Latin, something scrumptious by way of a melody and everything delivered with an energy and clarity that was  sometimes provocative, sometimes humourous, always inspired.

 

The Foo Foo songwriting technique involved collecting good lines in a notebook against the time when a suitable riff presented itself and then padding them out with words gleaned from such publications as the Financial Times, recipe books and even the back of a blue tack packet! They worked hard to make their songs lyrically interesting and the tunes were rhythmic and appealing with AWESOME harmonies.

 

The Foo Foo gig list over the years was extensive and included Glastonbury Festival, The Larmer Tree Festival, The Bunkfest and countless other venues from Minehead to Milan.

Foo Foo like to mention Milan because it sounds kind of exotic. They were sent there to play a show in a posh hotel in 2001 by Naim Music, who recorded their first album 'H2C', and they were treated like popstars.

Their second album, 'Sweet As Hell', was released in 2004.

Over the years Foo Foo were pleased to play with many different musicians including Nick Burson on drums (Foo Foo & The Boy) and Kate Riaz on cello and bass (Foo Foo & The Cello).

 

In 2005, Foo Foo part 1 came to an end. Jan and Lisa were founder members of a Jamaican Ska band called Boy Le Monti with Jan on bass and Lisa on drums and their Foo Foo thing was put aside for a while. However, having done their Foo thing for such a long time they found they missed it and came back to have another go. Their line up now includes Jan's husband (also a founder member in the ska band) who does a great job on electric guitar, creating tasty riffs and funky rhythms to complement their fine style. They tend to pick and choose where they play these days, preferring venues that offer a listening audience, and their tunes are very much blues based but still presenting their wonderful trademark harmonies.