In 1986 Bickers left Colenso Parade to join The House of Love, playing the role of lead guitarist and creative foil to singer and songwriter Guy Chadwick.
The House of Love rapidly gained critical acclaim in the British weekly music press (much of it focused on Bickers' intense psychedelic guitar approach).
During the peak of The House Of Love’s commercial success lifestyle and ill health (chronic fatigue syndrome)[citation needed] led to Bickers having difficulty keeping up with band commitments and subsequently he had a breakdown.
The band quickly became known for their intense collective playing, and were hailed in both the underground and mainstream music press as new psychedelic heroes as well as potential rehabilitators of progressive rock.
[6] However, he was equally likely to suggest that Levitation were considering performing in masks[6] or carrying out a concert tour of Britain via canal,[8] or to raise esoteric ideas such as Gaia theory or the possibilities of communicating with dolphins.
Although reviewers continued to praise his skill as a musician, his schemes and philosophical ideas (though presented with sincerity) led to him being mocked and caricatured for his apparent eccentricity, leading to his reputation and nickname as "Bonkers Bickers".
"[14] Years later, Bickers would speak about his departure with regret and shame, but in his defence claim that he had been unhappy with the band's musical direction and wanted to spend more time with his family.
After leaving Levitation in 1993, Bickers teamed up with guitarist Clive Giblin (Alternative TV, Shock Headed Peters, Two Worlds Collide, Sol Invictus).
This line up – together with Bickers' partner, singer Caroline Tree – spent the summer of 1994 locked away in a studio in Lincolnshire recording an album for Warner Bros subsidiary label Blanco Y Negro.
[15] In contrast to the reception afforded to Bickers' two previous bands, the press received Cradle with indifference or even contempt, with Caroline Tree being labelled as "the worst singer in the world" in a review in New Musical Express.
[13][16] Despite playing a few concerts with Bickers as lead vocalist, and more or less ditching the more conventional indie rock approaches in favour of dark psychedelia, Cradle did not last for much longer and quietly dissolved in 1996.
In contrast to the serious intent of Bickers' previous bands, Monkey 7 were described as "Tony Bennett steaming headfirst into the last working remnants of Shaun Ryder" and "a lo-fi ska Blur playing for laffs."
The small group of dedicated practitioners (Rakutenkai) who founded Shintaido sought to create a new form of movement that would effectively embody the modern desire for peace, co-operation and mutual understanding among people of all cultures, rather than to cultivate the fighting arts as sport.