Editing Cardiacs (section)

==== ''The Seaside'' and ''Seaside Treats'' ====
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| footer            = Cardiacs performing at Oxford Festival in 1986
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By autumn 1984, the band lineup had settled as the sextet generally referred to as "the classic lineup" – Tim Smith (lead vocals and guitar), Jim Smith (bass and vocals), William D. Drake (keyboards and vocals), Sarah Smith (saxophones and vocals), Tim Quy (percussion and keyboards) and Dominic Luckman (drums).<ref name="roughguide" /> The first Cardiacs release featuring the "classic" lineup was their third album, ''[[The Seaside (Cardiacs album)|The Seaside]]''<ref name="roughguide" /> (although Cawthra featured throughout on drums, keyboards and voice; and Simmonds and Johnston also appeared on several tracks). The album was released on Cardiacs own record label, Alphabet (which later became Alphabet Business Concern). The bizarre and sinister "Alphabet Business Concern" mythology now began to become a significant part of Cardiacs' artistic presentation, and the band members would promote and add to it at every opportunity.<ref name="roughguide" /><ref name="quietusheartattack" /> The band evolved an elaborate and theatrical stage show, involving off-putting<ref name="Billboard" /> "bandsmen's uniforms, makeup, Sarah's music stand, (and) Tim's mile-wide grin".<ref name="death.plus.com">{{cite web|date=July 1999|title=CARDIACS: History|url=http://www.death.plus.com/cardiacs/cdxhistory.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817121745/http://www.angelfire.com/wy/cardiacs/cardiacs/cdxgiglist.htm|archive-date=17 August 2009|access-date=2007-12-19 |website=Pete's Cardiacs Site}}</ref>

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| quote = A lot of people find our act disturbing because it brings out something in you that a lot of people won't admit to. It's the weirdness in everyone whether you like it or not. Some people think it's dead funny, others hate it. It's strange when people hate us—they really do hate us, it brings out something odd in people.
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| source = &nbsp;—Tim Smith<ref name="Time-Out-Of-Mind-1987"/>
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Between 5 November – 21 December 1984, Cardiacs performed their first major British support tour, supporting [[Marillion]] at the personal invitation of Marillion's vocalist, [[Fish (singer)|Fish]]. Whilst the tour afforded the band a new level of publicity, generally they were not well received by Marillion's fanbase.<ref name="drakebio" /> On most dates of the tour, the band was pelted with a variety of makeshift missiles. During the 13 December show at the Hammersmith Apollo, Fish himself was indignant enough about the Marillion fans and their hostile behaviour to come onstage during Cardiacs' set and berate the audience about it. The band eventually ducked out of the last three days of the Marillion tour.<ref name="yorkshirepost2007">[http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/music/Meet-the-most-influential-band.3461813.jp "Meet the most influential band you've never heard of"] (Cardiacs article by Tom Goodhand in The Yorkshire Post, 9 November 2007</ref><ref name="drakebio" />

A Cardiacs spin-off project – [[Mr and Mrs Smith and Mr Drake]] – emerged in 1984. As the name suggests, this featured Tim and Sarah Smith plus William D. Drake and consisted of a quieter, more acoustically-orientated take on Cardiacs' music. The project released a self-titled cassette album which was only available via the Cardiacs fan club. Later on, the project would be renamed [[The Sea Nymphs (band)|the Sea Nymphs]].<ref name="roughguide" />
[[File:Cardiacs writing.png|thumb|Cardiacs writing logo]]
On 1 April 1985, an attempt was made to film Cardiacs at a live concert at the Surbiton Assembly Rooms. The band had been approached by film-maker Mark Francombe (later a member of [[Cranes (band)|Cranes]]) and his colleague Nick Elborough, both of whom were at that time students at Portsmouth College of Art and Design. Francombe and Elborough offered to film the band for free as part of their coursework project. However, when the band viewed the resultant footage, they decided against releasing it. Instead, they retained Francombe and Elborough for a new video project which would become ''[[Seaside Treats (Video)|Seaside Treats]]'', named after the 12" single that was released at the same time. As well as containing three music videos, ''[[Seaside Treats (Video)|Seaside Treats]]''  contained a ten-minute film named ''The Consultant's Flower Garden''. The latter featured Cardiacs (and various people connected with them) in bizarre, comedic situations which continued to propagate the absurdist Alphabet Business Concern mythology which surrounded the band.