Figures on a Beach was an American
new wave band from Detroit, Michigan that was active from 1981 to 1991. The band had two successful singles in 1989: "Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria)", which reached #14 on the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...
chart and a cover of
Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", which peaked at #64 on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
.
History
Figures on a Beach was formed in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, United States, in the early 1980s from the ashes of the band Razor 1922. The group was composed of
vocalist
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 ...
Anthony Kaczynski,
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 ...
John "Rik" Rolski,
keyboardist
A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...
Christopher Ewen,
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 ...
Perry Tell and
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using 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 mem ...
Michael Smith. The group recorded an independent
EP, ''Swimming'' in 1983, and the
Don Was
Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...
-produced single "Breathless" in 1984.
Figures moved to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, in 1985 and was signed by
Seymour Stein
Seymour Stein (born April 18, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed bands that became central to the new wave era of the 1970s a ...
of
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 ...
soon afterward. They released their first full-length
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 ...
in 1987, titled ''Standing on Ceremony''.
A self-titled LP (''Figures on a Beach'') followed in 1989, containing a hit cover of
Bachman–Turner Overdrive
Bachman–Turner Overdrive, often abbreviated BTO, were a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, founded by Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner in 1973. Their 1970s catalogue included five top-40 albums and six US top-40 single ...
's "
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and a single titled "Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria)". The group disbanded in 1991.
Chris Ewen went on to form
Future Bible Heroes
Future Bible Heroes is an American indie pop group led by Stephin Merritt, best known for his work with The Magnetic Fields. Merritt shares vocal duties with fellow Magnetic Fields member Claudia Gonson, who sings on the entirety of 2002's ''Eter ...
, a collaboration with
Stephin Merritt
Stephin Raymond Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is ...
and
Claudia Gonson
Claudia Miriam Gonson (born April 5, 1968) is an American musician best known for her work with The Magnetic Fields. She often provides the band lead vocals as well as performing the piano or drums. She is also the band's manager.
Gonson met S ...
from
The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel ''Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American Band (rock and pop), band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocali ...
.
Kaczynski performed Merritt's vocals on Future Bible Heroes' 2013 tour, which Merritt opted to skip. Ewen and Kaczynski performed on the Magnetic Fields 2017 tour for Merritt's ''50 Song Memoir.''In 2022 they became full members of The Magnetic Fields and toured the USA and Europe.
Anthony Kaczynski and Michael Smith went on to form Fireking.
Michael Smith currently performs as Smitt E. Smitty and Little Billy Lost.
"Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria)" was covered by
The Echoing Green
"The Echoing Green" (''The Ecchoing Green'') is a poem by William Blake published in ''Songs of Innocence'' in 1789. The poem talks about merry sounds and images which accompany the children playing outdoors. Then, an old man happily remembers ...
on the band's self-titled album.
Charting singles
Discography
Albums
* ''Paradise And Other Four Letter Words'' (Metro America, 1985)
* ''Standing On Ceremony'' (Sire, 1987)
* ''Figures on a Beach'' (Sire, 1989)
Singles
* ''Swimming EP'' (Metro America, 1983)
* "Breathless" (Metro America, 1984)
* "In Camera Obscura/Paradise" (Metro America, 1985)
* "No Stars" (Sire, 1987)
* "Accidentally 4th St. (Gloria)" (Sire, 1989)
* "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (Sire, 1989)
Compilation albums
* ''
Just Say Yes...'' (Sire, 1987)
* ''
Just Say Mao'' (Sire, 1989)
References
*
{{Authority control
American new wave musical groups
American pop music groups
Musical groups established in 1981
Musical groups disestablished in 1991
Musical groups from Detroit
Sire Records artists
1981 establishments in Michigan