''English Garden'', released in North America as ''Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club'', is a studio album by
Bruce Woolley
Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as The Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and " Slave to the Rhythm", an ...
and his
new wave band the Camera Club. The band consisted of Woolley on vocals,
Matthew Seligman
Matthew Seligman (14 July 1955 – 17 April 2020) was an English bassist, best known for his association with the new wave music scene of the 1980s. Seligman was a member of the Soft Boys and the Thompson Twins, and was a sideman for Thomas Do ...
on bass, Rod Johnson on drums, Dave Birch on guitar, and
Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
on keyboards.
Before forming the group, Woolley was creating pop songs intended for publishing companies, but he was not happy with what the artists were doing with his songs and decided to write material for himself.
Recorded at
Eden Studios
Eden Studios was a commercial recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames (now under the Eden Walk shopping centre), before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswick in 1972. It was ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, ''English Garden'' was released in most territories by
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
, while in North America the album was distributed by
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company
* CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990
* CBS Records (2006), founde ...
. Singles from ''English Garden'' included the title track, "
Video Killed the Radio Star
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album '' English Garden'' an ...
", "
Clean, Clean
"Clean, Clean" is a song composed by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. It was recorded first by the latter for his band Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club in 1979, and later by the former two as The Buggles for their debut album '' The ...
" and "Dancing with the Sporting Boys". Most reviews of ''English Garden'' were very positive, one reviewer even calling it ahead of other releases in its genre.
Background and composition
Bruce Woolley started writing and recording pop songs at home with
Revox
ReVox (on-logo styling REVOX) is a brand name, registered by Studer on 27 March 1951 for Swiss audio equipment.
History
The first Studer-designed tape recorders were branded Dynavox. After the first production series of Dynavox recorders, a new m ...
equipment during his school years: "I was playing guitar but floundering about without direction."
This made him start making songs specifically for music publishing companies, and he was eventually hired by someone to do so. He had spent eighteen months writing compositions for other artists, but did not appreciate what they were doing with his songs.
He decided to quit this position and write songs for himself, meeting producer
Mike Hurst and his manager Chris Bough, who was also well known for being manager for singer-songwriter
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
.
Thus, Woolley financed to form his band which he called the Camera Club,
which, in addition to him being the vocalist, had Matthew Seligman on bass, Rod Johnson on drums, Dave Birch on guitar, and
Thomas Dolby
Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
on keyboards.
Recorded in
Eden Studios
Eden Studios was a commercial recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames (now under the Eden Walk shopping centre), before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswick in 1972. It was ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, ''English Garden'' was engineered by Richard Goldblatt with assistance from Nick T. Froom.
Meanwhile, Woolley had also formed a group with
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
and
Geoff Downes
Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group The Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia.
Born in Stockport, Downes moved to London ...
called
the Buggles
The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single " Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Cha ...
in 1977, recording demos of tracks such as "
Clean, Clean
"Clean, Clean" is a song composed by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. It was recorded first by the latter for his band Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club in 1979, and later by the former two as The Buggles for their debut album '' The ...
" and "
Video Killed the Radio Star
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album '' English Garden'' an ...
". Woolley had left the group to form the Camera Club by the time the Buggles were signed to
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
in 1979, and the band recorded both songs for ''English Garden''.
Many writers called Woolley's recording of "Video" much better than the Buggles' version.
This included one critic who called both acts overall as of being very high quality, but felt that Woolley's version was more faithful to the source material than that of the Buggles, noting the filtered vocals and cute, female vocals of the latter rendition as giving it a
novelty
Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...
feel.
However, he also wrote of liking both versions of "Clean, Clean" on the same level.
While also categorized by one writer to be a light
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...
record in the vein of acts like
the Move
The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their caree ...
,
as well as a
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
release by another,
''English Garden'' is a
new wave record taking influence of works from
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
and
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
, like the majority of artists in the style that existed around the release of the album.
However, unlike other new wave releases that only increased their hopelessness of Bowie's and Eno's songs, ''English Garden''
's honest, humorous lyrics, which deal with a male remembering about his currently failing marriage thanks to "automation and his modern surroundings" as one journalist analyzed, show that the narrator is struggling, but is optimistic that his relationship will improve.
Reception
''English Garden'' garnered mostly rave reviews upon its release. ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''
's John Teerds spotlighted the album's "inventive" songwriting, strong vocal performance, and "appealing" melodies, but also noted that it may take two or three hearings of the record for the listener to enjoy it. Ted Burley of ''
Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
'' honored the quality of the release as above other new wave acts at the time and wrote that it should've set the decade's norm for the genre.
He wrote that Woolley was "attacking the eighties rather than surrendering to them", being able to make the production fresh and the vocals futuristic while making it sound human and non-robotic.
Among the "lush" harmonies and "tasteful" arrangements, the unique, non-permissive lyrical content was also a significant highlight in his review, praising its "slice-of-life realism and scope."
A more mixed review called the album "one of those weird pop albums that England seems to spew out yearly" and "sort of
10cc
10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...
for nostalgists".
In North America, the group was signed by
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
after just five weeks of rehearsal,
and the
elf-titledalbum was released in the continent with cover art designed by Janet Perr.
''Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club'' was promoted in the United States with a tour just before its release in the country, and songs from the album also garnered radio play in the States.
The album peaked at number 184 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
200
__NOTOC__
Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...
chart.
There were also several performances in Woolley's home country promoting ''English Garden''.
However, despite this and the record's critical acclaim, the release quickly faded into obscurity; a writer for ''
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...
'' analyzed that this was to be expected given that the LP only presented Woolley's devotion to music from the 1960s, but also said that the group might've been famous in some sort of way thanks to Dolby's involvement in the band.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Bruce Woolley and produced by
Mike Hurst. Additional writing credits are noted.
Singles
References
{{Authority control
1979 debut albums
Bruce Woolley albums
Epic Records albums
Columbia Records albums