The band was formed in 1977 by Neil Thompson (vocals, guitar), George Maddison (bass), and Kevin Heard (drums) (all three had played together since 1974 in Brown Sugar),[1] The band's first release, the Radio Wunderbar EP, released on the Walthamstow-based indie label Small Wonder.
[3] In 1979, they signed to Beggars Banquet Records, who issued their debut album, Frustration Paradise, towards the end of that year.
[1][2] A second album followed in 1980, with a final single released in December that year, before the band split up in June 1981 after war drove them apart.
In 2005 Neil Thompson left the band and was replaced with Jimmy Devlin, a member of the Glasgow-based Just Another Dream.
In mid 2011, The Carpettes toured the US for the first time supported by Houston-based band The Shadow, led by Henrik Poulsen.