Longpigs were an English
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band who rose to fame on the fringe of
Britpop in the 1990s, comprising Crispin Hunt (vocals),
Richard Hawley
Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...
(guitar), Simon Stafford (bass guitar) and former
Cabaret Voltaire member Dee Boyle (drums) who was replaced by Andy Cook for their second album. Hailing from
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, the group had success with singles such as "She Said", "On and On", and their well-received debut album ''
The Sun Is Often Out
''The Sun Is Often Out'' (stylized as ''THE SUN iS OfTEN oUT'') is the debut album by Longpigs, released in 1996 on U2's record label, Mother Records.
Five singles were released from the album, initially to little success. The first two - "She ...
'' (1996).
History
Early career (1993)
The group initially signed with
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
, but just before the release of their first single, two major crises struck the band: Lead singer Hunt was seriously injured in a car accident, resulting in his being in a coma for three days.
Then, shortly afterwards, the UK arm of the record label closed, leaving the Longpigs' future in doubt. Elektra set a price of £500,000 to release them from their
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 ...
.
The first success (1994–1996)
The Longpigs' contract was purchased by
U2's new record label,
Mother Records. The band toured extensively, opening for
Echobelly,
Supergrass
Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993 in Oxford. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey ( ...
and finally
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
in early 1995. Their first singles on Mother Records, "Happy Again", "She Said" and "Jesus Christ" did little in the
charts
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...
. The band played the 1995
Reading Festival. The new track "All Hype" was featured on the
compilation
Compilation may refer to:
*In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler
**Compilation error
**Compilation unit
*Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products
*Compilation thesis
M ...
CD ''Volume 14: Reading '95 Special'' although was never released as a single.
Their fourth single, "Far", managed to hit the
UK Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
. In March 1996 this was followed by the ballad "On and On", which received considerable radio airplay and hit the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart.
In April 1996 the band released their debut album ''
The Sun Is Often Out
''The Sun Is Often Out'' (stylized as ''THE SUN iS OfTEN oUT'') is the debut album by Longpigs, released in 1996 on U2's record label, Mother Records.
Five singles were released from the album, initially to little success. The first two - "She ...
'', which was declared one of 1996's 50 best albums by both ''
Q'' and ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
''. On the heels of their newfound success, the band then repackaged and re-released "She Said" which also reached the UK Top 20 in June 1996, which was followed by "Lost Myself" (#22).
Attempted popularity in America (1997)
Initially things seemed promising in America. In 1997, their single "On and On" was added to the playlist of the influential
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California alternative radio station
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
briefly reaching the Alternative U.S. Top 10. The song was also featured on the ''
Mission: Impossible''
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
(although it was not used in the film). They toured America with
Echo & the Bunnymen and
The Dandy Warhols, and even opened for
U2 on several dates of their
PopMart world tour. This tour featured a new track "Beyond Good and Evil" which was never officially released. The band also played the 1997
Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
, with the live track "Travel" (formerly known as "Far"
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
"Amateur Dramatics") being featured on the official
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
live Glastonbury compilation ''Mud for It''.
The song "On and On" can be found on the soundtrack to the 1997 film ''
Face'' starring
Robert Carlyle.
Decline and split (1999–2000)
Before the recording of the band's second album, ''
Mobile Home
A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...
'', Dee Boyle left the band and was replaced by Andy Cook. Boyle's relationship with the band resulted in later conflicts with the members.
''Mobile Home'' was released in October 1999, along with the two singles "Blue Skies" and "The Frank Sonata". After briefly reaching the Top 40 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 ...
, sales of the album faded away.
Mother Records folded in 2000, and the rest of the band split up shortly afterwards.
Aftermath and other projects
Following the break-up of the band, guitarist
Richard Hawley
Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...
went on to tour with
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
, before embarking upon a successful solo career and also working with
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...
in the electro group
Relaxed Muscle
Relaxed Muscle are an English electro duo formed in 2002 by Pulp's Jarvis Cocker and All Seeing I's Jason Buckle.
In early 2003, Relaxed Muscle began playing gigs. Cocker and Buckle maintained anonymity by assuming the alter-egos 'Darren Spoone ...
. Hawley's fourth and seventh solo albums, ''
Coles Corner
Coles Corner is the name given to the corner of Fargate and Church Street in Sheffield, England in sight of the cathedral. It was the site of the old Cole Brothers department store until it moved to Barker's Pool in 1963.
The modern building wa ...
'' and ''
Standing at the Sky's Edge
''Standing at the Sky's Edge'' is the seventh studio album from English musician Richard Hawley, released in the UK on 7 May 2012 and in the US on 28 August 2012. The album is markedly different from Hawley's previous efforts, often relinquishin ...
'' were nominated for the
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
, although each lost out, to fellow Sheffield band
Arctic Monkeys and art rock band
Alt-J
Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwilym Sainsbur ...
respectively.
Simon Stafford has also played as part of Cocker's backing band on his solo endeavours. He played in Hawley's band for a year and went on to join
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
's band
The Mescaleros, playing with them until Strummer's death in 2002. He has since played with Jarvis Cocker and various local Sheffield bands, playing various instruments.
In 2004 Hunt lent his voice to the self-titled album by electronic band Mayonnaise, which also featured
Howie B, on the Lunaticworks/BMG label. The following year Hunt joined a band called Gramercy, with Nigel Hoyle (ex
Gay Dad
Gay Dad were an English rock band that formed in London in 1994 and broke up in 2002. The line-up of the band has included Cliff Jones (guitarist/vocalist), Nick "Baz" Crowe (drummer), James Riseboro (keyboardist), Nigel Hoyle (bassist) and ...
) and Dylan Rippon). In August 2005 the band recorded a single entitled "Hold On" (Redemption Records), which had begun to pick up airplay on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
when the band split before releasing any material.
Hunt has also worked as a songwriter and record producer for
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...
,
Penguin Prison
Penguin Prison is an electropop project composed solely of New York City singer, musician, producer and remixer Chris Glover. Penguin Prison's self-titled debut album was released on 18 October 2011 through Downtown Records to positive reviews.
B ...
, Midnight Lion,
Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...
,
Newton Faulkner
Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his percussive style of guitar playing.
In 2007 Faulkner's debut studio album ''Hand Built by Robots'' was ce ...
, Kiko Bun,
Natalie Imbruglia,
Gabriella Cilmi
Gabriella Lucia Cilmi ( ; ; born 10 October 1991) is an Australian pop singer. A contralto, Cilmi is known for her distinctive raspy singing voice.
Her debut album, ''Lessons to Be Learned'', was released in March 2008, becoming a moderate int ...
,
Lisa Mitchell
Lisa Helen Mitchell (born 22 March 1990) is an Australian singer-songwriter who grew up in Albury, New South Wales. Mitchell currently lives in Melbourne and is working on her fourth studio album. Mitchell finished sixth in the 2006 season o ...
,
Lissie
Elisabeth Corrin Maurus (born November 21, 1982), known as Lissie, is an American singer-songwriter. She released her debut EP, "Why You Runnin'", in November 2009. Her debut album, '' Catching a Tiger'', was released in June 2010. Her second st ...
,
Richard Walters,
Josephine Oniyama
Josephine Ejiroghene Oniyama (born 1983 in Manchester) is an English singer-songwriter. She has released three albums and a number of singles.
Early life
Living in the Manchester suburb of Hulme, Oniyama grew up in a colourful West African cult ...
,
Clare Maguire
Clare Rita Mary Maguire (born 15 September 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. She was signed to Universal Music Group, Polydor Records in 2009. She was rated in fifth place in the BBC Sound of 2011 list of the top 15 most promising new art ...
,
Liam Frost
Liam Frost is a musician from Manchester, England. He recorded and played with his backing group 'The Slowdown Family' on his debut album ''Show Me How The Spectres Dance'' but now performs solo under the name Liam Frost.
Frost made his live de ...
,
Ron Sexsmith,
Kate Walsh,
Jake Bugg, Misty Miller, Eliza and the Bear and
JP Cooper.
In 2013 a compilation album ''On and On: The Anthology'' was released, featuring material from the Longpigs' both studio albums, singles' b-sides and previously unreleased material.
In April 2017, it was reported that Dee Boyle, the band's former drummer had died. He was 52 years old. The cause of death was unknown.
In April 2019 Hunt was announced as an
MEP MEP may refer to:
Organisations and politics
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka
* Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
candidate for the newly formed
Change UK - The Independent Group (TIG) political party for the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
.
He was not elected.
Discography
Albums
*''
The Sun Is Often Out
''The Sun Is Often Out'' (stylized as ''THE SUN iS OfTEN oUT'') is the debut album by Longpigs, released in 1996 on U2's record label, Mother Records.
Five singles were released from the album, initially to little success. The first two - "She ...
'' (1996)
UK No. 26
*''
Mobile Home
A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...
'' (1999) UK No. 33
Compilations
*''On and On: The Anthology'' (2013)
Singles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longpigs, The
Musical groups established in 1993
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups from Sheffield
English alternative rock groups
Britpop groups
English indie rock groups