Bliss is 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 group founded in 1986 by Rachel Morrison and Paul Ralphes. The group also consisted of Paul Sirett (guitar), Chris Baker (drums) and Roger Askew (keyboard, piano, Hammond organ).

Biography

''Bliss'' was founded in 1986 by vocalist Rachel Morrison and bassist Paul Ralphes, who were the primary songwriters. In 1987 they released two singles on the label

Survival Survival, or the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things (or, hypotheti ...

, "I Hear You Call" and "Your Love Meant Everything".Entry for Bliss, ''Rock: The Rough Guide''. 2nd ed.

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on customer ...

, 1999, pp. 97–98. Between March and September 1988 the quintet recorded their debut album, ''Loveprayer'', which was released through Parlophone/EMI in 1989 and which also featured a number of

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s. ''Loveprayer'' failed to make an impact in the U.S. and the UK, but saw success in Europe,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

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 databas ...

By the time they recorded their sophomore effort, 1991's ''A Change in the Weather'', Tommy Schmieder had taken over on guitar and Michael Witzel on drums. ''A Change in the Weather'' was produced by

Rupert Hine Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...

and featured guest appearances from

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and

Liam O'Maonlai Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William. Etymology The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these elem ...

from

Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most successf ...

. Following this, the group toured with

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...

, and

The Neville Brothers The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 19 ...

. Soon after the release of ''A Change in the Weather'', Morrison left the group to care for a newborn child. Ralphes moved to

to pursue a career in

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

. Morrison and her husband (who performed as Tom E. Morrison) began touring together, with Rachel billing as a solo artist. Rachel and Tom then formed an electronica project called Meeker, which released several singles in 2000–2001. They toured under this name and their music was featured on soundtracks to movies like ''

The Tuxedo ''The Tuxedo'' is a 2002 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Kevin Donovan and starring Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. It is a spy parody that involves a special tuxedo that grants its wearer special abilities. It als ...

'', ''

Sparkle Sparkle may refer to: * Sparkle (catamaran), a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose * Sparkle (drink), a lemon-flavored soft drink * Sparkle, a brand of paper towels owned by Georgia-Pacific * Sparkle Plenty, a character in the ''Dick Tracy'' c ...

'', and ''

London to Brighton ''London to Brighton'' is a 2006 British neo-noir crime film written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Plot The film opens with a woman and child, Kelly and Joanne, bursting into a London toilet. Joanne is crying and Kelly has a black eye. ...

''. After meeting up again with original band member Paul Ralphes in winter 2006, the idea to re-form Bliss took shape and the German record label

Zounds Zounds are an England, English anarcho punk/post-punk band from Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Berkshire, England, formed in 1977. Originally they were part of the cassette culture movement, releasing material on the Fuck Off Records label, and ...

eventually released a "Best Of" album called ''Spirit Of Man'' including both previously published and new material, in 2007. At the same time, the Bliss back-catalog of recordings done with

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 ...

was digitally released internationally. Today, Bliss continue to perform with a new line-up consisting of Rachel Morrison (vocals), Tom E Morrison (guitars), Simon Peter (keyboards), Rob Tree (bass), Marc Layton-Bennett (drums/percussion). This line-up, under the Rachel Morrison solo name, recorded an album of covers in the fashionable "Celtic" style released under the title "The Celtic Woman" which also includes three tracks by others. The fifteen Morrison tracks range from versions of songs by

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

The Cranberries The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland. Originally named the Cranberry Saw Us, the band were formed in 1989 by lead singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler. Quinn was ...

and

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...

to more "standard" covers of songs by

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

The album has been released as one of a double CD set in 2008 called ''Simply Celtic Moods'' by Union Square Music (number SIMPLYCD009) and shows this singer's versatility to good effect. In 2009 Bliss released their third studio album: ''My World Your World''. The album has been described as a celebration of diverse earthy and ethereal moods, and also features a cover of the

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

's " You Do Something To Me".

Members

*Rachel Morrison – vocals *Tom E. Morrison – guitar, keyboards, bass, percussions *Simon Peter – keyboards *Rob Tree – bass *Marc Layton-Bennett – drums, percussions *Paul Ralphes – bass *Chris Baker – drums *Paul Sirett – guitar *Roger Askew –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

*Tommy Schmieder – guitar *Michael Witzel – drums

Discography

Bliss

;Albums *''Loveprayer'' (

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

, 1989) *''A Change in the Weather'' (Parlophone, 1991) *''My World Your World'' (Big Sky Song Records, India-media Records, 2009) ;Singles *"I Hear You Call" – January 1989 *"Won't Let Go" – April 1989 *"How Does it Feel the Morning After" – July 1989 *"Watching Over Me" – March 1991 *"Crash Into the Ocean" – June 1991 *"I Don't Want to Hurry" – September 1991

Rachel Morrison (solo)

;Albums *''Live at Phoenix'' (CD album) – 1993 ''(World of Music)'' *''Rachel Morrison'' (Live – CD album) – 1995 ''(Anderland/Rough Trade)'' *''yeah!'' (E.P.) – January 1996 ''(World of Music)'' *''Liberty'' (CD studio album) – 1998 ''(BMG/Ariola)'' *''The Celtic Woman'' (15 tracks of 18 in total, 3 by other artists – see above) – 2007 (Union Square) ;Singles *"The Sun Won't Come Down" (CD single) – 1998 ''(BMG/Ariola)'' *"Hey Now (Everything's Gonna Be Alright)" (CD single) – 1998 ''(BMG/Ariola)''

Meeker

;Singles *"Save Me" – 2000 ''(Underwater)'' *"Mountains" – March 2001 ''(Underwater)'' *"Let's Come Together" – Autumn 2001 ''(Underwater)''

References

{{Authority control English pop music groups Parlophone artists Musical groups established in 1986