Offered opening slot

After the couple completed several songs – and migrated to London – they enlisted the support of bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan, who had also attended Bristol University. Hannan’s brother, Nick, had also been a member of Jim Jiminee, which briefly featured Wheeler as vocalist (see paragraph above). The band chose the name “The Sundays” as it was the only one everyone could agree upon. Demo tapes were sent out to several London clubs after the group felt energized by their efforts; Gavurin stated in a Rolling Stone interview that “by the end of the year we were thinking, ‘Hang on a minute, some of this [music] is good!’” Responses to the tape were enthusiastic and an employee at Vertigo Club offered the band an opening slot for an upcoming show in August 1988. “By chance there were three reviewers from the top music papers there,” said Wheeler. “They were supposed to review the main band, but instead they wrote about us.” The group subsequently became the focus of a record label bidding war . They eventually signed with Rough Trade Records and had a distribution deal signed for the United States with DGC Records .