The shortest band to ever have lived is The Makeshifts. Formed in Manchester in August of 1992, the band named themselves after makeshift scaffolding, before splitting up in August 1992 due to artistic differences.

During that time, the band was able to release one single: The Makeshifts. It performed poorly in the charts and contributed to the band splitting, although a notorious incident with some scaffolding (not makeshift) also (notoriously) added to the band’s demise.

Not Even a One Hit Wonder: Have a Go Losers The Makeshifts

“I wanted to get a band together, so I did. Then I realised I had no discernible talent for being in a band, so I wanted out, and the others didn’t, but then we realised we all hated each other. It was a bit shit, really.”

The words of Stu Jones, lead singer of the band, in a BBC interview from August of 1995. The group consisted of him and:

• Drummer Barry Barryson
• Guitarist John Johnson
• Bassist Lucy Lucyson

They dreamt of making it big, driven along by their extreme genius, complemented by not at all being in for the money at all, because it was all about the music.

After three rehearsal sessions performing Foo Fighters covers, the band penned the instant classic single The Makeshifts. The lyrics are outstanding:

Near my house there’s some scaffold,
It makes me a bit baffled,
Like I’m being raffled,
But I am well travelled.

Makeshift scaffolding,
Ooooh ooh ohhh na na na naaaa,
Makeshift scaffolding,
Ooooh ooh ohhh na na na naaaa.

Certain of the song’s success, the band headed to a recording studio and spent £1,000 of their own hard earned cash to get the song recorded and set for release.

The Scaffolding Incident

To promote their debut single, the band decided to host a gig on some makeshift scaffolding near to Manchester city centre. A small crowd of 33 people congregated around the event, but fled in panic when the scaffolding collapsed due to the weight of the four members.

All four members suffered broken limbs in the incident. Whilst they recovered, this derailed any further possibility of recording new music. Stu Jones recalled in an August 1998 interview with OME (Old Musical Express):

“My legs and pelvis were shattered. It were a good song, but I couldn’t not even enjoy it. That were a bad time… thankfully, since then I’ve discovered cocaine and my addiction to it has enabled me to move on to an exciting new phase of my life—being a drug addict!”

The other members formed a new band, The Scaffolding, still believing the angle of makeshift construction equipment was the ideal route to take for modern rock music. They released their debut album in 1999: Scaffolding of Love. The album met with dire reviews, commercial failure, and the group disbanded for good.

Subsequent Makeshift Reformations

In February 2022, all four members reunited as The Makeshift Scaffolding, but separated two months later without releasing any material. They reformed again in 2023, 2024, and 2025 without releasing any new material, each reformation lasting for less than a month.

In January 2026, Stu Jones announced the band would never reform again.

In February 2026, The Makeshifts reformed and attempted to sell out the Heaton Park venue outside of Manchester city centre. They sold two tickets and disbanded (also in February 2026) due to a lack of interest in the latest reformation.

The band members have since pledged to never reform ever again, except maybe in 2027 and 2028.