Splendour

Some bands are just lucky. There are those that score a record deal the week after they form and go straight to the top of the charts before they've played their tenth gig, but they're usually flash in the pan novelty acts who find themselves out of date as quickly as they found success. It's safe to say that Snow Patrol, who toiled for a decade in obscurity before they hit the big-time, are not one of those bands. Forming as Shrug while singer and guitarist Gary Lightbody, bassist Mark Mclelland and drummer Michael Morrison were all studying together at the University of Dundee, Snow Patrol began life as just another student-led indie band. They played gigs in pubs to very few people and releasing EP's that very few people ever bought, and it took them three years to sign to their first label. Their first album “Songs For Polarbears” was released in 1998 and after all that effort, the album tanked, though the critical notices it received were unanimously positive.

This was the also the case with their second album 2001's “When It's All Over You Still Have To Clean Up” which lead to the band being dropped by their record label. A hellish period of time followed, in which the band were playing gigs to less people than they played to when they formed. It's quite safe to say that what followed is one of the most inspiring come-backs in British rock history, and it's all down to a song that, at the time of its release, was already around four years old. While the band had struggled along, Richard Smerniki, a fan of the band who had gone to university with its members had gone on to become Polydor Records' Scottish A&R rep, and his brother Paul had gone on to manage Fiction Records. Once they became aware of the band's label situation, they sent some talent scouts over to the band's Glasgow headquarters to listen to some of their demos, and they were impressed enough to sign the band to Black Lion, a subsidiary of Polydor Records.

In 2003, their album “Final Straw” was released, and after its initial release proved to be a modest word of mouth success, the release of its second single, “Run”, shot the band into the stratosphere. A top five hit on the singles chart, it propelled the album into the upper regions of the charts, peaking at number three, and set up the band as one of the hottest rock bands in the country, nearly a decade into their career. Three further hit singles from the album, along with a stint supporting U2 on their wildly successful Vertigo Tour cemented their position as the next big thing in British rock. It would take them ten years to conquer their home country, but it would only take them a further three to make them one of the biggest bands in the world thanks to their timeless hjt single “Chasing Cars”. Needless to say, the band were still an enormous deal back home, and its parent album “Eyes Open” became the biggest selling album of the year in the U.K to show that, beating out stiff competition from Arctic Monkeys and Take That in the process.

To this day, Snow Patrol remain one of the world's most beloved rock bands. They've headlined festivals, sold out arenas, supported the world's biggest bands and seem set for stadium slaying dominance in the very near future. Over twenty years into their career, they're still at the very top of their game, and they come highly recommended.

The band were formed in 2003, having met whilst studying at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. Featuring Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard), Daniel Haggis (drums, percussion, backing vocals) and Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), the band quickly got to work making music, They released several Eps in their early years, including "The Hangover Sessions," "No. 3" and "The Daring Adventures of Sgt. Wimbo and His Pet Otter."

After releasing their debut, "Girls, Boys and Marsupials," in Japan only, they then released a number of singles that would bring The Wombats their first taste of success. "Backfire at the Disco" peaked at number 35 in the UK SIngles Chart, followed by "Kill the Director" which also received lots of airplay. Their debut album on 14th Floor Records, "The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation," stormed the album charts, reaching number 11 in October 2007, bolstered by the success of singles "Let's Dance to Joy Division" and a re-release of "Moving to New York," which went to number 13 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 2008, the band embarked on a number of tours, traveling across the UK, Europe and Japan. They also became a big name on the annual festival circuit, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Reading & Leeds Festival and T in the Park.Their second album, "The Wombats Present… This Modern Glitch," appeared in 2010, featuring the top 40 single "Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)" as well as "Techno Fan." The album itself faired well, reaching number three in the album chart.

It was three years before The Wombats returned with new music, releasing the single, "Your Body Is a Weapon," which received significant support on BBC Radio 1. To great excitement, The Wombats began a countdown till the release of their third studio album, "Glitterbug," for a January 2015 release.

Rumour has it the band started when founder and guitarist Wayne Coyne stole a cache of musical instruments from a church hall and invited his vocalist brother Mark Coyne and Michael Ivins, the bassist, to start a band. Following a succession of drummers, Richard English was chosen as the band’s percussionist and who joined the band to record their self-titled album, released in 1985 on their very own label Lovely Sorts of Death.

Rarely has there been a band of such eclectic and esoteric appeal, a band’s whose proclivity for the surreal formed a sporadic pop career. The Flaming lips is often associated with psychedelic culture and many of the themes in the Flaming Lips’ earlier releases share this fascination for science fiction, space opera and the metaphysical world. A string of recordings on independent labels saw the band expand on their sound introducing tape loops and guitar and vocal effects. The band signed to Warner Bros. in 1990 after a representative of the label saw The Flaming Lips almost burn down a venue in Oklahoma, U.S. using pyrotechnics.

The album “Transmission from the Satellite Heart” released in 1993 was the first in which producer Dave Fridmann had not been involved. The album and in particular the song “She Don’t Use Jelly” saw the band have a more mainstream appeal and feature on a number of TV shows including Beverly Hills and Beavis and Butt-head, as well as long stints of touring, opening for the likes of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

There biggest breakthrough however, came following the release of 1999’s “The Soft Bulletin”, which drew similarities between it and The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” due to its orchestral sounds and traditional catchy melodies.

By 2007 after releasing two more full-length albums the band had won three Grammy Awards, one for Best Engineered Album in 2007 for “A War With Mystics” and two for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) and “The Wizard Turns On…”. Since then the band has released a whopping 16 albums and have used their critical acclaim to collaborate with an impressive group of past and current musicians from Neon Indian, to Nick Cave and Erykah Badu. The Flaming Lips can seemingly do no wrong.

Brought up in a religious household where secular music was discouraged, Estelle found herself surrounded by gospel music and her parent’s collection of reggae and traditional African music. While they were out of the house, she would sneakily listen to hip-hip and R&B on the radio, with early influences lying in Ella Fitzgerald, Mary J Blige and Jill Scott.

In her early 20’s, while working in a hip-hop record shop Estelle’s colleagues encouraged her to partake in an open mic night. It seems her inherent love for the stage began there as she began regularly performing in small clubs around London as she performed alongside Roots Manuva and Rodney P.

On a trip to Los Angeles, US in the early 2000’s, with a stroke of luck Estelle happened to be in the same restaurant as US rapper Kanye West. Getting acquainted with West, she asked for an introduction to soul star John Legend and working her British charm she got her wish. Legend went proceeded to help produce two tracks on her 2004 debut album “The 18th Day”. Although the album only peaked at number 35 on the UK charts, the album produced the breakthrough track “1980” which peaked at number 14 in the singles chart as critics praised Estelle’s ability to fuse her influences while adding a fresh twist. With the singles “Free” and “Go Gone” the album earned Estelle the 2004 MOBO Award for Best Newcomer.

In 2007 John Legend announced Estelle would become the first signing on his new label HomeSchool in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The following year Estelle made her major label debut with the album “Shine” produced by John Legend as she collaborated with Will.i.Am., Mark Ronson and Cee-lo Green. The lead single “American Boy” featuring Kanye West saw Estelle clinch her first UK number one as it went international invading top chart spots in Australia, US, France and Sweden. Later that year Estelle was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize Award. In 2009 “American Boy” won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Estelle’s third album “All of Me” released in 2010 featured collaborations with Rick Ross on the lead single “Break My Heart” and Nas on “Fall in Love”. In 2013 through BMG, Estelle was able to set up her own label, New London Records which allowed her more creative control and a platform to release the “Love and Happiness” EP’s.

Having collaborated with artists from: Faithless, Busta Rhymes, Gym Class Heroes and Chris Brown, Estelle has truly blossomed into a world class star in her own right.

Based in the very middle of England in what some would called the second city of England – Birmingham, Editors have made such a name for themselves over the course of their career, cementing their status as a successful indie rock band. It all began when the band crossed paths studying Music Technology at Staffordshire University, but decided very quickly after their formation that their degrees weren’t the most relevant career choices for them and continued to perform around the Midlands and the surrounding areas. At this point in their career they were known as Pilot, which was great and, a memorable name to spread the name of the band but a Scottish band unfortunately already took it, so they changed it to The Pride and continued to build up their fan base, featuring in Fused Magazine, and releasing a six-track EP. Through word of mouth, they became such a successful unsigned band, and then had the opportunity to play at the Birmingham O2 Academy, which thirty A&R reps attended. It really was the start of something new fore this outfit.

After signing to a label based in Newcastle, everything began to take shape with the band playing on the festival circuits, and then releasing their full-length debut album “The Back Room”, which became a Platinum selling album, featuring all six songs from their six-track EP, such as “Munich”, “Blood” and “Lights”. It’s no wonder that Editors keep doing what they’re doing. They truly are a pride of the Midlands, UK.

Originally formed with a host of influences ranging from punk rock to new wave, Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie first began by banging dustbin lids together and playing fuzz-guitar. Primal Scream’s debut performance came in 1982, however it wasn’t until 1984 the band made their recording debut with the single “The Orchard”, released on school friend Alan McGee's Essential Records. In 1985 Primal Scream signed with Creation Records, however despite a number of single releases, didn’t find success until Gillespie departed his other group the Jesus and the Mary Chain.

With the addition of Andrew Innes and Robert Young, the band found their single “Velocity Girl” end up on an NME cassette tape. The result was huge exposure for the developing band, and they fit the indie pop image like a hand to a glove. The band’s debut album “Sonic Flower Groove”, issued in 1987, was received with critical acclaim, as was is successor the self-titled “Primal Scream” in 1989.

The band's subsequent release saw a move away from the rock and roll aesthetic of the Rolling Stone and the Stooges, and towards the growing electronic and acid house scene. The result was “Loaded” a reworking of the existing song “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have”, making rock and roll accessible to dance fans and dance accessible to rock and roll fans. Primal Scream’s subsequent album “Screamadelica” represented an epoch in UK pop history, it brought techno and house to a mainstream ear. The album earned remarkably rave reviews and later won the very first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.

1994’s “Give Out but Don’t Give Up” saw the band return to their hard rock element, although in comparison to its predecessors faired neither well in the charts or nor among critics. Shortly after Primal Scream contributed the lead track to the cult film “Trainspotting”, which paved the way for a darker themed well-received electronic album titled “Vanishing Point” in 1997. The band subsequently released the albums “XTRMNTR” in 2000, “Evil Heat” in 2002, “Riot City Blues” in 2006, and “More Light” in 2013.

In 1973 New Jersey residents Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson, and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien were assembled by producer Sylvia Robinson and formed The Sugarhill Gang. Sylvia Robinson and record mogul husband Joe Robinson were also founders of the label Sugar Hill Records named after the Sugar Hill, Harlem, New York neighbourhood.

Sylvia Robinson, aware of the popularity of hip-hop block parties tried to cash in and produce an infectious and catchy hit. The Sugarhill Gang released the single “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979 and became an instant worldwide hit with its notoriously groovy and danceable bass line of Bernard Edwards from Chic’s “Good Times”. “Rapper’s Delight” has gone on to sell over eight million copies worldwide, peaked at No. 3 in the UK singles chart and has been considered the first song to popularise rap in the U.S. and around the world.

Despite their early success, The Sugarhill Gang were unable to capitalise on their popularity with all of their albums failing to perform well commercially and critically. The band released an eponymously-titled debut album in 1980, and a sophomore album titled “8th Wonder” in 1982. After “Rapper’s Delight” the band had a number of moderate hit singles including “8th Wonder”, “Apache” and “Showdown”, although for the most part faded out of public consciousness by the mid-1980s.

The group returned in April 1999 to release the children’s rap album “Jump on It!” through Rhino Entertainment. The album was relatively well-received, featured a child friendly version of “Rapper’s Delight” and maintained the band’s old school hip-hop vibe. In 2014 Big Bank Hank died at the age of 58 after a long battle with lung cancer.

It might sound like I’m damning Cast with faint praise by saying they’re only the third most legendary rock band to come out of Liverpool, but that’s only because number one and two on that list are The Beatles and The La’s, respectively. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s highly respectable to come second to them, and it’s still a feather in Cast frontman John Power’s cap all the same since he was the bass player in The La’s as well. In fact, if you listen to the last track on the only album that The La’s ever released, you’ll hear that the line that closes the album is “The change is Cast”. Power, a songwriter himself who was frustrated by Lee Mavers’ erratic nature and their lack of any new material since 1986, decided to leave the band in December 1991 and made that lyric a very prophetic statement indeed.

After leaving The La’s, Power shopped around looking for a band to play the songs that Mavers had vetoed while he was still in The La’s. He started playing some sundry acoustic shows, including one at a free festival in his home city of Liverpool, where he was spotted by another bass player who’d just split from a reasonably successful rock band, ex-Shack man Peter Wilkinson. Taken in by Power’s songs, the two of them met up and Wilkinson became the first addition to the newly formed Cast. They started gigging in the middle of 1992 with a multitude of different line ups, but it was going nowhere fast and he’d yet to extricate himself from the record contract he’d signed with Go! Disks while still in The La’s.

Power split up the first incarnation of the band in the summer of 1993 and managed to worm his way out of his contract. Newly free, he set up Cast again with Wilkinson still by his side, and by November 1993 he had recruited Keith O’Neil and Liam Tyson into the fold on the drums and guitar respectively. They started gigging together in January 1994 and it was clear to all who saw them that Power had finally gotten it right, Noel Gallagher himself would later describe the bands live show as a “religious experience”. In no time at all the band secured a tour support slot with Oasis, who were by then pretty much the hottest band in the country, and as a direct result of those shows they were approached by the head of A&R from Polydor Records, who couldn’t believe that they were unsigned.

Needless to say, they weren’t unsigned for long. They signed to Polydor on the 13th of December 1994, three years to the day that Power left The La’s. Cast spent the rest of the decade as one of the most acclaimed bands in Britpop, scoring three top ten albums in the forms of 1995’s debut album “All Change”, 1997’s “Mother Nature Calls” and 1999’s “Magic Hour”. They also scored ten top twenty singles between ’95 and ’99, their highest charting effort being 1996’s “Flying”, that peaked at number four on the charts. Unfortunately, they didn’t see in the new millennium so successfully, with 2001’s fourth album “Beetroot” tanking spectacularly and one month after its release, the band split.

Power spent the rest of the decade playing solo, O’Neill became a tour manager, Wilkinson played with his old band Shack and Tyson joined Robert Plant’s Strange Sensations. However, the band reformed in June 2010, initially only for a tour to mark the 15th anniversary of “All Change”. By the time the tour had finished Power had written an entire album of Cast songs, which became the bands fifth album, 2012’s “Troubled Times”. Any fan of rock and roll would agree that it’s a pleasure to have one of the best bands of the 1990’s back in the fold, and playing some of the best gigs of their career to boot. For that reason, Cast come highly recommended.

Having been friends since the age of twelve, the Pigeon Detective is comprised of lead vocalist Matt Bowman, guitarists Oliver Main and Ryan Wilson, bassist Dave Best, and drummer Jimmi Naylor. The band formed in 2002, however began to earn praise and critical response from 2004 for their impressive live shows and brand of rock & roll. In 2006 the Pigeon Detectives made their recording debut with the 7” vinyl “I’m Not Sorry”, which the success of led to supporting Dirty Pretty Things on their UK tour. The band subsequently released the limited edition single “You Know I Love You” in 2006.

The band’s exposure to UK fans and music critics was growing to the extent the Kaiser Chiefs asked them to fill the support slot on their UK and European tour towards the tail-end of 2006. This led to the release of Pigeon Detective’s two subsequent singles “I Found Out” and “Romantic Type”, both of which charted well and earned significant radio airplay.

The Pigeon Detective’s debut full-length album “Wait for Me” arrived in mid-2007, entering the UK Top 40 chart at No. 3. In promotion of the album the band toured around the UK, performed an acoustic set in the BBC Live Lounge, and played a number of festivals including Ireland’s Oxegen and Jersey’s JerseyLive. As soon as the band had dialled down the tour in support of “Wait for Me”, the Pigeon Detectives recorded their sophomore album “Emergency” with producer Stephen Street.

The album was released in May 2008, led by the single “This Is an Emergency”, which peaked at No. 14 in the UK singles chart. With greater recognition in the UK music scene the band were able to secure impressive slots on main stages at Glastonbury Festival, T in the Park and V Festival. The band has subsequently released the albums “Up, Guards and at ‘Em!” in 2011 and “We Met At Sea” in 2013.

Named after a New Order fan club “Epsom Mad Funkers”, EMF formed in 1989 later securing a record deal with EMI/Parlophone after only four live shows. Comprised of frontman James Atkin, guitar and keyboard player Ian Dench, keyboard and synth player Derry Brownson, drummer Mark Decloedt, DJ Milf, guitarist Tim Stephens, and bassist Stevey Marsh, all EMF’s members were well known in the Gloucester music scene prior to forming the group. Dubbed as mixing the Madchester style of music with indie dance, EMF issued their debut single “Unbelievable”, which found instant commercial success. Topping the charts in a host of countries, including the U.S. and the UK, the single samples U.S. comedian Andrew Dice Clay and was produced by Ralph Jezzard.

The band’s full-length “Schubert Dip” subsequently earned its release in 1991 where it peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart. Dubbed somewhat of a disappointment, the album received mixed reviews, yet spawned the singles “I Believe”, “Children”, and “Lies”. A year later the EP “Unexplained” hit the shelves, followed the same year by EMF’s second studio album “Stigma”. Led by the single “It’s You” the record proved another disappointment and was followed by contributing “Unbelievable (The Hovering Feet Mix)” to the 1992 Red Hot Organisation’s dance compilation “Red Hot + Dance”.

EMF’s 1995 album “Cha Cha Cha” came and went without turning many heads despite the singles “Perfect Day” and “Bleeding You Dry”. A cover of the Monkees song “I’m a Believer” saw the group return to the chart with the single peaking at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Following the release of the single “Afro King” EMF announced they were splitting up however continued to play music individually. In 2001 the group returned to release the compilation “Epsom Mad Funkers: The Best of EMF”, spawning two un-charting singles “Incredible” and “Let’s Go”.