Sad Café are an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "

Every Day Hurts "Every Day Hurts" is a song by British band Sad Café, from their third album '' Facades''. It was released as a single in 1979 and became their biggest hit, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Offi ...

", "Strange Little Girl", " My Oh My" and "I'm in Love Again", the first of which was their biggest hit, reaching number 3 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 ...

in 1979. The band also had two US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits with "Run Home Girl" and "La-Di-Da".

History

The group formed as a result of the unification of rock bands Mandalaband and Gyro. Its founder members were

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

(vocals), Ian Wilson (guitar),

Vic Emerson Victor Emerson (1949 – 13 October 2018) was an English musician, songwriter and keyboardist. He was a founder member of the bands Mandalaband and Sad Café. He was co-writer of the latter's 1979 No. 3 UK hit single " Every Day Hurts" and the ...

(keyboards), Ashley Mulford (lead guitar), John Stimpson (bass) and Tony Cresswell (drums). The band took their name from the

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, '' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

novella ''

Ballad of the Sad Cafe A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

''.

Harvey Lisberg Harvey Brian Lisberg (born 2 March 1940) is an English talent manager and impresario, best known for discovering Herman's Hermits in 1963. In 1965, he signed songwriter Graham Gouldman, a founder member of 10cc, who Lisberg also managed, along w ...

, who also managed 10cc, arranged for

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 1 ...

to produce their third album, '' Facades'' (an anagram of Sad Cafe), which included the top 3 single, "

". Sad Café split up in 1990. In 1998, the group reformed with most of the 1990 lineup. However, after lead singer Paul Young's sudden death in 2000, the group disbanded once again.

Personnel

Members

;Current * Des Tong – bass, vocals (1980–1990, 1998, 2000, 2012–present) * Dave Day - lead guitars, vocals (2018–present) * Barry James Thomas - vocals, percussion (2018–present) * Neil Shaw-Hulme - saxophones, wx7, vocals (2018–present) * Matt Steele - keyboards (2019–present) * Steve Gibson - drums (2023–present) ;Former *

– lead vocals (1976–1990, 1998; died 2000) *

– keyboards (1976–1984, 2000; died 2018) * John Stimpson – bass (1976–1980; died 2021) * Tony Cresswell – drums (1976–1978) * Ashley Mulford – lead guitars, vocals (1976–1981, 1986–1989, 2000, 2012–2014) * Ian Wilson - rhythm guitar, vocals (1976-2022) * Dave Irving - drums (1978–1984, 2000, 2012–2019) * Lenni – saxophone (1979–1984, 1998, 2000) * Michael Byron-Hehir – lead guitars (1981–1984, 1989–1990, 1998; guest musician: 1986) * Jeff Seopardi – drums (1984–1986) * Danny Schogger – keyboards (1984) * Phil Lanzon – keyboards (1986) * Alistair Gordon – keyboards, vocals (1989–1990, 1998) * Simon Waggott – keyboards, vocals (2012–2014) * Steve Whalley – guitars, vocals (2012–2014) * Sue Wilson-Quin - vocals (2012-2022) * Pete Hughes - keyboards, (2018) * Bryan Hargreaves – drums (2019–2022) ;Guest musicians * Roy Martin – drums (1998) * Paul Burgess – drums (1986–1990) * Steve Pigott – keyboards (1984–1986)

Lineups

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

Sad Café official website

Sad Café
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sad Cafe (band) English rock music groups British soft rock music groups Musical groups from Manchester Musical groups established in 1976 Swan Song Records artists A&M Records artists RCA Records artists