he Candyskins were a rock band formed in 1989 in Oxford, England. Considered by many as one of the cream of the 'Oxford Scene', they enjoyed limited commercial success compared to their contemporaries Radiohead and Supergrass. They were also considered by the British music press as one of the founders of Brit Pop. The band recorded four studio albums over a period of eight years. After the successful release of the "Submarine Song" in 1990, the band went into the studio to produce their first full length album Space I'm In with original bass and banjo player Richard (Mini) Brown. Growing antagonism between Brown and the band during a year of supporting acts such as The Damned, Mock Turtles and Jools Holland led to a miserable (although the best-selling album of the Candyskins) recording experience for all.[citation needed] The album featured three singles: "Submarine Song", "She Blew Me Away" and "You Are Here". Brown was subsequently dismissed and credited only as an additional musician in order to avoid payment for the bass work on the album and singles.
After a year of touring and the replacement of a stand-in bass player with Karl Shale, the band released their second album Fun? on Geffen Records in 1993. Characteristically the band attempted to cultivate the U.S. success of Space I'm In with an ironic album featuring songs about football and gardening. The poor selling record began an elongated legal dispute between the record company and the band over songwriting royalties.
The album Sunday Morning Fever was released on Ultimate Records in the UK in 1997, and saw the band enjoy their biggest chart success with "Monday Morning", making it into the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. The record company went bankrupt and the band were left in limbo during the recording of their last album Death of a Minor TV Celebrity. The album did not do as well as their previous effort despite featuring the single "Feed It" which was one of the central songs on the soundtrack to the movie The Waterboy starring Adam Sandler.
The band have broken up since 1998 and are currently pursuing other projects in the music industry. They were briefly reunited for a farewell gig on New Year's Eve, 2001 at The Zodiac (club).
The Candyskins reformed again to play at the last night party of The Zodiac in Oxford on 17 May 2007. The event was filmed for a documentary about the history of the Oxford music scene. Over two thousand people attended the sold-out show. The also played at the Carling Academy Oxford in what was The Zodiac on the 8th August 2008.
Mark Cope now has a new band Nine Stone Cowboy, and has released the single "Jesus Doesn't Like Me".
