The original line-up was Miles Hunt (whose uncle Bill Hunt was keyboard player with Wizzard), Malcolm Treece, Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones (d. 1993) and Martin Gilks (d. 2006). The group originated from an earlier collaboration with group members of Pop Will Eat Itself (aka PWEI), called From Eden, which had Miles Hunt on the drums.
In 1990, Martin Bell (aka, Fiddlie), an accomplished fiddle and banjo instrumentalist, joined the band and Paul Clifford replaced Rob Jones on the bass after Jones left the band.
The band initially split on July 14, 1994 at the Phoenix Festival near Stratford-on-Avon, with Miles Hunt forming Vent 414 and Malc Treece, Martin Gilks and Paul Clifford teaming up with ex-Eat frontman, Ange Dolittle, to form We Know Where You Live.
Following the split of Vent 414, Miles Hunt took to touring an acoustic solo show performing old favourites and new material. During this period, he toured and released an album under banner of The Miles Hunt Club, featuring Stuart Quinnel and Andres Karu (who would later featuring in subsequent line-ups of The Wonder Stuff) as well as Michael Ferentino fom the Amazing Meet Project.
The band later reformed for a few live tours from 2000 onwards including a sell out 5 night residency at The Forum, London. For this incarnation, Stuart Quinnel took over on bass from Paul Clifford.
Their first new album for over a decade, Escape From Rubbish Island, was released in September 2004. The line-up for this album was Hunt and Treece plus Andres Karu and Mark McCarthy (formally of Radical Dance Faction).
This line-up (plus Erica Nockalls on violin) continued into 2006 with the release of their new album Suspended By Stars.
Scheduled for 2011 is a tour supporting The Levellers for which the line up has changed again, with Andres Karu being replaced on drums by ex-Pop Will Eat Itself member Fuzz Townshend.
Poison
The Wonder Stuff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And run like thunder.
I'm gonna grab your hair,
And pull you under.
I don't know why sometimes I wonder.
Must be the poison.
Think I'm gonna poison you instead.
I'm gonna kick you down,
And keep you under.
I'm gonna kiss your face,
And run like thunder.
I'm gonna, kick you down and run like thunder,
Stick my big fat foot in your face, and run like,
Run like, run like, run like,
Poison.
The lyrics of The Wonder Stuff's song Poison are intriguing and open to interpretation. The song starts with a sense of aggression as the singer proclaims that he is going to kiss his lover's face and run like thunder. The tone changes in the next few lines as he decides to grab her hair and pull her under. The ambiguous nature of these lines can be interpreted both as passionate love and anger. The chorus comes in with a more contemplative tone, as the singer wonders why he has these impulses. He posits that it must be the poison which is affecting him.
The second verse is even more aggressive as the singer proclaims that he has been poisoned right out of his head, causing him to want to poison his lover instead. The lines "I'm gonna kick you down, and keep you under" convey a sense of domination and control over the lover. The verse ends with the refrain from the first verse, about kissing her face and running like thunder.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm gonna kiss your face,
I am planning to kiss your face.
And run like thunder.
Then I will quickly run away, fast like thunder.
I'm gonna grab your hair,
I will hold onto your hair tightly.
And pull you under.
I will forcefully pull you down.
I don't know why sometimes I wonder.
I sometimes wonder why I act the way I do.
Must be the poison.
It's probably because of the bad influence or poison inside me.
Poisoned right out of my head
I am terribly poisoned and it has affected my mind.
Think I'm gonna poison you instead.
I am contemplating returning the favor and poisoning you instead.
I'm gonna kick you down,
I plan on delivering a hard kick to knock you down.
And keep you under.
I will hold you down and not let you get back up.
I'm gonna, kick you down and run like thunder,
I will deliver the blow and quickly run away.
Stick my big fat foot in your face, and run like,
I will put my foot in your face and run away fast.
Run like, run like, run like,
I will run as fast as I can.
Poison.
All because of the poison that's inside of me.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MARTIN RICHARD GILKS, MILES STEPHEN HUNT, ROBERT JONES, MALCOLM ROY TREECE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind