Skat
In early 1982, the band changed their name to Skat, a name which nobody liked. Helen told Everett True, ‘Not my idea to change the name. Even my Dad said it was silly commercial suicide. As Skat, the band played a final John Peel session, broadcast on 10 March 1982. These last recordings were darker in tone. Helen's 'Sad Boy Style' was a song about deception in a love triangle ('She said yes and I said no/We pass you between us/I could have and she could show/ Noone's ever seen us'). 'Love, It is Just a Word', the last song that Helen and Carl wrote together, was about the end of a relationship, and disillusion with love: 'Three months go today/ They both ran out of new things to say/ Three months ago today/ Was it really worth the trouble anyway?'. Skat also released a single, a beautiful cover version of another dark song, Femme Fatale by The Velvet Underground.
Russ was the first to leave the band, in 1982, eventually joining John Hegley as a poptician. With Bron Buick as drummer, Skat ‘limped through a final few more gigs before calling it a day.’Carl went on to form the ‘cowpunk’ band, Yip Yip Coyote, writing pop songs influenced by club beats and spaghetti western music. Like Carl, Helen also wore western clothes, but her new band, Helen and the Horns, was closer to jazz and country music. James left the music business to retrain as a lawyer.
Although denied commercial success, the Chefs had a lasting impact on those who heard them. Martin Stephenson of the Daintees has said, ‘We were very influenced by The Chefs…To me (Helen) is a national treasure.’
In 2012, Damaged Goods released 'Records and Tea', a compilation of the band's Attrix recordings and Richard Skinner and John Peel sessions. Reviewing the collection for the eMusic website, Andrew Gibson concluded, 'The Chefs’ lively mixture of fun and social acuity might easily leave them forever chained to their age, were it not for the sheer quality of their tunes....Like the Smiths and countless ensuing indie-pop heroes...The Chefs turned forlorn emotions and humdrum surroundings into triumphant music.'
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