Huggy Bear
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Huggy Bear is an English riot grrl band, formed in 1991 (see 1991 in music) in Brighton. Inspired by the Olympia, Washington based riot girl movement, led by militant feminist bands like Bikini Kill, Huggy Bear had male and female members, Chris, Niki, Jo, Jon and Karen; they refused to be photographed or interviewed, and they never gave their full names. In spite of a major label bidding war, Huggy Bear stuck with Wiiija, an indie label; Huggy Bear did agree to sign to Nude Records, but only if the band Suede was dropped from the label's roster. Nude Records refused to drop Suede, its best-selling act and one of the top British bands of the time.
Their avant-garde debut EP, Rubbing the Impossible to Burst, was released in 1992 (see 1992 in music) and began working closely with Bikini Kill as riot grrl's popularity peaked on both sides of the Atlantic. After a long series of EPs, Huggy Bear finally released Weaponry Listens to Love, an LP that proved to be their last album. Jon joined I'm Being Good and Comet Gain, while Chris signed on to Skinned Teen; Karen joined Phantom Pregnancies while Niki and Joe joined Blood Sausage. Chris and Jo later formed The Elements of Crime with Dale from Blood Sausage, Layla from Skinned Teen, Andrew from Linus and Daryl from Sister George and released a single, "The things you do for love..."
The band did not take their kitschy name from Antonio Fargas' character in the 1970s TV show Starsky and Hutch, police informant "Huggy Bear" Brown, but were given it through an early misspelling of their intended name: Huggy Beat.