The Colourfield

The Colourfield
The Colourfield
Origin UK
Genres Alternative, New Wave, rock
Years active 1984–1987
Labels Chrysalis
Members
Terry Hall
Toby Lyons
Karl Shale

The Colourfield were a British band formed in 1984 in Manchester, when former Specials and Fun Boy Three frontman, Terry Hall, joined up with ex-Swinging Cats members Toby Lyons and Karl Shale. Despite all three of them originating from Coventry, they made their homebase in Manchester.

Contents

History

1984 - The Beginning

In January 1984 The Colourfield released their first single, "The Colour Field", which just missed making the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] In the summer of the same year, they released "Take" as their second single, which commercially did not come close to their debut six months earlier. However, the next single release would be the one that would land them a high position on the charts. "Thinking of You" released in January 1985, made it to number 12 in the UK chart,[1] and featured Katrina Phillips on vocals. The final single, released days before their debut album came out, was "Castles in the Air" which reached the lower reaches of the UK chart.[1]

1985 - Virgins & Philistines

When Virgins & Philistines was initially released in April 1985 it contained twelve tracks in the U.S. release and ten in the UK version - but can now be found with twenty tracks as a Japanese re-release, containing many B-sides and live tracks. It failed to gain a large audience due to difficulty in marketing an album with such a diverse sound—it mixes 1960s and early 1970s pop music with more acoustic based melodies and string arrangements. Virgins & Philistines is often regarded as the direct musical predecessor to the later work of The Lightning Seeds in the 1990s, with whom Hall would later collaborate in a songwriting role whilst providing occasional vocals.

Virgins & Philistines contained all original material except "The Hammond Song" (a cover of The Roches song), and "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" (written by Linzer/Randell), which was the only track that received much airplay. The album was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport and was produced by Hugh Jones and Jeremy Green, and engineered by Chris Jones.

Additional personnel featured on the album included Pete de Freitas (Echo & the Bunnymen) on drums, Paul Burgess (ex-Camel, also drums), Preston Heyman (percussion), Ian Nelson (clarinet), Katrina Phillips (background vocals).

1986 - The Colour Field (EP)

January 1986 saw The Colourfield become a four-man group, adding Gary Dwyer (ex-The Teardrop Explodes) on drums. Around the same time, the band's U.S. label compiled a six track EP entitled The Colour Field (sic) containing the new UK single and B-side "Things Could Be Beautiful" / "Frosty Morning" produced by Ian Broudie; two live tracks recorded at the Hammersmith Palais, "Pushing Up The Daisies" and "Yours Sincerely"; and two older tunes produced by Hugh Jones, "Armchair Theatre" and "Faint Hearts". "Things Could Be Beautiful" did not make the UK or U.S. charts and it was another year before the public would hear anything new.

1987 - Deception

The Colourfield returned in the spring of 1987. They were now just a duo augmented by Raquel Welch's band and session musicians. Hall had to hire Welch's band after Lyons left during the sessions. The content of Deception was different from Virgins & Philistines. It is almost as if Hall formed a new band but kept the same name. Since then Hall has voiced his displeasure with the recording of the album, because he did not feel he had control of the session musicians and producers the way he needed to preserve The Colourfield’s sound. Deception was produced by Richard Gottehrer and Jeffrey Lesser at Wool Hall Studio, New York City.

The first two singles released from Deception were both covers: "Running Away," an original by Sly & the Family Stone, from the album There's a Riot Goin' On, released in 1971 on Epic; and "She," a song composed by the songwriting duo of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. "She" was released as a 12” and contained the additional track "Monkey in Winter" with lead vocals by Sinéad O'Connor. The track "Miss Texas 1967" is considered Hall’s best vocal performance on the album.[citation needed]

Additional personnel featured included Gregg Mangiafico (keyboards); Sammy Merendino (drum programming); Roland Orzabal (Tears for Fears) (guitar on "Running Away" and "Confession"); Dollette McDonald; Deborah Malone and Janice Pendarvis (background vocals on "Digging It Deep").

After The Colourfield

Hall has gone on to do many other projects since The Colourfield. In 1990, with a few ladies under the name of Terry, Blair & Anouchka, he released the album Ultra Modern Nursery Rhymes which contained a cover of the Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together". In 1992 he collaborated with Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) under the name Vegas. In 1995 he released his first solo album, Home. He has worked with The Lightning Seeds, Stephen Duffy, Gorillaz, and Tricky. He has also appeared live with The Ordinary Boys.

On 21 July 2003, Hall released his album The Hour of Two Lights which is a collaboration with Mushtaq (Fun-Da-Mental), a twelve-year-old Lebanese girl singer, a blind Algerian rapper, a Syrian flautist, Hebrew vocalists, a group of Polish Gypsies and Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz).

Lyons is now a university tutor of graphic design at Sheffield Hallam University in South Yorkshire. Karl Shale went on to join The Candyskins. After they broke up he started working in a record shop.

Discography

The Colourfield discography
Releases
Studio albums 2
Compilation albums 1
EPs 1
Singles 10
Studio albums
Year Album details Chart Positions
UK
[2]
NZ
[3]
1985 Virgins & Philistines
  • Released: April 1985
  • Label: Chrysalis
12 28
1987 Deception
  • Released: March 1987
  • Label: Chrysalis
95
Compilation albums
  • The Singles (Chrysalis, 1995) (Compilation of Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield singles)
Extended plays
Singles
Year Title Album Chart Positions
UK [1][2] IRL [4]
1984 "The Colourfield" 43
"Can't Get Enough of You Baby"
"Take" Virgins & Philistines 70
1985 "Thinking of You" 12 11
"Castles in the Air" 51
1986 "Things Could Be Beautiful" 83
1987 "Running Away" Deception 84
"She"

References

  1. ^ a b c d Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 116. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  2. ^ a b "Chart Stats - The Colour Field". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=4015. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 
  3. ^ "charts.org.nz - Discography The Colourfield". Hung Medien. http://charts.org.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=The+Colourfield. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 
  4. ^ "The Irish Charts". IRMA 2006 - 2008. http://www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2009-05-30. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Loft (band) — The Loft were a British indie band, whose debut single was one of the earliest releases on Creation Records. History Formed in 1980 as The Living Room by Peter Astor (vocals, guitar), Bill Prince (bass), Andy Strickland (guitar) and Dave Morgan… …   Wikipedia

  • The Specials — Pays d’origine Coventry, Angleterre Genre musical 2 tone …   Wikipédia en Français

  • The Colour Field — Infobox Album | Name = The Colour Fielre. Type = EP Artist = The Colourfield Released = January 1986 Recorded = 1985 Genre = New Wave, Alternative rock Length = 24:01 Label = Chrysalis Producer = Ian Broudie and Hugh Jones Reviews = *Allmusic… …   Wikipedia

  • The Specials — Infobox musical artist Name = The Specials Img capt = Background = group or band Origin = Coventry, England Genre = 2 Tone, Ska, New Wave Years active = 1977 1981 2008 present Label = 2 Tone, Chrysalis URL = Current members = Jerry Dammers Terry… …   Wikipedia

  • The Very Best of the Specials and Fun Boy Three — Infobox Album | Name = The Very Best of The Specials and Fun Boy Three Type = Compilation album Artist = The Specials Fun Boy Three Released = October 31, 2000 Recorded = Genre = Ska, two tone, New Wave Length = Label = Cleopatra Records Producer …   Wikipedia

  • Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the '80s — is a series of compilations issued by Rhino Records, on both CD and audio cassette, featuring various artists from the new wave era 1979 1985. The series contained 15 volumes. The first five were released on 21 June 1994, volumes 6 10 on 18… …   Wikipedia

  • Список участников The Fall — Марк Э. Смит The Fall  британская рок группа, образовавшаяся в 1976 году в Манчестере, Англия, и на протяжении всего времени своего сущес …   Википедия

  • Lead vocalist — The lead vocalist (or lead singer) is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. The lead vocalist can also be playing an instrument as well. They are sometimes referred to as a frontman (or woman), and are usually… …   Wikipedia

  • List of New Wave bands and artists — The following list of artists that were involved with the New Wave movement of the late 1970s and the 1980s.New Wave bands and artists include:A*ABC *Adam and the Ants *Adam Ant *The Adventures *a ha *A House *The Alarm *Marc Almond *Alphaville… …   Wikipedia

  • Specials — The Specials The Specials Pays d’origine Coventry, Angleterre Genre(s) 2 tone, Ska …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”