Biog:
Helen McCookerybook was bass player in Brighton punk band Joby and the Hooligans, who packed venues with those curious to see the worst band in Brighton!

After having learnt to play her instrument, she founded the Chefs with guitarist Carl Evans; the Chefs released a 4-track EP on local label Attrix, 'Sweetie', which is now very rare. Later they signed to Dudley-based Graduate Records who re-released their second Attrix single, '24 Hours' which was a hit in the independent charts, and recorded the band for an album that was never released. They recorded radio sessions for John Peel and Richard Skinner, before disbanding in 1980 after a name-change to Skat and the release of a cover-version of 'Femme Fatale', also on Graduate.

She then switched to guitar, working briefly with the Monochrome Set's guitarist Lester Square, before forming Helen and the Horns. A single, 'Freight Train', was released on Thin Sliced Records and gave the band an independent top-10 for several weeks, more Peel broadcasts followed, and she signed to RCA, who released two singles. The final release by Helen and the Horns was an album on their own label, Rockin' Ray Records.

She then went on to compose music for film and TV, including the documentary, 'No-one Likes Us, We Don't Care', for which she recorded and sampled football chants by the Millwall supporters. After a period working as a community songwriter, she started working at the University of Westminster teaching on the music course there. In 2001 she toured the UK, alongside the Raincoats' Gina Birch, with a one-woman show, Voxpop Puella. A year ago, she picked up her guitar again and hasn't stopped writing songs since- currently she's recording an album, and also writing a book about female instrumentalists form punk bands in the 1970s.

'Helen and the Horns Etc' is on Near Shore records and is available from RoughTrade mail order.

Helen McCookerybook
Helen & the Horns Peel Session