Their big break came courtesy of John Peel, who was impressed enough with their debut single 'If I Said' to offer them a session slot. The success of this and subsequent singles in the Independent chart such as 'It's All Up To You' caught the attention of the music press, who paired them off with contemporaries the Primitives as part of a created 'blond' scene. This false genre was based on nothing more than a guitar sound and the peroxide hair colour of their female singers, but the Buds impressive live reputation found Columbia records offering them a contract.
Initial major label singles 'Burst' and 'Hit the Ground' were moderately successful, as was their debut album 'Pop Said', but inevitably their bubblegum rush slowly lost it's flavour, and subsequent albums 'Crawdaddy' and 'Erotica' passed by seemingly unnoticed by media and public alike. Part of this can be blamed on their management for failing to push the band in territories outside the UK, but another nail in the coffin came when Madonna chose 'Erotica' as the title for her new album within months of the Darling Buds release.
With hindsight, it would seem that the naivety and innocent fun of their catchy early independent singles was hard to capture with major label studios and production, and the sparkle of their jangly punk-pop slowly lost it's shine. The band completed a tour in December 1992, but the new year heralded the end of the Darling Buds.
Since the split, Andrea has worked as an actress, and also presented music programmes for BBC Wales.
IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE THE DARLING BUDS: The Primitives, Blondie, Boo Radleys, The Wedding Present, Transvision Vamp, Lush, Altered Images.