Dodgy is an English
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 ...
band formed in
Hounslow
Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...
in 1990. The band rose to prominence during the
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
era of the 1990s. They are best known for their
hits "Staying Out for the Summer", "If You're Thinking of Me", and "
Good Enough".
Good Enough was their biggest
hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
, reaching No. 4 on 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 ...
.
They released their latest album, ''What Are We Fighting For'', in September 2016.
History
Formation and initial activity (1990–97)
Dodgy were born from the ashes of Purple, a trio from
Bromsgrove and
Redditch
Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...
, who had moved to London and was composed of
Nigel Clark
Nigel Richard Clark (born 18 September 1966 in Redditch, Worcestershire, England) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Dodgy.
Life and career
Clark returned to performing in 2005 as a solo artist. Th ...
on bass,
Mathew Priest
Mathew Priest is an English musician and writer, best known as the drummer for Dodgy, a British pop-rock band who rose to prominence during the 1990s.
Priest has also worked as a session player, playing with the likes of The Lightning Seeds, T ...
on drums and David Griffiths on guitar. Shortly after their arrival in London in 1988, Frederic Colier joined the band as the bass guitarist, with Clark providing vocals. The new formation first settled in
Battersea, using their living quarters as a rehearsal space. The quartet then relocated to a semi-detached house in
Hounslow
Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...
, where they turned the garage in the back garden into a sound proofed rehearsal room, using old wooden pallets and rolled up carpet stuffed into the gaps, then covered in extra carpet.
The band played in local pubs and small venues until cracks started to appear when Nigel and Mathew's direction compared negatively against Frederic and David's musical leanings.
Dissension led to the dismissal of Griffiths and Frederic, with Clark and Priest going it alone for the time being. The two decided that a guitarist was needed. So after placing an ad in the magazine ''
Loot'', the band invited
Ben Lurie, a guitarist from Australia, to join them, only to see him leave them less than a week later to join
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they re ...
. Shortly after they discovered guitarist
Andy Miller, who came from Neasden (originally Northolt (an in-band joke)). Armed with this new venture, the band decided to change its name while on a heady night out.
Andy moved in with the boys in Hounslow in the early part of 1990. From then on the three of them were constantly in the garage, piecing songs together through Nigel's song writing from the night before. Their sound started to come together, not too far from what the band are now well known for, today.
Mathew, while out one night, became engrossed in a conversation with some guy who happened to manage bands. Mathew then popped a cassette tape demo of the band into the guy's jacket pocket, without him knowing anything about it. This chap turned out to be Andrew Winters. The next day, Andrew reached into his pocket, found the tape and played it, then rang the number included within the cassette case. They found their manager.
At the first Dodgy Club in Bacchus Wine Bar in Kingston Upon Thames, late 1990, they created a following. Playing every two weeks. Their popularity grew in many regards to Bacchus being well situated within a stone's throw of Twickenham College, Richmond College and Kingston College. Within 8 months of bi-weekly club nights at Bacchus, the boys had generated the interest of major recording and publishing labels. And in turn, some months into 1991, they signed a six album deal with A&M Records and signed publishing with BMG (after an arcade football game between Virgin and BMG exec's).
Dodgy's
debut album was produced by
The Lightning Seeds
The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...
'
Ian Broudie
Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
.
The band concerned themselves with social issues by supporting The Serious Road Trip,
War Child, the
Liverpool Dockers' Strike,
Charter 88
Charter 88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the ''New Statesman'' magazine in 1988 and it took its name ...
and youth democracy campaigns. The band became the second UK act, after
China Drum
China Drum are an English punk rock band from Ovingham in Northumberland, England, active initially from 1989 to 2000, playing under the name The Drum beginning in 1999. The group released three moderately successful full-length albums and t ...
, to play in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
after the lifting of the siege, giving a concert at Kuk club in August 1996. They returned to
Bosnia in 1997, to film a programme with
Kate Thornton
Kate Thornton (born 7 February 1973) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of ''The X Factor'' (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including ''Loose Women'' (2009–2011) and '' This Morning'' (20 ...
in
Mostar
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Mostar (collage image).jpg
, image_caption = From top, left to right: A panoramic view of the heritage town site and the Neretva river from Lučki Bridge, Koski Mehmed Pasha ...
.
Post-break up and reunion (1998–present)
While Clark was absent from 1998 to 2007 to pursue ongoing solo projects, Priest and Miller continued the band as a five piece joined by the vocalist David Bassey, keyboardist Chris Hallam, and bassist Nick Abnett.
This line-up of the group would record one album, ''Real Estate'', released in 2001, which was produced and mixed with Robin Evans at T-Pot Studios in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
.
The band played two sets at
Guilfest music festival in Guildford, Surrey in July 2008. The first set was an acoustic set in the Unison tent where they appeared in support of the organisation. They later played a set with full band on the main stage. They headlined the Sunday night at
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
's
Beached Festival in August 2008, and appeared at the ToneFest in September.
In November 2008, the first tracks from new recording sessions appeared online. They played a benefit show in May 2009, as part of the homelessness charity
Crisis
A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...
' 'Hidden Gigs' campaign, alongside
The Bluetones
The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth m ...
.
In 2009, Dodgy played at the
Glastonbury Festival, as well as appearances at Bug Jam 2009, Whatfest and Cornbury.
On 29 August 2010, Dodgy played at The Galtres Festival in North Yorkshire, playing Dodgy tracks such as "In a Room" and "Staying out for the Summer", as well as a version of Nigel Clark's solo track, "21st Century Man".
On 23 April 2011, Dodgy played as the headliners at the Mash Fest Festival in Trowbridge and on 28 May 2011, Dodgy headlined at the
LeeStock Music Festival in
Sudbury,
Suffolk, helping to raise money for the
Willow Foundation The Willow Foundation is a national charity established in 1999 by Arsenal footballer and BBC sports commentator Bob Wilson and his wife Megs as a lasting memorial to their daughter, Anna, who died of cancer aged 31. It is the only national charit ...
.
Mathew Priest
Mathew Priest is an English musician and writer, best known as the drummer for Dodgy, a British pop-rock band who rose to prominence during the 1990s.
Priest has also worked as a session player, playing with the likes of The Lightning Seeds, T ...
said in an interview with the BBC that they would be playing a mixture of new songs and old favourites and talking of their new material said "If we can just get people to listen to it, they're going to love it". on 25 August 2011, Dodgy also Headlined at the
Garlic Festival, in the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
.
For live shows promoting the album, the band recruited Stuart Thoy of the band Smoke Feathers to play bass.
In May 2012 they played at
Lakefest festival.
"What Became of You" was the first single to be taken from ''
Stand Upright in a Cool Place'', their new album. Rather than following the trend of bands re-forming to play their classic albums in full, Dodgy announced that on their recent UK tour, it was their new album that would be previewed live in its entirety. The album was released 20 February 2012 via the independent Strikeback Records, to favourable reviews from MOJO, the Guardian and Q Magazine.
Thoy would then join the band as a full member and participate in the recording of their fifth album, ''
What Are We Fighting For
What or WHAT may refer to:
* What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb
* "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism
Film and television
* ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava
* '' What ...
'', which was released on 2 September 2016.
Musical style
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
biographer
Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the band as "clowns of Brit-pop" that played "infectious, goofy punk-pop", which "alternately sounded like the early Who and the Stone Roses."
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Live albums
*''So Far on 3 Wheels – Dodgy on the Radio'' (2007)
*''Dodgy – Live at Cornbury Festival'' (2009)
*''Dodgy Live – Back to Back'' (2013)
Singles
Downloads
*"Forgive Me – Demo" (2008)
*"Down in the Flood" (2008)
*"Find a Place" – The Bootleg Series and Crisis Charity Download (2009)
*"Christmas at the Foodbank" (2013 charity release for The Trussell Trust)
See also
*
List of Britpop musicians
The following is a list of Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes o ...
*
List of NME covers
The full list of ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') cover images and featured artists.
1955
*1955-03-07 Vera Lynn, Alan Dean, Harry Gold, Ted Heath
*1955-12-23 Jerry Colonna, Ronnie Aldrich, Harry Roy
1957
*1957-05-24 Mantovani
*1957-06-21 ...
*
List of performers on Top of the Pops
__NOTOC__
This list of performers on ''Top of the Pops'' includes popular music recording artists and musical ensembles who have performed on ''Top of the Pops'', a weekly BBC television programme that featured artists from the UK Singles Ch ...
*
List of Never Mind the Buzzcocks episodes
This is a list of episodes of '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', the satirical music-based panel game.
The show was originally chaired by Mark Lamarr, with Sean Hughes and Phill Jupitus as team captains and two guests on each team. Lamarr left a ...
References
External links
Dodgy's official website (launched 8 November 2008)Dodgy's official MySpaceDodgy on The Mag
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1990
1990 establishments in England
English alternative rock groups
British musical trios
Britpop groups
Musical groups from the London Borough of Hounslow
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
2002 disestablishments in England
Musical groups reestablished in 2007