Following his sacking from the Quireboys in January 1989 and a brief tenure with the Throbs, UK guitarist/songwriter Ginger (b. David Walls, 17 December 1964, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England) set about forming the Wildhearts with ex-Tattooed Love Boys guitarist Cris "CJ" Jagdhar (b. 27 December 1967, England), drummer Andrew "Stidi" Stidolph (b. Tyne & Wear, England), bass player Julien "Joolz' Dean (ex-Soho Roses), and vocalist Snake (ex-Tobruk). Ginger and CJ took on vocal duties after the departure of Snake. The line-up stabilized with the recruitment of Bam (b. Maurice Phillip Ross III, 28 August 1962, East Molesey, Surrey, England; drums, ex-Dogs D'Amour) and Danny McCormack (b. 28 February 1972, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England; bass, ex-Energetic Krusher), and the new look quartet signed to EastWest Records in early 1991. Contractual difficulties meant that the Wildhearts" debut EP, Mondo Akimbo A-Go-Go, was delayed until early 1992, but the poor production could not obscure the quality of the songs or the band's original style, mixing pop melodies with aggressive, heavy riffing. A Terry Date-remixed version was released as a double-pack with the Don't Be Happy ... Just Worry EP (later reissued as a single album). This had much greater impact, and the band's following increased as they undertook a succession of support tours.
Bam rejoined his old band during this period, with his predecessor Stidi filling the gap. Earth Vs. The Wildhearts was recorded in a mere seven days, but turned out to be one of the best British rock albums for years, mixing metal, punk and pop into an adrenalized collection of songs, with their commercial appeal tempered only by the liberal use of expletives in the song titles. Stidolph was ousted shortly afterwards in favour of ex-Radio Moscow drummer Ritch Battersby (b. 29 June 1968, England), and following an acclaimed tour with the Almighty, the band broke into the UK Top 40 in February 1994 with "Caffeine Bomb'. Subsequent headline dates saw the sound augmented by the keyboards of ex-Grip frontman Willie Dowling, while the summer of 1994 saw guitarist Jagdhar ousted. He would later re-emerge with a new band, Honeycrack, which also featured Dowling. Later that year an exclusive 40-minute mini-album, available only through the Wildhearts" fan club, was released (still featuring CJ on guitar). Fishing For Luckies revealed new dimensions to the Wildhearts, stretching even to Pogues influences on "Geordie In Wonderland", and the commercially available single, "If Life Is Like A Love Bank I Want An Overdraft", brought a UK number 31 hit in January 1995.
The band delayed their second album proper until their line-up was restored to a quartet. Auditions for a replacement were held in November, after using Steve Vai guitarist Devin Townsend as a stand-in. Despite the unsettling lack of a second guitarist, P.H.U.Q. was widely applauded as their strongest collection to date, with Ginger maturing as a lyricist and the band producing a much more accessible sound. Jagdhar was eventually replaced by Jef Streatfield (b. 8 June 1971, England). They countered accusations of pandering to a new audience with typically uncomplicated statements to the media such as: "There's nothing wrong with playing a short snappy song that's got a chorus you can sing along to. What's accessible mean?". This was justified by "I Wanna Go Where The People Go' reaching UK number 16 in May 1995. Media speculation that Senseless Things guitarist Mark Keds would be recruited permanently was confirmed in 1995, but when he joined his former band for dates in Japan and failed to return in time for the Wildhearts" appearance at the Phoenix Festival, the venture soured into acrimony on both sides. By July the Wildhearts were still auditioning for a new singer and guitarist, despite the release of "Just In Lust" (UK number 28), with Keds making his sole Wildhearts appearance on the b-side.
Confusion was rife during the autumn of 1995: had the band broken up or not? They attempted to qualify the rumour by saying that they would break up if they failed to secure a new recording contract. They were in dispute with EastWest over the re-release of an expanded Fishing For Luckies, and when the record company released Fishing For More Luckies the band made a great deal of noise in opposing it and urged fans not to buy it. Ironically, it was an excellent album and one that fans were keen to own. The following year the Wildhearts achieved their highest charting single, when "Sick Of Drugs" (on Round Records) reached number 14 in April. The band signed a new contract with Mushroom Records in April 1997, releasing the lacklustre Endless, Nameless later that year amid more rumours of a split. The Wildhearts finally fell apart in early 1998, with McCormack going on to form the Yo-Yo's, while Ginger worked with Alex Kane as Clam Abuse, and Connie Bloom in Silver Ginger 5.
Ginger reunited with Jagdhar, McCormack and Stidolph in 2001 to resurrect the classic-era Wildhearts line-up. The quartet entered the recording studio to begin work on new material, much of which saw the light of day on 2003's excellent comeback album, Must Be Destroyed.
