Short Biography
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 'Slig...
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Short Biography
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 there 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
In-depth Biography
The Bluetones filled the gap that the Stone Roses left behind, providing graceful but muscular guitar pop with slightly psychedelic overtones. They appeared during the waning days of Brit-pop, which guaranteed them a considerable amount of press coverage that helped their debut album rocket to the top of the charts upon its release in early 1996.
Originally called the Bottlegarden, the Bluetones formed in Hounslow, England in 1994. The group consisted of guitarist Adam Devlin, drummer Eds Chester, vocalist Mark Morriss, and his brother Scott, who played bass. All of the members had previously played in local bands before forming the Bluetones. During 1995, the group released two singles on its Superior Quality Recordings label, "Are You Blue or Are You Blind?" and "Bluetonic," which received positive reviews in the British music weeklies. By the fall of 1995, they were being touted as the next big thing in Brit-pop, since their sound fell halfway between the Stone Roses and Oasis. Early in 1996, the Bluetones released "Slight Return," which shot to number two a month before their debut album, Expecting to Fly, was released. Expecting to Fly was greeted with mixed reviews, but it debuted at number one on the British charts and became a sizable hit.
Despite their British success, the Bluetones had trouble breaking through in America. Furthermore, they were the subject of a quick backlash, as many critics believed the group embodied the conservatism of Brit-pop -- the non-LP single "Marblehead Johnson" was welcomed coolly upon its fall release, and it only dented the charts. During early 1997, the Bluetones began working on their second album, Return to the Last Chance Saloon; Science & Nature followed in mid-2000. A collection of singles, aptly titled The Singles, followed in the spring of 2002, and 2004 brought Luxembourg. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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