Amsterdam are an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pop/

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

group based in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Formed in 1999, they had their first UK

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

single with "The Journey" in February 2005. The current band members are

Ian Prowse Ian Prowse (born 10 January 1964) is an English singer-songwriter, currently frontman of Amsterdam (band), Amsterdam and previously of Pele (English band), Pele. Biography Pele Prowse formed Pele (English band), Pele in 1989 along with Dally (d ...

(

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Johnny Barlow (lead guitar), Tony Kiley (drums), Kevin Spurgeon (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

), Eimear McGeowan (flute), Anastasia Risnes (violin) Laura McKinlay (violin) and Dave Mastrocola (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Biography

Amsterdam were formed on

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

in 1999, and the following year won an ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' competition to find the best unsigned band of 2000. They were also among the winners at the prestigious music business event In the City. Amsterdam appeared on an

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''Mersey Boys and Liverpool Girls'', alongside

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and other Liverpool musicians. They performed sell out shows in Liverpool and London to critical acclaim, and played three tracks on

Janice Long Janice Berry ( Chegwin; 5 April 1955 – 25 December 2021), known professionally by her first married name Janice Long, was an English broadcaster who was best known for her work in British music radio. In a career that spanned five decades, s ...

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

show.

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

invited the band to play with him live on

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

Show to promote his new single. This was followed by opening for Costello in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and at the Kings Arena in Liverpool, on his world tour. Amsterdam also made the last-ever

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

with "Does This Train Stop on Merseyside?". Following the recruitment of new bassist Paul Hagan, the band signed to London-based indie label Beat Crazy Records, and recorded their debut album, ''The Journey''. The first single, "The Journey" reached No. 32 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 2005, issued as a double-A side with "Stop Knocking The Walls Down" by

Ricky Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic * Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

. The follow-up "Does This Train Stop on Merseyside?" also hit the chart in June 2005, followed by the album release. The third single, "Takin' On The World", was playlisted on BBC Radio 2 and many other stations. The band announced on 14 June 2006 that they had parted company with the record label, Beat Crazy. A live album, ''1,2,3,4'' was released, featuring fifteen live tracks, and a studio album ''Arm In Arm'' was released on 17 March 2008. Amsterdam played at the Liverpool International Music Festival in 2014 and continue to perform, record and tour as 'Ian Prowse & Amsterdam'. Amsterdam reissued their 2001 album Attitunes on Kitchen Disco Records in 2021.

Members

;Current *

– vocals, guitar (1999–present) * Johnny Barlow – bass, lead guitar (1999–present) * Tony Kiley – drums, percussion (1999–present) * Kevin Spurgeon – keyboards (2005–present) * Eimear McGeowan – flute (2008–present) * Fiona McConnell - flute (2011 - present) * Laura McKinlay - violin (2012 - present) * Anastasia Risnes - violin (2011–present) * Dave Mastrocola – bass (2009–present) ;Former * Genevieve Mort – vocals, guitar, flute (1999–2003) * Nigel Hopkins – keyboards (1999–2005) * Paul Hagan – bass (2003–2008) * Pete O'Connor – drums (2005–2008)

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Attitunes'' (2001) (internet only) Reissued in 2021 * ''The Curse'' (2002) (internet only) * ''The Journey'' (2005) * ''Arm in Arm'' (2008)

Live and compilation albums

* ''Live, Left and Covered'' (2001) (compilation album) * ''Live Bootleg'' (2003) (live video) * ''The Journey'' (2005) (compilation album) * ''OneTwoThreeFour – Live at The Borderline'' (2007) (live album) * ''The Glorious Return of Amsterdam: Live in Liverpool'' (2010) (live video)

Singles

References

External links

*
''Sunday Mail''">Sunday Mail (Scotland), ''Sunday Mail''
article, "Rocker Is Up In Arms Over His Lost Love." {{DEFAULTSORT:Amsterdam (Band) English pop music groups English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from Liverpool 1999 establishments in England