The Prey were an enduring punk band of the era, starting life in 1982 and were comprised of Andi Schurer on Bass, Dee (Paul Deacon) on Drums and Martin Nicolini on Guitar. They were known at this time as Dance the Dance. Then Rick joined on vocals and they became known as Puppets Prey, calling themselves a 'Progressive Punk' band. Their influences were Bauhaus, the Banshees and Death Cult. Rick told the Evening Echo at the time "I want us to put on a good visual show with some original form of dress to go with it", he continued "The whole style of performance is important, - to do something new, hopefully at very little cost. Theatrical backdrops featuring the puppet design would be a good idea." A highpoint of this era of the band was a performance at the Zero 6 supporting Punk Poet John Cooper Clarke.

By 1984, things needed shaking up, and Rik told the Evening Echo "What we were doing as Puppets Prey became a bit contrived and we have found going back to basics has helped bring a new freshness to the material." The local paper described them as "sounding like the Clash, only tighter and more disciplined". A line up change had occurred at this point, with Wayne coming in on Guitar and Pete Melling on Drums. Between them they encompassed a lot of local musical history, as Wayne had played with The Three Mothers, Andi with The Psychopaths, Convicted and The Systems, and Pete Melling with The Psychopaths, The Pinks, Decibels, and The Convicted. Their name was shortened to The Prey and a four track demo was recorded by the band at Trackside Studios, titled 'Gonna Make No Noise'. The songs were 'Crazy Johnny Wild', 'Did We Really Change?', and 'Breakthrough'. A key song by the band at this time that didn't make the tape unfortunately was 'Don't Cry Julie' and was sadly unrecorded.

In 1985, with The Prey now consisting of the classic line up of Andi Schurer on Bass and Vocals, Wayne on Guitar and Vocals and Max Speed on Drums, the band continued to gig and record, playing out quite often with The Kronstadt Uprising, The Burning Idols and The Armless Teddies. 1986 saw yet another line up change, with Craig Thorne on Drums and Nic Porter on Guitar and Vocals, and the band were featured on The Indigo Blue Compilation album 'Best of The Rest'. Also in 1986, The Evening Echo featured a series of articles on '10 Years of Punk', one of which was conducted with Andy who said at the time "Some people look at punk as revivalist, but it's not at all. It's just the way you spike your hair, what you do, a way of life really. Originally, shows like The Tube catered for all tastes, including punk, but it seem to have moved more and more into soul." He concluded though "This obsession with money, this greed by the record companies as well, leads to trendy bands being signed up because they look pretty, being hyped and ending up one hit wonders."

A year or so later the band split and went their separate ways, but The Prey have left behind a catalogue of great songs, such as 'Crazy Johnny Wilde' and 'Assassin', which will hopefully see the light one day on CD.

Discography

'The Best of The Rest' - Features The Prey song 'Sleepless Nights' - LP (Catman Boogie Records BEST 1)

'Southend Punk Volume One' - Features The Prey song 'Sleepless Nights' - CD (Angels in Exile Records AIECD 004) - 2020