THE CHARLATANS

History

Formation (1988-1989)

The band originally formed in the West Midlands by bassist Martin Blunt, who recruited fellow West Midlanders; Rob Collins (keyboards), Jon Brookes (drums), John Baker (guitar) plus vocalist Baz Ketley, who was almost immediately replaced by Tim Burgess.

Although the name The Charlatans was used when original members of the band were located in the West Midlands, many sources state that they formed in Northwich, Cheshire.^[1] This is because the band relocated to the home town of new lead singer Tim Burgess (who lived in Northwich) before the release of The Charlatans' debut single "Indian Rope" in 1990 on the band's own Dead Dead Good Records label. This means that, based on the definition of the hometown used by Guinness World Records, the band formed in Northwich and consequently Northwich is recorded as their home town in "Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums."

Early years (1990-1993)

The debut single, "Indian Rope" proved an indie hit and the group soon found a major label, Beggars Banquet off-shoot Situation Two, in time for the release of "The Only One I Know" which reached the Top 10 in the UK singles chart and is still regarded as an indie classic.

A further single, "Then", and debut album Some Friendly, were released later that year. Around this time The Charlatans were forced to add UK to their name for an American tour due to competing claims by a 1960s rock band also known as The Charlatans.

Baker left the band after 1991's "Over Rising" single to be replaced by Mark Collins (no relation to Rob), and the band brought in producer Flood for their second album Between 10th and 11th (named after the address of the New York Marque, site of the group's first U.S. gig). Released in early 1992, the album failed to reach the top twenty in the UK. However, the top 20 success of the lead single "Weirdo" and a double weekend of gigs ('Daytripper') in Blackpool and Brighton with Ride kept them in the public eye [1].

Later that year, the band suffered a major setback when Rob Collins was charged with armed robbery after his friend had robbed an off licence while he was waiting in the car outside. Collins claimed to have no foreknowledge of the robbery until he heard a gunshot inside the shop and his friend exited, although he later admitted that he should not have picked his friend up after he realised what he had done. At court, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of "assisting an offender after an offence" and served four months in prison.

Mid-nineties resurgence (1994-1997)

The follow-up album, Up To Our Hips (1994) reached number 8 in the UK albums chart.

In 1995 the band's self-titled fourth album saw them become major UK stars again, topping the UK albums chart and spawning the top 20 single "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over".

But, just as things seemed to be going well for the band, keyboard player Rob Collins was killed in a car crash during the recording of fifth album Tellin' Stories on July 22, 1996. The Charlatans decided to continue and Primal Scream and former Felt keyboardist Martin Duffy was drafted in for The Charlatans high-profile support slot with Oasis at their Knebworth gigs in summer 1996 until a permanent replacement for Collins could be found.

Tellin' Stories was released in 1997 featuring contributions from both Rob Collins and Duffy and in the singles "One to Another", "North Country Boy" and "How High" the group had their biggest UK hits to date.

New record label/new keyboard player (1998-2004)

After releasing the career-spanning compilation Melting Pot the band's contract with Beggars Banquet was up, and they signed to Universal Records with Burgess stating that, although he and the band had enjoyed their time on the independent record label they had made next to no money in the eight years since their first release. Relations with 'Beggars' remained strong however, and the band helped put together the b-sides collection Songs From The Other Side and DVD Just Lookin' 1990 - 1997 showcasing all their promo videos and a selection of live recordings from that era.

Us And Us Only saw the start of a new era for The Charlatans. Their first release for Universal saw new keyboard player Tony Rogers make his Charlatan's album debut (he had previously toured in support of Tellin' Stories and contributed to b-sides "Keep It to Yourself" and "Clean Up Kid" from the "How High" single) and the band took on a slightly country sound, heavily influenced by Burgess's love of Bob Dylan. The soul influenced Wonderland followed in 2001 before the more traditionally 'Charlatans' sounding Up At The Lake was released in 2004.

The Sanctuary years (2005-2007)

The band released their ninth full-length album on April 10, 2006, their first for new label Sanctuary Records. Titled Simpatico, the reggae and dub tinged album featured tracks like the fan favourite "NYC (There's No Need to Stop)", first single "Blackened Blue Eyes", and was produced by Jim Lowe.[2] The single charted at number 28. The album reached the top 10 in its first week of release, but dropped out of the charts shortly after.

Their follow-up to Simpatico was the career-spanning singles compilation entitled Forever: The Singles which was released on CD and DVD on November 13, 2006. It was preceded by the re-recorded (remixed by Youth) song "You're So Pretty We're So Pretty" which appeared originally on their 2001 album Wonderland. The band seem in a good place now, happy with their level of success and keen to record their next album in 2007, as they told STV in this interview in November 2006. In an interview for their Simpatico album, the band mentioned lack of shower facilities and bad bus drivers as the worst aspects of touring. "[Bus drivers] get so bloody moody. They don't want you on the bus, yet you're paying them a fortune to drive you. They'd rather drive around the whole of the country with nobody in the back." ^[2]

The band played a number of high-profile supporting gigs during the summer of 2007, including for The Who and The Rolling Stones, at venues including Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium in London, as well as the Bingley Music Live event, Nass festival 2007, and at Delamere Forest in Cheshire. A recording of Live At Delamere Forest was released as a download only via the official website in five parts for a very limited time only.

On an independent label (2008-present)

In an October 2007 issue of the NME, the band contributed the song "Blank Heart, Blank Mind" to the magazine's free Love Music, Hate Racism compilation CD. Later the same month, the new single "You Cross My Path" was released as a free download exclusively through the XFM website. On the 3 March 2008, The Charlatans teamed up with Xfm again to become the first UK band to release an album completely free to download via a radio station. This was preceded a week earlier by the second single from the album, "Oh! Vanity". The album, titled You Cross My Path, is The Charlatans tenth studio album and received a physical CD/LP release on 19 May 2008 on the Cooking Vinyl label, coinciding with a full UK tour.

January 2010, Jon Brookes has stated via the official Charlatans web site blog that the Charlatans are back in the studio to work on their 11th album planned for release in August 2010. http://www.thecharlatans.net/ 2010 also coincides with 20th anniversary of the bands debut album 'Some Friendly', the album is due for re-issue with bonus material, and an extensive UK tour for both the re-issue and new album launch is due to take place to support these releases.

Discography

Main article: The Charlatans discography

• Some Friendly (1990)
• Between 10th and 11th (1992)
• Up to Our Hips (1994)
• The Charlatans (1995)
• Tellin' Stories (1997)
• Us and Us Only (1999)
• Wonderland (2001)
• Up at the Lake (2004)
• Simpatico (2006)
• You Cross My Path (2008)

Download their song :
Weirdo
The Only One I Know
My Beautiful Friend
Try Again Today
Youre So Pretty - Were So Pretty

THE DATSUNS

History

In 1995, while still at school, Dolf de Borst (vocals, bass), Phil Buscke (guitar), and Matt Osment (drums) formed a band under the name Trinket. Christian Livingstone joined the band in 1997 as a second guitarist. They entered and won the 1999 89FM Battle of the Bands competition in Hamilton, New Zealand.

By 2000 the band had renamed themselves 'The Datsuns'. In August 2000 they released their first single, "Super Gyration!," on 7 inch vinyl only. In July 2002, after featuring several times on John Peel's programme on the UK's BBC Radio 1 and being hailed as "the future of rock" by the British music press, the band signed with the V2 record label. Their self-titled debut album made a strong impression in the UK, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. The Datsuns toured Australia in 2002 with Melbourne band The Specimens & The Casanovas as well as playing a live to air on PBS radio.

The Datsuns won numerous awards over this period, including NME's 'Best Live Band' and New Zealand Music Awards for 'Best Album', 'Best Group' and 'Breakthrough Artist'.

They played Ozzfest in 2003 on the mainstage alongside the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Korn and Disturbed. They also played the main stage of the 2004 and 2009 Big Day Out festival and opened for Metallica in their Australian tour in 2004. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich had previously praised The Datsuns on the revival debut of Headbangers Ball before playing their video for "In Love." Their second album, Outta Sight, Outta Mind, was produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. It didn't receive the same praise as the first, as critics gave it only a lukewarm response.

In October 2006, the Datsuns came back with Smoke & Mirrors, heralded as a return to form in Australia and New Zealand. The album was met with generally positive reviews, although it was not reviewed as widely as the band's first two efforts. After the release of the third album, drummer Matt Osment was replaced by Ben Cole.^[1]

The Datsuns went on a New Zealand tour with Shihad during the Christmas/New Year's period 2006/07.

The band then completed a tour of Europe to promote Smoke & Mirrors. Although playing mostly locations the band had not previously visited, The Datsuns still managed to sell out the majority of the European dates.

The band's fourth album, Head Stunts (an anagram of The Datsuns), was released on 6 October 2008. The band recently toured New Zealand, Australia and America to try out new songs such as 'Eye Of The Needle', 'Human Error', 'So Long', 'Hey Paranoid People What's In Your Head', 'Your Bones' and the limited edition single 'Highschool Hoodlums'.

To coincide with the release of their latest album, the quartet embarked on a tour of the UK and Europe.^[1]

As of March 2010, The Datsuns are writing new material for their fifth album. No release date has been set.

Pity Pity Please

Cry Cry Baby

Eye of The Needle

Human Error

Cruel Cruel Fate

Your Bones

THE AUTEURS

Formerly of the band The Servants, Haines created the Auteurs with his then-girlfriend Alice Readman on bass guitar, former classmate Glenn Collins on drums, and James Banbury on cello. Their first single "Showgirl" was praised by the United Kingdom music magazine, Melody Maker, and led to the band gaining a recording contract with Hut. The album, New Wave (1993), was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize and saw The Auteurs associated with the emerging Britpop genre.

However this association never sat well with Haines who frequently made derogatory remarks about his peers. After New Wave, the band remained on the fringes of the music scene. Drummer Glen Collins was replaced by Barny C. Rockford, after being headhunted from another band by producer Phill Vinyl. Their next album Now I'm a Cowboy (1994), built on the themes of New Wave and contained Haines' best known song, "Lenny Valentino". Demonstrating, again, their difference from their musical peers, the band's next release was The Auteurs Vs. µ-Ziq, Auteurs songs remixed by producer µ-Ziq (aka Michael Paradinas). In interviews at the time Haines claimed he found contemporary techno and house music more interesting than most Britpop bands.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996 The Auteurs released After Murder Park, produced by Steve Albini, and it included "Land Lovers", "Unsolved Child Murder", and "Buddha". The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios following a year during which Haines had spent most of his time in a wheelchair after jumping off a wall to avoid the strains of touring. Haines then went on to create a band and release an album, based on aspects of the Baader Meinhof terrorist organisation, entitled Baader Meinhof. "Baader Meinhof" supported "The Auteurs" at a London show in Camden's "Dingwalls". This saw the band play two sets in different guises, with a few extra musicians coming in and out. The last Auteurs record, How I Learned to Love the Bootboys, was released in 1999.

Alice Readman left the band around the time of the last album "How I learned to love the Bootboys" and was replaced by various musicians for live/touring purposes.

Haines also worked as one third of the art-pop band Black Box Recorder, and in 2001 released the soundtrack album to the film, Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry, rapidly followed by his first solo album proper, The Oliver Twist Manifesto. 2003 saw him release Das Capital, a collection of re-recorded Auteurs era songs, with a couple of new tracks, apparently intended as closure for that band.

Banbury went on to record an album with Paul Morley under the name Infantjoy, and entitled Where the Night Goes. It features a vocal performance by Sarah Nixey of Black Box Recorder singing a version of Japan's "Ghosts". An Infantjoy album, With, was released in 2006 with collaborators including Tunng, Isan and Populous. James Banbury is currently working with Pete Davis under the name dadahack. Their debut album "TAP3" is a hybrid cassette/mp3 playing device and was released in April 2010.

Several bands influenced by the Auteurs have taken their names from the band's songs. The Polish band Lenny Valentino took its name from The Auteurs' song on their album Now I'm a Cowboy and the Minneapolis based band, Valet, took its name from the song "Valet Parking" from New Wave.

In January 2009, Haines released a book entitled Bad Vibes, which serves dually as an autobiographical account of his years with The Auteurs, and as a record of the Britpop movement of the 1990s. Throughout the book, he never refers to James Banbury by name, referring to him simply as "the cellist", although he is named in full in the acknowledgements.

Here is some of THE AUTEURS songs :

Routine

Hey Watch This

Trampoline

WelcomeBack

STARSAILOR (03)

All the Plans (2007–2009)

In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow up to 2005's On The Outside. Their frontman, James Walsh, referred to their first single,"Tell Me It's Not Over," as: "The one [demo] which everyone is raving about is called "Lights Out" or "Tell Me It's Not Over" [we have not decided yet!]" and added, "It's got a massive drum beat, reminiscent of Doves and U2. Another couple of these and we will have a truly great album." Based on what James Walsh has said, the new album will have "struck a great balance between their heavier side and their more emotional downbeat side. There are some stompers certainly but also the ballads are back!". In an earlier post the band said that they had written 15 songs for the album, and demoed the songs "Let Go", "Do You Believe In Love?", "Will Not Stop Now" and "Change My Mind". "Rebel Blues", "Miss You", "Here's To The Man" and "Let Go" were also mentioned at that point as possible tracks.

In an interview with Manchester Evening News^[2] in September 2007 James Walsh admitted that he wants Starsailor to be bigger and more successful. He also added that the fourth album had "a lot of soul" and that they've "tried to write classic songs, work the sounds around them, instead of experimenting too much".

"Even if there isn't a particular theme to the new material "married life and international politics are some of the key ingredients among the 16 songs which have been recorded to date". James Walsh

Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on the 12th of March. The show is notable for not having a setlist; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh soundcheck half the song). Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on the 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans. They played 2 songs that will probably be on their fourth album.

Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, Holland; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they've sang it.

Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long time of speculation about it. Starsailor supported The Killers on November, 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile and opens the possibility of more dates that they could make by their own in other countries of the region. During their performance on October 30 in Buenos Aires they were received by about 200 fans. They sang "Tell Me It's Not Over" and also "Boy in Waiting".

In another interview, this time with the Chilean newspaper La Tercera, they announced they'll present the song "Tell Me It's Not Over" officially for the first time in public. Starsailor was invited by The Parlotones to Johannesburg on October, 2008 playing with this gig on every continent ^[3]."

In January 2008 it was confirmed that Starsailor would play on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also played at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in Holland on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August. On December 2007 it was published on Youtube a video named "Santa Walsh is coming to town" which shows frontman James Walsh playing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on the studio set of their fourth album.

On February 25, 2008 Starsailor played an acoustic set at an intimate central London location where they added to the setlist three new possible tracks: "Walk These Wet Streets" (released on the album as 'Hurts Too Much'), "Keep The Blues Away" ('The Thames') and "Stars & Stripes".

On September 19, 2008 Starsailor performed for the second edition "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"^[4]

Later it was confirmed that Steve Osborne is the producer of the album. Steve Osbourne has also produced Starsailor's first studio album. On March 20, 2008, frontman James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.^[5] The Sun revealed on April 2008 that Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones had agreed to work with the band on their new album after an approach with lead singer James Walsh. ^[6] On October 16, 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album will be called All The Plans and will be released in March, 2009.^[3]." On December 3, Boy In Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All The Plans.^[7]. It contains three of the tracks that couldn't make the album.

The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on March 14, 2009, while 'Tell Me It's Not Over' spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching Number 73 and peaked #5 in the Belgium Charts becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country. On May 20, 2009 Starsailor was named Hard Rock's Philanthropic Artist Of The Year in recognition of the work they've done in support of the Caron Keating Doundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff – Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Military Madness by Graham Nash to the World Hunger Year Serve3 Charity album.

This is STARSAILOR's another good songs :

Keep Us Together

This Time

White Light

STARSAILOR (02)

Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)

Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector for their second album Silence is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles. The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the Winter of 2002. Spector is said to have been fascinated by Lullaby, the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have dismissed Ben Byrne's drumming, as well as proving difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album, "Silence Is Easy"—one was the title track, the other the soaring "White Dove". The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to see over the recording of "Shark Food". The first single was Silence Is Easy, which made the Top Ten (#9, the band's highest placing). The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 rather promptly.

A full UK Tour began in Autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only known performance (at least until their American tour on 2006) of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar

The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, Born Again had evolved from a B-Side to Poor Misguided Fool, released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. Four to the Floor, which was also remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am The Resurrection"; something to be played in "Indie discos everywhere".

On The Outside (2005–2007)

EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; (Faith, Hope, Love/Here I Go/Ashes or In the Crossfire/I do not know/Counterfeit Life), but the band settled for "On The Outside", a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use Editing software such as ProTools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum-track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.

Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales- the album charted at number 13.

Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four To The Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on April 3, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the Aftershow party.

The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.

Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on July 1, 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.

The summer also saw the announcement that On the Outside would be released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on the 22nd August, with American dates including New York on 09/11/06.

In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on April 12, 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea. Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour. They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"

In late September - early October 2007, the band (in their original four-piece line up) played a mini-tour in support of the Fairtrade Charity. The shows consisted of an acoustic set by Walsh, then a full band electric set, which began with 'Poor Misguided Fool'. New songs 'Boy In Waiting','All The Plans We Made' and 'Tell Me It's Not Over' were played at these shows.

To end 2007 James Walsh played an acoustic set at XFM Manchester's Winter Wonderland at Manchester Apollo on Tuesday 11 December 2007, which featured a spectacular version of 'Four to the Floor', combined with extracts from Gorillaz track 'Dare'.

Enjoy another of their nice songs, check it out :

In My Blood

Jeremiah

Way Back Home

STARSAILOR (01)

Early history

Although they claim to be a Wigan band, only one member is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying a music course at Leigh College (Railway Rd Campus). Prior to this, singer James Walsh attended St Michael's CE High School in Chorley, Lancashire, whilst Byrne and Stelfox went to school in Warrington. Only Westhead is from Wigan itself.

Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in the north west of England for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.

The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching Judo and playing organ for a church near his hometown. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.

A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock'n'roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.

The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.^[1]. They played a concert in Wigan in April 2009 at the Tavern pub in front of just 200 - this was the first time they have actually played in the town.

In concert Rock in Rio Lisbon 2006

"Love Is Here" (2000–2002)

"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but the latter two were re-recorded.

March 2001 saw the band sell out their first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall". An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.

Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.

Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's beautiful vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."^{[citation needed]}

The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in attaining copies of the single.

The band played the London Astoria on February 4 and 8, 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.

The middle of 2002 saw a feud between Walsh and Noel Gallagher of Oasis. Gallagher had called the Starsailor singer a "cock" in an interview for NME magazine, something denied by the accused. However, when Walsh confronted Gallagher at the T In The Park festival in 2002, Gallagher claimed that if he said it, then it must be true. Noel's brother Liam got involved, allegedly squaring up to Walsh on the same day. In live shows following this, most notably at the 2002 V Festival, the Starsailor front man announced, "It is nice to be good, and good to be nice." Gallagher went on to declare that the incident was "the most fun Walsh has had in his life." The feud was resolved at Glastonbury in 2004.

Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.

A poster for "Love Is Here" can be seen on the bedroom wall of Katie in the 2002 film "The Ring".

THIS IS SOME OF THEIR SONGS,CHECK IT OUT :

Countryfeit Love

Faith Hope Love

I Dont Know

Get Out While You Can

In The Cross Fire

just wait for their another article...

and thier mp3...

KRAFTWERK

Biography

Band formation

Kraftwerk was formed in 1970 by Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesisers, electro-violin) and Ralf Hütter (electronic organ, synthesisers). The two had met as students at the Düsseldorf Conservatory in the late 1960s, participating in the German experimental music scene of the time, which the British music press dubbed "Krautrock".^[6]

The duo had originally performed together in a quintet known as Organisation. This ensemble released one album, titled Tone Float (issued on RCA Records in the UK) but the group split shortly thereafter.

In 2010, a recording from 1969 has been uncovered for an art movie by Katharina Sieverding called Life-Death^[7]. The recording is an atmospheric piece in a drone style unlike any other recording by Kraftwerk or Organisation. It is also interesting to note that even though this recording was produced in the Organisation period, the band is cited as Kraftwerk. This recording is believed to have never been released officially as a stand alone soundtrack although at least 1000 'study edition' DVDs have been produced ^[8].

Early Kraftwerk line-ups from 1970–1974 fluctuated, as Hütter and Schneider worked with around a half-dozen other musicians over the course of recording three albums and sporadic live appearances; most notably guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger, who left to form Neu!.^[6]

The input, expertise, and influence of producer and engineer Konrad "Conny" Plank was highly significant in the early years of Kraftwerk and Plank also worked with many of the other leading German electronic acts of the period, including members of Can, Neu!, Cluster and Harmonia. As a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank's studio near Cologne became one of the most sought-after studios in the late 1970s. Plank co-produced the first four Kraftwerk albums.^[6]

1974–1975

The release of Autobahn in 1974 saw the band moving away from the sound of its earlier albums. The members had invested in newer technology such as the Minimoog, helping give the group a newer, disciplined sound. Autobahn would also be the last album that Conny Plank would engineer. After the commercial success of Autobahn, the band members invested money into updating their studio. This meant they no longer had to rely on outside producers. At this time the painter and graphic artist Emil Schult became a regular collaborator with the band, working alongside the band. Schult designed artwork in addition to later co-writing lyrics and accompanying the group on tour.^[6]

What is now regarded as the classic line-up of Kraftwerk was formed in 1975 for the Autobahn tour. During this time, the band was presented as a quartet, with Hütter and Schneider joined by Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos, hired as electronic percussionists.^[6] This quartet would be the band's public persona for its renowned output of the latter 1970s and early 1980s. Flür had already joined the band in 1973, in preparation for a television appearance to promote Kraftwerk's third album.^[9]

After the 1975 Autobahn tour, Kraftwerk began work on a follow up album, Radio-Activity (German title: Radio-Aktivität). After further investment in new equipment, the Kling Klang Studio became a fully working recording studio. It was decided that the new album would have a central theme. This theme came from the band members' shared interest in radio communication, which had become enhanced on their last tour of the United States. While Emil Schult began working on artwork and lyrics for the new album, the band began to work on the music. Radio-Activity didn't live up to its predecessor and was less successful in the UK and American markets, but it did open up the European market for the band, gaining them a gold disc in France. Kraftwerk produced some promotional videos and performed several European live dates to promote the album. With the release of Autobahn and Radio-Activity, Kraftwerk had left behind its avant-garde experimentations and had moved forward toward electronic pop tunes.^[6]

1976–1982

In 1976 Kraftwerk began recording Trans-Europe Express (German: Trans-Europa Express) at Kling Klang Studio.^[6] Hütter and Schneider had commissioned Bonn-based "Synthesizerstudio Bonn, Matten & Wiechers" to design and build the Synthanorma Sequenzer with Intervallomat, a 4x8 / 2x16 / 1x32 step-sequencer system with features which were not available from commercial products. The music sequencer controlled the band’s electronic sources creating the albums rhythmic sound. Trans-Europe Express was mixed at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles and found the location to have a stimulating atmosphere. It was around this time that Hütter and Schneider met David Bowie at Kling Klang Studio. A collaboration was mentioned in an interview with Hütter, but never materialised. Kraftwerk had previously been offered a support slot on Bowie's Station to Station tour, but they turned it down.The release of Trans-Europe Express was marked with an extravagant train journey used as a press conference by EMI France. The album was released in 1977.^[6]

In May 1978 Kraftwerk released The Man-Machine (German: Die Mensch Maschine). The album was recorded at Kling Klang. During the recording of the album the band would sit behind the mixing console and let the sequencers and studio equipment play melodies. Florian Schneider would then stand up and move toward a sequencer and launch another musical sequence. This was Kraftwerk's style of "jamming". This process would be repeated until the tracks were built up into songs. Due to the complexity of the recording the album was mixed at Studio Rudas in Düsseldorf. Two mixing engineers from L.A., Joschko Rudas and Leanard Jackson, were employed to mix the album. The cover to the new album was produced in black, white and red, the artwork was inspired by Russian artist El Lissitzky. The image of the band on the front cover was photographed by Gunther Frohling. This showed the band dressed in red shirts and black ties. Following the release of The Man-Machine Kraftwerk would not release an album for another three years.^[6]

In May 1981 Kraftwerk released the album Computer World (German: Computer Welt) on EMI records.^[6] The album was recorded at Kling Klang Studio between 1978 and 1981.^[6] A lot of this time was spent modifying the Kling Klang Studio so the band could take it on tour with them.^[6] Some of the electronic vocals on Computer World were created using a Texas Instruments Language Translator^[10] "Computer Love" was released as a single from the album backed with the earlier Kraftwerk track "The Model"^[6] Radio DJs were more interested in the B-side so the single was repackaged by EMI and re-released with "The Model" as the a-side. The single reached the number one position in the UK making "The Model" Kraftwerk's most successful record in the UK.^[6]

1983–1989

In 1983, the EMI label released the Kraftwerk single "Tour de France". The original 12” release was delayed by the record company until it had further news of a new album.^[6] In the end, EMI released the 12” with no news of a new album. It was at this time that the band members took up cycling. Ralf Hütter had been looking for a new form of exercise. "Tour de France" included sounds that followed this theme including bicycle chains, gear mechanisms and the breathing of the cyclist. At the time of the single's release Ralf Hütter tried to persuade the rest of the band that they should record a whole album based around cycling. The other members of the band were not convinced, and the theme was left to the single alone.^[6] The most familiar version of the song was recorded using French vocals. These vocals were recorded on the Kling Klang Studio stairs to create the right atmosphere.

During the recording of "Tour de France" Ralf Hütter was involved in a serious cycling accident.^[6] He suffered serious head injuries and was left in a coma for a few days. "Tour de France" was featured in the 1984 film Breakin' showing the influence that Kraftwerk had on black American dance music. Following his recovery Hütter threw himself back into his obsession with cycling.^[6]

During 1983 Wolfgang Flür was beginning to spend less time in the studio. Since the band began using sequencers his role as a drummer was becoming less frequent.^[9] He preferred to spend his time travelling with his girlfriend. Flür was also experiencing artistic difficulties with the band. After his final work on the 1986 album Electric Café he hardly returned to the Kling Klang Studio.^[9]

1990–1999

During the early nineties Kraftwerk's line up changed several times. In 1990 Fritz Hilpert replaced Wolfgang Flür on electronic percussion and sound effects,^[11] and in early 1991 Fernando Abrantes replaced Karl Bartos on electronic percussion and sound effects. Later in 1991 Abrantes was again replaced by a more permanent member, Henning Schmitz.^[11] In 1990, after years of withdrawal from live performance, Kraftwerk began to tour Europe again regularly, including a famous appearance at the 1997 dance festival Tribal Gathering held in England.^[12] During the 1998 tour Kraftwerk appeared in the United States and Japan.^[13]

In July 1999 the single "Tour de France" was reissued in Europe by EMI after it had been out of print for several years.^[14] It was released for the first time on CD in addition to a repressing of the 12-inch vinyl single. Both versions feature slightly altered artwork that removed the faces of Flür and Bartos from the four man cycling paceline depicted on the original cover.^[14]

The single "Expo 2000" was released in December 1999.^[15] The track was remixed and re-released as "Expo Remix" in November 2000.^[16]

In 1999 ex-member Flür published his autobiography in Germany, Ich war ein Roboter.^[17] Later English-language editions of the book were titled Kraftwerk: I Was a Robot.^[18]

2000–present

In August 2003 the band released Tour de France Soundtracks, its first album of new material since 1986's Electric Café.^[19] Even before the releasing the album, in 2002, the band started the extensive Minimum-Maximum tour.

In 2004, a promotional box set entitled 12345678 (subtitled The Catalogue) was issued, with plans for a proper commercial release to follow. The box featured remastered editions of the group's core eight studio albums, from Autobahn to Tour de France Soundtracks. For reasons unknown, the item's proper release was put on hold indefinitely.^[20]

In June 2005 the band's first-ever official live album, Minimum-Maximum, which was compiled from the shows during the band's tour of spring 2004, received extremely positive reviews.^[21] The album contained reworked tracks from existing studio albums. This included a track titled Planet Of Visions that was a reworking of "Expo 2000".^[22] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album.^[23] Ralf Hütter regretted the fact that they couldn't include some recordings from their concert in Santiago de Chile, because he said that Chileans "were the only audience in the world who clap in time, in perfect synchronisation".^[24]

In December 2005, the Minimum-Maximum two-DVD set was released to accompany the album, featuring live footage of the band performing the Minimum-Maximum tracks in various venues all over the world.^[25]

April 2008 saw the band back on tour in the United States leading up to its previously announced show at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.^[26]

Kraftwerk won a lawsuit in Germany's high court on November 20, 2008 determining whether artists should have the right to sample other bands' music without infringing on copyright. Kraftwerk sued rap producer Moses Pelham for sampling two seconds of their 1977 song "Metal On Metal" in the track "Nur Mir" by Sabrina Setlur.^[27][28]

On November 22, 2008 Kraftwerk was scheduled to headline the Global Gathering Festival in Melbourne Australia but had to cancel at the last minute due to a heart problem of Fritz Hilpert.^[29]

In March 2009, after one of Kraftwerk's shows with Radiohead in Santiago de Chile, Ralf Hütter announced that Kraftwerk expected to release a new album at the end of the year.^[30] Later on, he confirmed that information to some newspapers in Austria and Romania.^[31] In an interview with The Guardian newspaper from the UK, Hütter cleared the confusion to some extent by stating he expects "definitive versions of the eight albums" (Autobahn onwards) to be released in September 2009 and for new material to be on its way "soon".^[32]

Kraftwerk was one of the headliners of Bestival on the Isle of Wight, UK on September 11–13, 2009.

Kraftwerk finally released the remastered albums in October of 2009.^[33] Due to licensing issues, three of these albums--Computer World, Electric Cafe (now re-christened with its original working title of Techno Pop)^[34] and The Mix--are available only as part of the boxed set in the U.S.

The Techno Pop album contains a slightly revised track listing from its predecessor Electric Cafe: the song "The Telephone Call" now appears in its much shorter single mix, and that single's b-side remix, "House Phone," has been added as a proper album track.

The Catalogue box set was released on November 16, 2009. ^[35][36][37]. It is a 12" LP-sized box set containing all eight remastered CDs in cardboard slipcases, as well as LP-sized booklets of photographs and artwork for each individual album.

Although not officially confirmed, Kraftwerk have suggested that a second boxed set of their first three experimental albums--Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2 and Ralf and Florian--could be on its way, possibly seeing commercial release after their next studio album:

“	We've just never really taken a look at those albums. They've always been available, but as really bad bootlegs. Now we have more artwork. Emil has researched extra contemporary drawings, graphics, and photographs to go with each album, collections of paintings that we worked with, and drawings that Florian and I did. We took a lot of Polaroids in those days.	”
—Ralf Hütter, 2006 [38] Now this is some of their songs (you can download it if you like it) : We Are The Robots The Model I Wanna Dance With Somebody (feat Whitney Houston) Model Goes Missing Radioactivity Electric Cafe And this is their performing live : RADIOACTIVITY (LIVE)