As part of their radio show, they have produced pastiches of recent chart songs, such as Lardy Boy for Placebo's Nancy Boy, and Why Is It Always Dairylea for Travis's Why Does It Always Rain On Me, using the band names "Gazebo" and "Travisty" respectively. When they rewrote the Seahorses' Love is the Law as (Now) I know (where I'm going) our kid they chose the stage-name "Shirehorses", which then stuck.
The band has toured extensively, playing many university gigs because of their popularity with students. However, they have played large venues, supporting Blur on their 1997 tour of the UK, which took in several stadia, and even played Glastonbury in 1998.
Marc Riley was formerly a member of The Fall and later Creepers before embarking on his current career as a radio personality with Mark Radcliffe. They can be heard on BBC Radio 1 on weekday afternoons.
The Shirehorses have released two albums to date: