Denzil is an English rock/power pop band from

Bournemouth, England Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

, based around singer-songwriter Denzil Thomas. Denzil signed to

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

in the US in 1993 and put out one

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 ...

, ''

Pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

'', in 1994.

History

Denzil was formed in Bournemouth in 1990 by singer/songwriter Denzil Thomas. Thomas had been playing at

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

clubs for about a year when he met producer/

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 ...

Steve Ennever at a Bournemouth studio. In 1990, they produced a

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

called ''A Tape Called Denzil.'' They formed a band and played their first show in September 1990. Over the next year or so, Denzil played UK shows, first picking up alternating

drummers A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

Andy Place and

Jeremy Stacey Jeremy Stacey (born 27 September 1963) is a British drummer and keyboard player. His early works included the 1990s band The Lemon Trees (with twin brother Paul Stacey on guitars, Guy Chambers and others) and Denzil. He has also played with ...

and later finding

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 ...

Craig Boyd in nearby Portsmouth. In 1992, the band attracted the attention of former

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ag ...

and Famous Music A&R Michael LeShay. Based on the demo, Leshay convinced major label Giant Records to co-market and distribute a Denzil album in the US. The band entered the studio in the early summer of 1993 to begin recording the album. The album was produced, arranged, and mixed by Steve Ennever. On 17 February 1994, an acoustic Thomas and Boyd played the pub at the St. Francis Hotel in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

as part of the 1994 Gavin Convention. This was their first show in the US. ''

'' and the single, "Useless", was released on 12 April 1994. However, despite these successes, ''Pub'' never sold in great numbers since frictions between LeShay and Giant ended up standing in the way of continued label support. By October 1994, the investors in Play Records, Cary Greene and Neil Stein, were arrested by the SEC for fraudulent behavior in the world of financial securities, which ultimately caused the Play Records funding to cease. Frictions between Denzil and Steve Ennever also had an effect on the overall situation. Two days after returning from the US, Steve Ennever decided to part company with Denzil entirely. Ennever was replaced live with Bournemouth stalwart bass player Martin "Budgie" Burden, also known as "Budge Magraw". In mid-January 1995, Thomas, Burden, Boyd and Stacey began an 11 date tour of the UK to support the release of ''Pub'' in the UK on

BMG Records Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

under license from Giant. Denzil entered the studio immediately afterwards with Stacey as producer to create a series of demos for the next album. The band also filmed a special for VH1 at this time, and was interviewed by Robert Sandall. Sandall introduced Denzil to

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

's manager

Peter Jenner Peter Julian Jenner (born 3 March 1943) is a British music manager and a record producer. Jenner, Andrew King and the original four members of Pink Floyd were partners in Blackhill Enterprises. Early career Peter Jenner is the son of Willia ...

who started looking after the band from early 1995. In May 1995, BMG declined to sign Denzil direct to the UK, which effectively left them without a deal. The band was offered a series of small record deals in 1995 and 1996, which were not taken up. By 1997, Thomas was working full-time in the music industry and effectively the band disbanded.

Discography

''Pub'' (Play Records/

), 1994

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Site
English rock music groups English power pop groups Musical groups from Bournemouth 1990 establishments in England Musical groups established in 1990 Giant Records (Warner) artists