PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 11, 2011 - “The Bluetones formed in Hounslow, West London in 1993, drawn together by a mutual appreciation of late night television and lie-ins. Featuring Adam Devlin on guitar, Eds Chesters on drums, Scott Morriss on bass and Mark Morriss on vocals, they set out to conquer the world writing songs in an improvised studio fashioned from a damp and leaky garage in the garden of a house they all shared at the time. Just like The Monkees, no? Well, no actually.
It was in 1994 that the band first started to generate interest outside of their circle of friends, thanks in no small part to Radio 1 dj John Peel picking up on a limited edition blue-vinyl pressing of a song called ‘Slight Return’ that the band were selling at their gigs. In 1995 they released their first 2 singles proper on their own Superior Quality Recordings label, ‘Are You Blue Or Are You Blind?’ and ‘Bluetonic’. Both singles broke into the UK Top 40, but it was the (re)release of Slight Return in January 1996 that really catapulted the group into the public eye, (Sounds painful, huh?) climbing to a giddy no. 2 in the hit parade.
The debut album ‘Expecting To Fly’ followed shortly afterwards and debuted at no. 1 in the Pop Album Chart List Countdown. Blimey. Another single was released from ‘Expecting To Fly’ in the summer of ‘96, before the band decided to put something ‘brand new’ out into the musical fermament, and upon the release of the non-album single ‘Marblehead Johnson’, began work on their second album.
And so it was, that in the Spring of 1998 ‘Return To The Last Chance Saloon’ was released, preceded by another Top 10 single ‘Solomon Bites The Worm’. Three more singles followed… If…, Sleazy Bed Track and Four Day Weekend (accompanied by a Manga animated promo video, eat that Gorillaz) as well as copious amounts of touring and schmoozing. In the summer of 1999 the group headed down to the famous Sawmills Studio in Cornwall to record album number three, ‘Science and Nature’. This featured the singles ‘Keep The Home Fires Burning’, ‘Autophilia’ and ‘Mudslide’.
It was at this point that the band’s record label decided the time was right to properly exploit their fanbase and released a singles compilation, quite correctly titled ‘The Singles’. The Bluetones, being great champions of giving their audience (bless ‘em) value for money, included an unprecedented four new songs on this release. Four! Count ‘em. The next release came in 2003 in the form of Luxembourg, a collection of songs in which The Bluetones adopted a more stripped down approach to their sound, banishing aciustic instruments for the studio and recording the whole thing in double-quick time. Well, quick for them anyway. This album yielded two more Top 40n Chartbusters, the double a-side ‘Fast Boy/Liquid Lips’ and a song that has proven to be one of the most popular during live shows, ‘Never Goin’ Nowhere’. A mammoth 50 date UK tour followed during which the band experimented with facial topiary and leather-based fashions, before a well earnt break was taken. This hiatus lasted until autumn 2005 whereupon the EP ‘Serenity Now’ was issued through the Superior Quality Recordings label.
In 2006, having signed to the independent label Cooking Vinyl, The Bluetones issued their fifth album, entitled simply (and rather unimaginatively) ‘The Bluetones’. Characterised by a warmer and more mellower sound the album was well received by critics (what the hell do they know?) and was home to 3 more singles: ‘Surrendered’, ‘My Neighbour’s House’ and ‘Head On A Spike’. Again, the band toured throughout the UK, Europe and Japan before taking another little rest from each other. And going away to make some babies. Oh, and Mark (the ego-maniac that he is) making a solo album, ‘Memory Muscle’. Tsk.
Which kind of brings us up to date really, and this new collection of songs… ‘A New Athens’. Recorded during the winter of 2009/10 with Gordon Mills, ‘A New Athens’ is the band’s first major label release in almost a decade. Featuring 11 (or is that 12? Or Is that 12?) new titles and finding our heroes once more in top form. What am I talking about? When have they ever let you down? No splitting up and reforming (like so much ham) for these guys, oh no. No, they missed that boat. The fools.
Another UK tour looms, and after that who knows… world domination? Inter-galactic chart smashes? Anything is possible with these 4 lovable rogues. Unfortunately it seems no more touring after this one. As they say: “After 17 years of touring and 6 studio albums, The Bluetones have decided that this Autumn’s tour will be our last. We will be playing a career spanning set of songs as a way to say thank you to our loyal supporters and hopefully signing off with a bit of a bang.” Resource: thebluetones.info, tickets for their UK tour available on http://www.savemeaticket.com/event/concert/indie-and-alt ....
# # # Save Me A Ticket is an online ticket exchange that allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a completely safe and secure way. This includes sport, concert, theatre and other events. We offer tickets even the event is 'sold out'.
Save Me A Ticket.com is a UK city based company registered in England and Wales under the company number 6847840. Our registered address is located next to the world renowned O2 Arena in London's Docklands, Waterfront Studios, Royal Victoria Docks, London, E16 1AG.
--- end ---
Disclaimer: Issuers of the press releases are solely responsible for the content of their press releases. PRLog can't be held liable for the content posted by others. Report Abuse
View the original article here
No comments:
Post a Comment