Paris Angels

Biography by Ricardo Rainho The Mancunian seven-piece Paris Angels arrived on the British music scene just as the Madchester craze was hitting its peak. The band was first signed to the independent label Sheer Joy in 1990, and its debut single, "Perfume," made an immediate impact that summer, hitting the Top Ten on the indie chart. The follow-up singles "Scope" and "Fade" were almost as successful, leading to a deal with Virgin. Their first and only album, Sundew, arrived in 1991 to generally positive reviews from the British music press but was greeted with public indifference, as the Madchester scene was already falling out of favor. Coupled with that, the sale of Virgin to EMI left them in the cold, causing the band to split. Guitarist Paul "Wags" Wagstaff would later surface in Black Grape and in a re-formed Happy Mondays.