The Vulture Squadron originally formed in late 1983 / early 1984, and after initially disbanding in 1986 have intermittently gotten together in various permutations ever since. With members drawn from the Southend / Basildon / North London area, these have included Dave Dastardly, Mr Flo, Sean Arthey, Kev Nixon, Rob Tyler, Pete Amber, Andi Schurer, Steve 76, Gary Higgs, Ian ‘Spider, Cubitt, with guests including Gary Lewis and Phil Burdett.

The band were originally a four piece consisting of Sean Arthey (Ex-Hints) on Vox, Kev Nixon on Bass, Dave Dastardley (Ex-Nervous) on Guitars and Mr Flo ( Ex-Walter & The Closets) on Drums. Psychobilly was still in its infancy when the band came together, and has since become and continues to be a global phenomenon.

They were the first in Essex to purvey this delicate sound of death, horror, heads, shoulders, knees and toes. In their first 10 years, they toured the UK & Europe with the likes of The Meteors, Guana Batz, Restless and Pepsie & Shirley, and then there were various member changes, and Spring/Summer 2006 saw a reunion with members Dave, Andi and Mr Flo rockin' once more. Other members to pass through the Squadron ranks over the years have included Rob Tyler from The Outer Limits (Billericay Neo-Rockin’ Legends), Dave Phillip’s Hot Rod Gang, Restless etc, Steve '76 from Thee Armless Teddies, Gary Higgs (Ex-The Three Mothers and recently RetrospeX), Pete Amber (Ex-Cattle Prods) and Phil Collins apparently.

In between VS, Dave has played with many outfits, and to merely name a few one must include: The Highliners, Deathskulls, Nuclear Anarchy, and Corpus Earthlings with Andi, as well as Moss Bros with Cecil Gee. Andi to date has only not played with Level 42, narrowly missing out to Mark King by 26 minutes and 1 thumb. Mr Flo was one of the brains behind the legendary but brief Southend Super-group Crimson Smile which also included Murray Blake, ex-Kronstadt Uprising, Sonic Violence, Nuclear Anarchy & RetrospeX with Flo & Andi, Gary Lewis (ex-Prodigy & VS guest) plus The Dom.

A key release by the band was the VS track 'Dig Your Own' on the 'All night Garage Service' album, where they were described on the sleeve as 'Mushroom Eating Billys from Basildon Rocking Up a Storm'. Leaving the last words to Mr Flo, he described The Vulture Squadron's sound as "A blend of psychobilly (VS Stylee), 60's garage punk and a unique blend of styles honed by years of treading the boards".

Profile by Mr Flo

Discography

'All Night Garage Service' - Features The Vulture Squadron song 'Dig Your Own' - LP (Waterfront Records WF 029 - 1986)