Corduroy are an English four-piece acid jazz

outfit Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

based in London, formed around twins Ben Addison (drums/vocals) and Scott Addison (keyboards/vocals), who were previously in

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

act Boys Wonder (Scott had been guitarist with Boys Wonder, while Ben had been the lead vocalist). Joining the twins in the band are

Richard Searle Richard Searle (born 10 July 1963 in London) is a 1960s-influenced bass guitarist, who was a member of Doctor and the Medics in 1986, when they were reaching number one in the pop charts. Career Doctor and the Medics After Doctor and the Me ...

and guitarist Simon Nelson-Smith. Searle had been bass player with

Doctor and the Medics Doctor and the Medics is a British glam rock band formed in London in 1981. The group was most successful during the 1980s and is best known for their cover of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. The ...

, who topped 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 1986 with a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "

Spirit in the Sky "Spirit in the Sky" is a song by American singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, originally written and recorded by Greenbaum and released in late 1969 from the album of the same name. The single became a gold record, selling two million copies f ...

". Searle had joined the Addison twins in the final incarnation of Boys Wonder, before the band gradually evolved into Corduroy in 1991, initially forming for a one-off New Year's Eve party. The self-dubbed "fabric four" primarily recorded in a film soundtrack style, and many of their tracks were

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

s. On the release of their first album ''

Dad Man Cat ''Dad Man Cat'' was the first LP by Corduroy to be released by Acid Jazz Records, in 1992. It is primarily an instrumental album, with what became the classic Corduroy sound. The album was reissued on vinyl by Acid Jazz Records in 2018. Receptio ...

'', Paul Moody wrote in the ''

New Musical Express ''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 ...

'': "Whereas the rest of the Acid Jazz roster fidget around in a world of skinny ribbed roll-necks comparing sideburn growth, Corduroy manage to swagger through the same po-faced domain with a couldn't-care-less braggadocio... Corduroy have got their collective tongue stuck firmly in someone else's cheek here and it feels staggeringly good." Hunt, Chris: sleeve note to CD ''Something in My Eye – The Best of Corduroy'', 2004. Releasing three albums on

Eddie Piller Eddie Piller is a British DJ, radio show host, and founder/managing director of Acid Jazz Records. Early life and career Piller was born in 1962 and grew up in Essex. His father ran a firm of bookmakers and his mother ran the Small Faces' fa ...

Acid Jazz Records Acid Jazz Records is a record label based in East London formed by Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller in 1987. The label is the namesake of the acid-jazz subgenre of jazz music for which it is most famously known for producing. Background The ...

, they received

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airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

for their single "Something in My Eye" in 1993, but national chart success evaded them, although several singles from their 1993 album ''

High Havoc ''High Havoc'' is the second LP by Corduroy, released by Acid Jazz Records in 1993. Billed as a concept album, it includes several top ten singles on the UK Indie Chart and many favourite Corduroy tunes. The album was reissued on vinyl by Acid Ja ...

'' charted in the UK Independent Chart. Their 1994 album, '' Out of Here'', reached number 73 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. They remained a popular live attraction, particularly on the college circuit. They also gained a healthy following in Japan, making the first of several trips to the country in 1993, and the following year they recorded a live album, ''

Quattro - Live in Japan Quattro is Italian for the number four. Quattro may also refer to: People * "Quattro", a nickname of A. J. Foyt IV Fictional characters * Quattro Vageena or Quattro Bageena, an alias of Char Aznable in the ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' anime series ...

''. After leaving Acid Jazz Records they signed to

Big Cat Records Big Cat Records is a British independent record label. It launched around 1990 and originally specialized in industrial and noise-rock releases. Big Cat operated a US office in New York City for a few years. Integrated with V2 Records in 1996, ...

, releasing two further albums: ''

The New You! ''The New You!'' is the fourth album by the London-based acid jazz band Corduroy, released in 1997. "The Joker Is Wild" was released as a single and reached No. 80 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1997. Reception AllMusic awarded the album 4.5 ...

'' (April 1997) and the

Rob Playford Moving Shadow is an English breakbeat hardcore, jungle and drum and bass record label which was founded in 1990 by Rob Playford. History The label began in 1990, operating from Playford's Stevenage home. Playford had become a focal point f ...

produced '' Clik!'' (August 1999). But when they discovered that their record label, Big Cat, had been dropped by their owner V2, Corduroy decided to split up. Corduroy reformed and played two sell-out nights at the Jazz Cafe in Camden, London, on 16 and 17 June 2007. Searle was not involved with this incarnation of the band, working under the name of Corduroy Industries. News on their Myspace site also stated that they had completed an album of Motown covers. Ben has also released an album of Beatles covers under the name of 'Ben from Corduroy'. Corduroy performed a show on 17 April 2017 as the last night headliners of Le Beat Bespoké 2017 weekender at 229 The Venue in London, where they premiered 4 new songs from an upcoming album. In 2018 Corduroy announced their first album in 18 years entitled ''

Return of the Fabric Four ''Return of the Fabric Four'' is the sixth album by the London-based acid jazz band Corduroy. It was released on Acid Jazz Records in 2018. Reception ''Record Collector'' awarded the album with 4 stars and in its review, Lois Wilson called th ...

'' which was praised by '' Record Collector's'' Lois Wilson as being "groovy" and "thrilling".

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (1992) Acid Jazz JAZID 60 *''

'' (1993) Acid Jazz JAZID 85 *'' Out of Here'' (1994) Acid Jazz JAZID 107 *''

'' (April 1997)

Big Cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus '' Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. Despite enormous differences in size, various cat species are quite similar ...

ABB 139 *'' Clik!'' (July 1999) Big Cat ABB 1008391 *'' Quattro - Live in Japan 1994'' (2001)

Castle Music Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's productio ...

*''

'' (2018) Acid Jazz AJXLP439

Compilations

*'' Mini!: The Best of Corduroy'' (1998) Music Club *''London, England'' (2001) Castle Music *'' The Fabric Four: The Best of Corduroy'' (2002) Felicity *'' Something in My Eye: The Best of Corduroy'' (2004) Castle Music *''Very Yeah - The Director's Cut: Complete Compositions 1992-1996'' (2013) Cherry Red *''Rare Stock : Rarities From The Corduroy Vaults'' (2019) Acid Jazz *''Winky Wagon: Best of the Psy-Fi Years'' (2019) Well Suspect Records *''Winky Wagon 2'' (2021) Well Suspect Records

Singles

*'' Something in My Eye'' (1993) Acid Jazz JAZID 68 *''

The Frighteners ''The Frighteners'' is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, R. Lee Ermey an ...

'' (1993) Acid Jazz JAZID 80 *'' Motorhead'' (1993) Acid Jazz JAZID 95 *''

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

'' (1994) Acid Jazz JAZID 105 *''

The Joker is Wild ''The Joker Is Wild'' is a 1957 American musical drama film directed by Charles Vidor, starring Frank Sinatra, Mitzi Gaynor, Jeanne Crain, and Eddie Albert, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is about Joe E. Lewis, the popular si ...

'' (1997) Big Cat ABB 129 *'' Moshi Moshi'' (1999) Big Cat ABB 5007353 *'' Thing For Love'' (1999) Big Cat ABB 5008836

References

External links

Official Corduroy Website

Listen To Now What Earthman by Boys Wonder

Corduroy @ Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corduroy Acid jazz ensembles Musical groups from London English dance music groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 1991 establishments in England 1999 disestablishments in England Acid Jazz Records artists