The band formed in Bristol, England during 1980. Their first show was at a street party celebrating the wedding of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. In 1982, the band relocated to Soho, London, where they would play many shows at the infamous club known as The Batcave. Specimen's vocalist Ollie Wisdom founded and ran the club during 1982-1983. Prior to forming Specimen and opening The Batcave, Ollie was the vocalist for another band known as "The Unwanted". Unlike Specimen, The Unwanted were a traditional '77 / '78 style English garage-core punk band.

Unusual for a keyboardist, Jonny Slut became the face of the band and its most famous member, due largely to his striking image and fashion sense.

While the band were together, they never released a full album, only singles and an E.P., though in 1997 two full-length compilations would be released featuring various Specimen songs.

On 11th July 2008 the original Specimen lineup from 1983 (Olli Wisdom, Jon
Klein, Kevin Mills, Jonny Slut, & Chris Bell!!) appeared live at the BATCAVE club (Club Antichrist) along with Sex Gang Children and DJ Hamish. To mark this special event EWSR recorded the live show and will be releasing a live album this year... watch this space for more details.. More information about the batcave, Specimen and the 25th Anniversary gig can be found here: www.myspace.com/batcavelondon

TO ORDER  A COPY OF  'LIVE AT THE BATCAVE' CD CLICK HERE:

only £8.99 through Eyes Wide Shut Recordings: release date 13th October.