Lost Cherrees were formed in Sutton in 1979 by drummer Steve Battershill, guitarist Dave Greaves, and singer Siân Jeffreys.
[1] In 1981, Greaves left the band and was replaced by Andy Rolfe, while Battershill switched to bass and new drummer Warren "Nuts" Samuels joined.
The two bands starting working together regularly, leading to the first official Lost Cherrees single release, "No Fighting, No War, No Trouble, No More" on Riot/Clone's label in late 1983.
[10] Lost Cherrees attracted attention for pushing the boundaries of punk rock, with female singers, keyboards, and reggae elements.
[11] At a gig in Birmingham in 1986, singer Bev Cook-Abbott got into an argument with audience members over sexist comments and announced that this would be the last performance by Lost Cherrees, and the band agreed to break up due to disillusionment with their disappointing record sales.
[13] This lineup began performing regularly in 2003 and were able to reestablish contact with the three missing members, who made occasional special appearances with the band onstage.
[citation needed] The studio album Free to Speak, But Not to Question was released in early 2006 and was praised by AllMusic as "one of those so-rare examples of a band picking up precisely where they left off, and then astonishing every ear by proving that they lost absolutely nothing during their absence.