The Boo Radleys are an English
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band who were associated with the
shoegazing
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
and
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 ...
movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in
Wallasey
Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...
, England in 1988, with Rob Harrison on drums,
singer
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 ...
/
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
Simon "Sice" Rowbottom, guitarist/
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
Martin Carr
Martin Carr (born 29 November 1968) is an English musician and writer who was the chief songwriter and lead guitarist with the band The Boo Radleys. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he was raised in Wallasey, England.
Life and career
Carr was born i ...
, and
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
Timothy Brown. Their name is taken from the character
Boo Radley Harper Lee's ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' was published in 1960. Instantly successful, widely read in middle and high schools in the United States, it has become a classic of modern American literature, winning the Pulitzer Prize. She wrote the nove ...
in
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numero ...
's 1960 novel, ''
To Kill a Mockingbird
''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
''.
Shortly after the release of their first
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''Ichabod and I'', Steve Hewitt replaced Robert Harrison on drums and was in turn replaced by Rob Cieka. The band split up in 1999. In their 11-year-long career, the band had one top ten single, the 1995 single "
Wake Up Boo!
"Wake Up Boo!" is a song recorded by British indie band the Boo Radleys for their fourth album, '' Wake Up!'' (1995). It was by far their biggest hit both in the UK and internationally. The track is an upbeat guitar-pop song about the change from ...
", which charted at no. 9; and a number one album, ''
Wake Up!''. The band reunited in 2021, without original guitarist Martin Carr, and released a single, "A Full Syringe and Memories of You," their first new music since 1998.
Paul Banks of
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
has cited the band as an influence.
Career
Beginnings
In 1990, the band's first album ''
Ichabod and I
''Ichabod and I'' is the debut album by British indie rock band The Boo Radleys, released in 1990 on the indie label Action Records. It has never been released on CD. Steve Hewitt, the drummer for this album, would later join Placebo.
Track li ...
'' was released on a small British indie label, Action Records. Although not a commercial success, this release brought the band to the attention of
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...
, to whom they signed. Around this time, Hewitt was replaced on drums by Rob Cieka.
He then went on to drum for
Placebo
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
In general ...
until 2007.
Almost immediately after the release of the ''Every Heaven'' EP in 1991, Rough Trade collapsed and the Boo Radleys were signed by
Alan McGee
Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...
's
Creation Records
Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...
. Their first for Creation was ''
Everything's Alright Forever
''Everything's Alright Forever'' is the second album by English indie rock band the Boo Radleys, released in 1992.
Critical reception
''Newsday'' called ''Everything's Alright Forever'' a "rewarding journey through light and dark, acoustic sere ...
'' in 1992, and ''
Giant Steps
''Giant Steps'' is the fifth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane as leader. It was released in February 1960 on Atlantic Records. This was his first album as leader for Atlantic Records, with which he had signed a new contract the previou ...
'' (1993) followed. ''Giant Steps'' was awarded 9/10 by the
UK music magazine ''
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 ...
'', which stated, "It's an intentional masterpiece, a throw-everything-at-the-wall bric-a-brac of sounds, colours and stolen ideas. That The Boo Radleys (of all people!) have decided to accept their own challenge and create a record as diverse and boundary-bending as this is, at first glance, staggering. Isn't this the job of the U2s and the leisured idols of rock, unable to do anything without the tacit approval of history? Fortunately not. The Boo Radleys are sifting through time (the mid-'60s, mostly) and conjuring up something that's as cut-up and ambitious as anything you'd care to mention".
Reviewing the album's re-release in 2008, Sic Magazine wrote, "For 64 minutes they were the greatest band on the planet."
''Giant Steps'' placed second to ''
Debut
Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to:
* Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society
* Debut novel, an author's first published novel
Film and television
* ''The Debu ...
'' by
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
in the 1993 ''NME'' album of the year list, voted by the paper's contributors, although it came in first place in the subsequent ''NME'' readers' poll. The now-defunct ''
Select'' magazine declared ''Giant Steps'' their album of the year for 1993.
The Boo Radleys also appear on the original motion picture soundtrack to the 1993 film ''
So I Married An Axe Murderer'' with their cover of The La's song "There She Goes".
''Wake Up!'' and beyond
Despite critical acclaim and a cult fanbase, the Boo Radleys were still largely unknown to the general public by the time 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 ...
phenomenon broke into the mainstream in 1995. This changed when the band released the upbeat single "Wake Up Boo!" in the spring of that year. It made the
Top 10 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 ...
, peaking at number 9. The single remained on the chart for two months, by far the band's longest run for any of its singles; later, on 26 October 2009,
BFBS
The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselve ...
Forces Radio launched its live Afghanistan studio output with the track after it topped a listeners poll seeking a suitable first track. Carr describes writing the song watching ''
The Big Breakfast
''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu.
The pro ...
'' after a night on
acid
In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
. The follow-up release, "Find the Answer Within," was the band's only other single to chart for more than two weeks. Their fourth album ''
Wake Up!'' (1995), was their commercial peak. Interviewed in 2005 by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
, Carr said: "I tried to have nothing to do with what was being called Britpop. Our whole career was spent trying not to 'fit in'. We just carried on doing what we had been doing. I didn't like most of the new bands or the flag-waving. I didn't like New Labour or idolise Paul Weller and I hated media-generated movements within music".
The same year the band featured on ''
Help
Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* '' ...
'' with "Oh Brother", exclusive to that release. Help was a charity album aimed at raising funds for
War Child, also featuring various other artists such as
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
and the
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...
.
In 1996, the Boo Radleys released their fifth album ''
C'mon Kids
''C'mon Kids'' is the fifth album by the Boo Radleys, released in September 1996. The album is considered to be purposely difficult and uncommercial. The band were said to have wanted to distance themselves from the commercial image they had cul ...
''. As explained by Rowbottom in an interview in 2005: "We didn't want to scare away the hit-kids, we wanted to take them with us to somewhere that we'd not been before. All we wanted to do was make a different type of album than Wake Up... All we wanted to do was try something new - to keep ourselves fresh and interested. We were very surprised to find that it was seen as a deliberate attempt to scare away newly created fans. That would have been an extremely foolish thing to do."
The Boo Radleys' final album was 1998's ''
Kingsize''. One single was released from the album, "Free Huey!". The title track was due to have been released as a second single, but the band decided to split up. Sice later told ''
Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an enginee ...
'' magazine: "It was such a relief when Martin phoned me and said he didn't want to make any more records. We’d been wanting it to stop for quite a long time, but I couldn't do it – I didn't want to leave. I wanted the band to end and only Martin could have done that. There was always the fear if I left, that they would just get another singer in and I didn't want that. Never mind not having the heart to tour – I barely had the heart to go down to the studio while we were making Kingsize."
A
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 ...
, ''Find the Way Out'', was released in 2005, and a further compilation ''The Best of the Boo Radleys'' appeared in 2007.
Disbandment
The Boo Radleys disbanded in early 1999. Brown built a popular
recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
before going on to
John Moores University
, mottoeng = Fortune favours the bold
, established = 1823 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts1992 – Liverpool John Moores University
, type = Public
, endowment =
, coor ...
for teacher training. He progressed on to teaching
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
at St Louis Grammar School in
Kilkeel
Kilkeel () is a small town, civil parish and townland (of 554 acres and 6521inh) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the southernmost town in Northern Ireland. It lies within the historic barony of Mourne. Kilkeel town is the main fishing ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, and also taught at Park High School in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
.
Under the name
Bravecaptain, Carr has since released six albums, including ''The Fingertip Saint Sessions Volume 1'', ''Go with Yourself'', ''Advertisements for Myself'' (2002) and ''All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace'' (2004). His most recent album was titled ''Distractions''. Carr has since announced that he will be retiring the Bravecaptain name to work on new projects, but these will not include reforming the Boo Radleys. His first solo album ''Ye Gods (And Little Fishes)'' was released in mid 2009. Cieka is now a member of the band Domino Bones, alongside
Mark "Bez" Berry, formerly of
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder ( bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined t ...
.
After an album in 1996 (''First Fruits'') under the name Eggman, while still a member of the Boo Radleys, Rowbottom walked away from music for several years after the split. Then, following a guest vocal on Bravecaptain's, ''All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace'', and also two songs with the Japanese musician Ryo Matsui's solo project, Meister, he formed Paperlung. The band featured Rowbottom on vocals, Simon Gardiner on bass, Ben Datlen on guitar and Guillaume Jambel of Transcargo on drums. They released two singles, "The Days That God Sold You" (2006) and "Do What Thou Will", and an album, ''Balance'' (2007).
Reunion and new music
In 2020, it was reported that some members of the Boo Radleys were coming together to record new music to mark 25 years since the band's heyday.
In July 2021, the band released their first new single in 23 years, "A Full Syringe and Memories of You", part of an EP of the same name. Upon the single's release, it was confirmed that original guitarist Martin Carr had not taken part in the reunion.
The band's seventh studio album, ''Keep on with Falling'', was released on 11 March 2022.
Discography
The discography of the Boo Radleys consists of seven studio albums, three compilation albums, six extended-plays, and eighteen singles one of which ("Lazarus") was a released twice, along with remixes of the same song, and their final single ("Kingsize") which was cancelled before release.
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Extended plays
Singles
Members
Current lineup
* Simon "Sice" Rowbottom - vocals, guitar (1988-1999, 2021–present)
* Tim Brown - bass, keyboards (1988-1999, 2021–present)
* Rob Cieka - drums, percussion (1990-1999, 2021–present)
Former members
*
Martin Carr
Martin Carr (born 29 November 1968) is an English musician and writer who was the chief songwriter and lead guitarist with the band The Boo Radleys. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he was raised in Wallasey, England.
Life and career
Carr was born i ...
- guitar, vocals, keyboards (1988-1999)
* Rob Harrison - drums (1988-1990)
* Steve Hewitt - drums (1990)
Session musicians
* Roddy Lorimer - flugelhorn, trumpet (1992)
* Steve Kitchen - flugelhorn, trumpet (1993)
* Chris Moore - trumpet (1993)
* Lindsay Johnston - cello (1993)
* Margaret Fielder - cello (1993)
* Jackie Toy - clarinet, bass clarinet (1993)
*
Meriel Barham
Pale Saints were an English alternative rock/shoegazing band formed in 1987 in Leeds by singer-bassist Ian Masters, guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 907 ...
- vocals (1993)
Timeline
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boo Radleys, The
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 1999
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Creation Records artists
English alternative rock groups
English pop music groups
Britpop groups
Musical groups from Liverpool
Neo-psychedelia groups
Shoegazing musical groups
Dream pop musical groups
British indie pop groups
SpinART Records artists
Rough Trade Records artists
1988 establishments in England