As the second wave of punk drew to an end during the early 80's there was, for a brief
period, a sub-genre that attracted a mix of Goth's, Anarcho's, Punks and Psychobilly's... In the UK bands such as Theatre of Hate, UK Decay, Sex Gang Children, Blood & Roses, Southern Death Cult, The Mob, Flowers in the Dustbin, amongst others, picked up the baton from earlier groups like the Ants, the Banshees and Joy Division; creating emotional and imaginative music forged on the streets across Thatcher's Britatin. During 1983, in the interim between leaving Flowers in the Dustbin & establishing the more singular While Angels Watch, Dev formed the band Tom's Midnight Garden with friends Bill & Kappa, who had been involved with the now legendary group, Anabollic Steroids, a few years before. Musically, Lance Hearn has described Tom's Midnight Gardens music as "melodic punk, with as much in common as early 4AD releases as with Anarcho-punk... and lyrically unusual, mixing politics with crypto-spirituality or Crowley-esque philosophy." Others have suggested similarities to the Banshees,Crisis and Play Dead. In contrast, gigs would often be shambolic affairs with a party-like atmosphere; played in squatted venues, clubs and pubs organised by various collectives to raise money towards direct action such as 'Stop the City' or to help maintain the venue. It was at this level, with Dev squatting himself, that the band developed associations with individuals and groups in London's alternative scene... such as Kill Your Pet Puppy and Temple of Psychic Youth while gigging with Flowers, Hagar the Womb, Omega Tribe, Decadent Few, Faction, Wet Paint Theatre and many others. During this period the band recorded a large part of their set at 99 Studio's in London; these recordings were to be released on the Hackney based 96 Tapes cassette only label, which along with All the Madmen records represented much of the underground music of the time. However, the tape was shelved when the group split towards the end of 1984. This particular journey was over. They resurfaced, as TMG, in 1985 to record a final demo and play two gigs. Both occassions with different line-up's and a more post-industrial/psychedelic sound, which would later lead to Dev forming his long-standing project While Angels Watch. In assosciation with Infrastition records, Dev has mastered and released the 1984 studio sessions in their entirety along with three tracks from the final demo. The CD, 'To Kill a Klown' [after one of the groups most popular songs], is available now from the shop at this website.
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