Freur was a Welsh new wave and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

band featuring

Karl Hyde Karl Hyde (born 10 May 1957) is an English musician and artist. He is a founding member of British electronic group Underworld. Hyde has also released a solo album, made albums with Brian Eno and Matthew Herbert, and contributed towards the sco ...

and Rick Smith, who went on to form the

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

band

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

. It was their second band, following their art school collaboration, the Screen Gemz. Their best known song is "Doot-Doot", which peaked at No. 59 on 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 ...

History

The band was formed in the early 1980s in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

by Hyde, Smith and Alfie Thomas. It originally had only a graphic 'squiggle' for a name. In 1983, after recruiting John Warwicker and drummer Bryn Burrows (formerly of the

Fabulous Poodles The Fabulous Poodles were a British pre- new wave band formed in 1975. Known for quirky stage antics, such as exploding ukuleles, as well as songs with funny lyrics, The Fabulous Poodles toured with Meat Loaf, Sha Na Na, Tom Petty, Bill Brufor ...

), they got a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

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 ...

. As the label insisted on a pronounceable name, the band made the compromise that the squiggle was pronounced ''Freur''. Their first and only hit single (No. 17 in New Zealand, No. 24 in Germany, No. 36 in the Netherlands and No. 59 in the UK Singles Chart), was "Doot-Doot" (1983). It was recorded and co-produced by Alex Burak at The Point studio 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 ...

, which was controlled by Rupert Merton of Point Music publishing. Merton (who also had an early version of the

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...

on his roster of artists) signed Freur. The band released five further singles after "Doot-Doot", between 1983 and 1985: "Matters of the Heart", "Runaway", "Riders in the Night", "The Devil and Darkness" and "Look in the Back for Answers". All failed to dent the UK charts. Freur released two studio albums: ''

Doot-Doot ''Doot-Doot'' is the debut studio album by Welsh new wave and synth-pop band Freur, released in 1983 by CBS Records.. Cherry Red Records. The cassette version of the album included four extra tracks. The lead single, "Doot-Doot", peaked at N ...

'' (1983) and ''

Get Us out of Here ''Get Us out of Here'' is the second and final studio album by Freur and was released in the Netherlands and Germany in 1986. The cassette version of the album included five extra tracks. CD release The album was unavailable on CD until 2009 ...

'' (1986). The second LP was only released in Germany and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Freur also composed and performed the soundtrack to the movie ''

'' (also called ''Transmutations''), written by

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

. Warwicker left the band in 1986 and Freur went into recess. In 1987, Hyde, Smith, Thomas and Burrows, along with bassist Baz Allen signed to

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 ...

under a new name,

, and found some success with the single "

Underneath the Radar ''Underneath the Radar'' is the debut album by Underworld, released in 1988. The album was a success in Australia, South Africa and the US (where it reached number 139 on the '' Billboard'' 200). The title track of the album was released as a ...

" (1988) (it peaked in Australia at No. 5), before initially folding in 1990. The band re-formed in 1991 under the same name to become the successful dance and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

act responsible for a number of well received albums and the 1996 hit single "

Born Slippy .NUXX "Born Slippy .NUXX" is a song by British electronic music group Underworld. It was first released as the B-side to "Born Slippy", in May 1995. The fragmented lyrics, by vocalist Karl Hyde, describe the perspective of an alcoholic. After it wa ...

". The ''

Guinness Book of British Hit Singles ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of t ...

'' would list Freur under the symbol, with the translation by the side, until the late 1990s. John Warwicker is a video artist in the

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

collective

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

, whose founders include Hyde and Smith. The now defunct UK magazine ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' referred to the band as "Elephant with a stick of Rhubarb" because of the shape of the squiggle.

Band members

– vocals, guitars * Rick Smith – keyboards *Alfie Thomas – bass, keyboards, guitars, back vocals *Bryn Burrows – drums *John Warwicker – video synthesiser, graphics

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1983) *''

'' (1986)

Soundtrack albums

*'' Transmutations'' (1985) (unreleased)

Singles

References

External links

* tp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/lazlo/discographies/freur Discography: Freur/Underworld/Lemon Intereupt– Detailed discography to 1999
Freur fan pageFreur biography on BBC Wales
{{Authority control Welsh new wave musical groups British synth-pop new wave groups Musical groups from Cardiff Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 1982 establishments in Wales