Their first gig together as the Senseless Things (named after a phrase used in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar) followed at the subsequently-demolished Clarendon in Hammersmith, London, in October 1986.
Auxiliary members at this stage included a keyboard player, Ben, and a guitarist, Gerry, who deputised for Nicholls while the latter was studying for his O levels.
[8] The definitive Senseless Things line-up formed in summer 1987 when Nicholls returned to take over bass, with the new recruit, former BBC clerk Ben Harding, acquiring the vacant guitarist's role.
[8] By March 1988 the band had attracted the attention of the BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who invited them to record the first of three sessions for his programme.
[15] The group stayed with Decoy for "Can't Do Anything",[16] (also produced by Langford), which prefaced an appearance at the Reading Festival; the band then signed to Epic Records at the start of 1991.
[19] Cover art for the first two Senseless Things albums and most single releases around the same period was provided by comic artist Jamie Hewlett, creator of Tank Girl and later Gorillaz.
[20] The second single from their third album, 1993's Empire of the Senseless, "Homophobic Asshole" (with promotional video directed by Steven Wells[21]) received critical acclaim but was released reluctantly by their record company due to the band's choice of title[8] and failed to chart highly.
[22] In 1995, the band released a final album, Taking Care of Business accompanied by two singles, "Christine Keeler" (renamed from "Christian Killer") and "Something To Miss".
Senseless Things reformed (minus Nicholls, who was unavailable and replaced by Micky Wyle, ex-Hitechjet) for a secret (billed as Mark Keds) four-song performance at Islington Academy, London on 4 March 2007 – over 12 years after the band last performed – as part of a gig to celebrate the life of former Mega City Four frontman Darren "Wiz" Brown, who died in December 2006.
The same band members had an impromptu reunion in June 2016 when they joined fans Beach Slang live on stage in London to perform their cover of "Too Much Kissing".