Wot! - Captain Sensible

Captain Sensible achieved his only chart hit in the Netherlands in the last weeks of 1982 with the single 'Wot!', a track that featured the female backing singers Dolly Mixture. 

According to Captain Sensible, the song came to be when he was in the USA during a tour with the Damned. He heard this horrible pounding sound coming from outside at 5am. It was coming from a building site and as it was so early and he wanted to sleep in the hotel, he recorded the noise to make a complaint. He played it to the reception, informing them that it was disgusting and a ploy to upset British bands, and he was trying to get some sleep, and they just said, "Have a nice day". Nothing was done and he got no sleep. When he returned to the UK, he played the tape to Tony Mansfield who took the tape and created a loop (backing track) from it within about 10 minutes. This sound loop formed the basis of the song. The loop can be heard clearly at the beginning and near the end of the song. 

'Wot!' reached number 10 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 26 in the UK singles chart. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6976
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Wot!' / 'Strawberry dross'