Cecil were 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 ...
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 from
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 ...
. They released two albums, ''Bombar Diddlah'' (1996) and ''Subtitles'' (1998). They gained a small degree of commercial success in the UK charts, with their singles, "Hostage in a Frock" (1997) and "The Most Tiring Day" (1998).
History
Formation
The band formed in Liverpool in 1993. The members were Ste Williams (
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 ...
), Patrick Harrison (
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 ...
), Ally Lambert (
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s), Anthony Hughes (guitar and
keyboard
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 ...
s), and Jay Bennett (
bass).
First concert
The band took part in a "Battle of the Bands" sponsored by the
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...
. The band signed a
management contract
A management contract is an arrangement under which operational control of an enterprise is vested by contract in a separate enterprise that performs the necessary managerial functions in return for a fee. Management contracts involve not just sell ...
with Raymond Coffer, then later signed with the
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
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 ...
(
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 corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
).
They released their first
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
"No Excuses" with Parlophone in October 1995, which reached #89 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 ...
.
Tours
The band spent the end of 1995 and most of 1996 playing concerts in much of the United Kingdom. They played with bands including
The Levellers
The Levellers were a political movement active during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its popul ...
,
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie are a British rock band whose members include Skin (lead vocals, guitar), Cass (bass, guitar, backing vocals), Ace (guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Richardson (drums and percussion).
Skunk Anansie formed in 1994, disbanded in 2 ...
,
Feeder,
The Wildhearts
The Wildhearts are an English rock band, formed in 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as the Beatles and 1980s-e ...
and
Paw
A paw is the soft foot-like part of a mammal, generally a quadruped, that has claws.
Common characteristics
The paw is characterised by thin, pigmented, keratinised, hairless epidermis covering subcutaneous collagenous and adipose tissue, ...
. They also played in
music festival
A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...
s at
Donington and
T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
. Their support show with The Wildhearts in 1996, was broadcast on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
as part of their then "Sound City" series of concerts, playing after Feeder at the
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
Town and Country Club, which later closed in 2000 then became a music venue again from 2008 as the
Leeds O2 Academy.
Just before this concert, they released their second single "My Neck" in March, which was backed with an acoustic track and a piano version of the single, giving a hint of the direction they were heading in for the recording of their second record. The single charted at #93 in the United Kingdom.
Also in 1996, their first album, ''Bombar Diddlah'', was getting good reviews. It was
produced by Barrett Jones who in 1995 had co-produced the
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
' first album.
Later history
Cecil spent most of 1997 writing songs and touring with the band
Mansun
Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone.
It was announc ...
. The changes in their sound and production could particularly be heard in the sound of Williams's vocals. By the end of 1997, their new sound could be heard in their new releases "Red Wine at Dead Time" which charted at #84 in June 1997,
and the late 1996 limited edition single "Measured" which was not produced in enough quantities to chart within the top 200.
Their second album in 1998, "Subtitles", was also produced by Barrett Jones
and charted at #132 in November of that year; despite being more melodic and well received in reviews it did not sell as well as hoped. Before the release of the album, "Hostage in a Frock" became their first official hit single in October 1997, by charting within the top 75 at #68 before "The Most Tiring Day" made #69 in March 1998.
The band spent the next few years writing and touring sporadically, finally relocating to the United States, in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, in 2001 to work with Jones on a third album. After a productive two-month stint, straight after the
11 September attacks, the band went back home to write more songs and booked to go into Stone Gossard's (
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
) Studio Litho with Jones to record the rest of the third record.
This never happened after being dropped from their label, although "Raise a Glass" from the Seattle sessions has appeared on their
MySpace module.
Reincarnations
Cecil were renamed Voy in 2000, working with
Mansun
Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone.
It was announc ...
producer Mike Hunter to produce 2 EPs also released on Parlophone. Voy later became Fridge Mountain Fires in 2005, during which incarnation they played The Zanzibar Club in Liverpool for BBC's Liverpool Music Week. Ste and Patrick formed a new band, Takotsubo Men, in 2014, and used
PledgeMusic
PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...
to fund their first release.
Discography
Albums
*''Bombar Diddlah'' (1996)
*''Subtitles'' (1998) #132 (UK)
Singles
*"No Excuses" (1995) #89 (UK)
*"My Neck" (1996)#88 (UK)
*"Measured" (1996)
*"Red Wine at Dead Time" (1997) #79 (UK)
*"Hostage in a Frock" (1997) #68 (UK)
*"The Most Tiring Day" (1998) #69 (UK)
EPs released as Voy
*"Canyon EP" (2000)
*"Missile EP" (2001)
See also
*
Music of Liverpool
Liverpool has a lengthy tradition of music both classical and pop. It is well known for the Beatles (who recorded 17 UK and 20 US number-one singles). Its pop and rock music scene has also been important in the development of a number of ot ...
*
List of bands from England
This is a list of notable bands/musicians from uk England. Bands should be notable and linked to their articles which lists their English origins in the lead. References should be provided for any new entries on this list. Bands may be tempor ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1993 establishments in England
Musical groups established in 1993
English rock music groups
Musical groups from Liverpool